How much can you sue a "troll" for (in Canada)?

[mallik]

Hi, I'm not sure if the system is different in Canada than the US, but if a troll "steals" goods from you, and you finally get him in court, how much can you get out of him. This happened a long time ago, and so I've been hearing that if you get him in court, the court would just make him return the goods (which are not even close to the same value as when he first got them), or reimburse the CURRENT value of the goods (which again is not even close to the same value. btw: the items in question are a HD and some RAM, just so you get an idea of how much they depreciate over time). If that's the case, then that is absolute BS. Does anybody have any knowledge of this?

 

[Looney]

You're going to small claims court... i highly doubt they're going to give you punitive damage.

 

[mallik]

So it would just be the goods returned, or the current value of the goods? That sucks cuz back then they were worth $200, and now I doubt they're even worth $50

 

[Looney]

It depends on the judge... i suppose some judges would award you the original value you paid for the system... but then others would only award you what the current system is worth now. Was the system new when you sold it to him? Or used?

Anyways, when you file the claim, file for the original amount. If he disputes it and say that the current value of the system is only $50, then tell the judge that it was because of him that it depreciated. If you didn't get scammed, you could have originally sold it for $200. I think there's a good chance you would be awarded $200.

 

[Saltin]

In Canada you don't take em to court, you take matters into your own hands.

 

[mallik]

haha, good advice Saltin. I would like to do that, but it's on the other side of the country, and he's not even around. He's away somewhere for a while, so his "business partner" is taking care of this.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic
It depends on the judge... i suppose some judges would award you the original value you paid for the system... but then others would only award you what the current system is worth now. Was the system new when you sold it to him? Or used?

Anyways, when you file the claim, file for the original amount. If he disputes it and say that the current value of the system is only $50, then tell the judge that it was because of him that it depreciated. If you didn't get scammed, you could have originally sold it for $200. I think there's a good chance you would be awarded $200.

Depends on your state's laws, but overall, this is probably right.

EDIT: Sorry, I missed that "Canada" part. I don't know if your provinces have the same kind of different laws that the states do.

 

[mallik]

Thanks guys. The thing is I'm in Toronto and he's in Vancouver, so I don't know how I could take him to court unless I was sure I'd get the full amount, plus all the expenses and crap.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Some Canadian ripped me off too, I ended up finding someone here who was willing to either a) get my money back or b) get the merchandise, all for free (I was going to give him $25 for his time though). Once I told the guy I had someone who lived very close to him, he ended up sending my money back
-- mrcodedude

 

[mallik]

hmm....anybody in the Vancouver/Coquitlam area?

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: mallik
Thanks guys. The thing is I'm in Toronto and he's in Vancouver, so I don't know how I could take him to court unless I was sure I'd get the full amount, plus all the expenses and crap.

You won't be able to then. Contact his local law enforcement... if you have all the evidence to prove yourself right in small claims court, you should have enough to get the police involved... even if they don't do anything but pay him a visit, that might be enough to scare him.

 

[mallik]

The thing is that the acutal person that scammed isn't around; he's in the US army reserves or something like that. So I've been communicating with his business partner. His business partner is saying that the courts would only make him return the original merchanidise, or the current value of the merchandise, so he's willing to return the merchandise or the current value. Would I be able to go after him or his company?