I paid for a service from a business which I found on the internet from their website. The business is located in Pennsylvania. The service was performed in Virginia. I live in Lynchburg Virginia and the service was performed in Richmond Virginia. They performed the service by email and never stepped foot in the state of Virginia. They conducted the service only by email. If I decide to sue them in small claims court then which state would I file the lawsuit in Pennsylvania or Virginia. If it is in Virginia then would I sue them in Richmond or Lynchburg small claims court? Again, they contacted me and I them only by email. I paid for the service from my paypal account. They performed a service in Richmond Virginia by contacting them by email. They never came to Richmond Virginia.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by russharv63

I paid for a service from a business which I found on the internet from their website. The business is located in Pennsylvania. The service was performed in Virginia. I live in Lynchburg Virginia and the service was performed in Richmond Virginia. They performed the service by email and never stepped foot in the state of Virginia. They conducted the service only by email. If I decide to sue them in small claims court then which state would I file the lawsuit in Pennsylvania or Virginia. If it is in Virginia then would I sue them in Richmond or Lynchburg small claims court? Again, they contacted me and I them only by email. I paid for the service from my paypal account. They performed a service in Richmond Virginia by contacting them by email. They never came to Richmond Virginia.

---

THEY exist as a business in Pennsylvania... so you have to file in Pennsylvania. How many times do you have to repeat the same thing?

You should have gone to PayPal if you had an issue... even if you win in small claims court the chances of you collecting are going to be fairly small. You stand a far better chance of actually getting something back through PayPal.

First it can also depend on the terms of the contract, for example if you use some of the Internet service companies, their terms of contract are that they are governed by the laws of their state and even require arbitration prior to law suits.
So read your contract. (it may be online on their web sites,

If you did a online agreement, and I have no idea what you mean the "services was done in VA. (what services, how)

You can attempt to file in your local court, if the other party after being served, does not file an objection and request for dismissal, it can be heard and even a default judgement rendered.

The real issue is collecting, winning is easy, (maybe) but getting money from them another issue

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

...
You can attempt to file in your local court, if the other party after being served, does not file an objection and request for dismissal, it can be heard and even a default judgement rendered.

The real issue is collecting, winning is easy, (maybe) but getting money from them another issue

---

Before you do that, check the small claims rules in Virginia to see if the rules allow suing an out-of-state company. Also, if you were to file in Pennsylvania you might have to actually go there for trial.

Also, make sure the Virginia "long arm statute" allows a Pennsylvania company to be sued under the contacts you describe.

If you get a Virginia judgment, you may have to have it registered in Pennsylvania in order to levy upon it there; they may not have any Virginia assets (such as a bank account).

While I agree with the others mostly, especially going through Paypal first.

It would help if we know more about the service and why you think you have a case against them. Before you waste time seeking redress you should get opinions about whether you have a case for redress.