Ask Me Help Desk - Can I Sue This Restaurant?

Can I Sue This Restaurant?

Ok so I went to this small chinese food place for the first time about 3 months ago and I paid with my debit card. I haven't gone since and I recently learned that they have been charging me over and over again for the past 3 months. 5 bucks here, 20 bucks there, and since then it has added over 300 dollars in charges. I called my bank and filed a claim and I don't doubt Ill get my money back. But is their anyway I can sue this restaurant! This is BS and this place doesn't deserve to be open.

What do you guys think? Would it hold in court and how much do you think?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

Ok so I went to this small chinese food place for the first time about 3 months ago and I paid with my debit card. I havent gone since and I recently learned that they have been charging me over and over again for the past 3 months. 5 bucks here, 20 bucks there, and since then it has added over 300 dollars in charges. I called my bank and filed a claim and I dont doubt Ill get my money back. But is their anyway I can sue this restaurant! This is BS and this place doesnt deserve to be open.

What do you guys think? Would it hold in court and how much do you think?

I'd call the police... and fill them in on this... odds are you aren't the only victim, and cumulatively if it does this rises to the level of serious fraud. Someone is likely to end up sharing a jail cell with a big guy with homosexual tendencies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothy

I'd call the police....and fill them in on this...odds are you aren't the only victim, and cumulatively if it does this rises to the level of serious fraud. Someone is likely to end up sharing a jail cell with a big guy with homosexual tendencies.

I don't care who he sells a jail cell with haha. I just want to know if I can pull a couple of thousand out of him before he goes

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoothy

... Someone is likely to end up sharing a jail cell with a big guy with homosexual tendencies.

If the culprit is a she, I expect the cell-mate would more likely to be a big gal with homosexual tendencies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

... I called my bank and filed a claim and I dont doubt Ill get my money back. ...

I wouldn't be so sure. If it was a credit card, probably. But a debit card is often different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

I dont care who he sells a jail cell with haha. I just want to know if I can pull a couple of thousand out of him before he goes

Only if your bank won't give you your money back. If it does, the bank, not you, will be entitled to restitution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

If the culprit is a she, I expect the cell-mate would more likely to be a big gal with homosexual tendencies.

I wouldn't be so sure. If it was a credit card, probably. But a debit card is often different.

Only if your bank won't give you your money back. If it does, the bank, not you, will be entitled to restitution.

So your saying I won't be able to get any money back? ):
Why not? They STOLE my money for the past 3 months. Shouldn't their be at least some sort of compensation. Because of these people, I am sketched out every time I go to a small restaurant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

so your saying I wont be able to get any money back?

Hello z:

No, he's NOT saying that.. He's saying that WHEN the bank gives you your money back, as they're CERTAIN to do, the bank will be the victim. The bank can sue if it chooses to. You're not out anything.

excon

Quote:

Originally Posted by excon

Hello z:

No, he's NOT saying that.. He's saying that WHEN the bank gives you your money back, as they're CERTAIN to do, the bank will be the victim. The bank can sue if it chooses to. You're not out anything.

excon

Exactly... right now the police might not even be aware because the ammounts are so low... but even pennies add up once you have enough of them.

The bank will likely make you whole... the police will make them pay for the crime. Well, them and the rest of the justice system.

And if your small claims suit is the only one... they might continue to fly under the radar for a lot longer.

But the justice system can only go after crimes they know about.

How illegal is this form of Blackmail?

So a small restaurant has been stealing money from my bank account for the past few months. I just found out and am enraged. The bank has already given my money back but it is my choice on whether I take it too the Police or not. If the police finds out then they will do an investigation, arrest the owner, and possible shut down the whole location.

What if I told the owner instead of me going to the police and telling them what there doing. They just pay me around 1500-5000 bucks and ill go away?

What do you guys think about this and the situation I am in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

So a small restaurant has been stealing money from my bank account for the past few months. I just found out and am enraged. The bank has already given my money back but it is my choice on whether I take it too the Police or not. If the police finds out then they will do an investigation, arrest the owner, and possible shut down the whole location.

What if I told the owner instead of me going to the police and telling them what there doing. They just pay me around 1500-5000 bucks and ill go away?

What do you guys think about this and the situation I am in?

You've already asked this question and its been answered...

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/small-...ml#post3123817

Nothing has changed...

EDIT: Threads have been merged

Why not let the bank handle it? I don't understand why you expect the bank to remove the charges AND the restaurant to pay you. The Police will see if there's fraud, what level, WHO committed the fraud and go from there.

You can't double dip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

...
What if I told the owner instead of me going to the police and telling them what there doing. They just pay me around 1500-5000 bucks and ill go away?

What do you guys think about this and the situation I am in?

That would be extortion, a felony.

If you relish the thought of serving time in prison, have at it.

First you are lucky, Bank Card are not like credit cards and the bank was under no obligation to give you the money back. So if they really did, this is rare and you need to love that bank and brag on them, I know of no back that gives money back on a billing on a Debit card.

Only real credit cards work like that, and then only if you dispute the charge within 60 days of the statement.

But if you go to the owner of the business and say I want 1400, or I will file a police report, that is black mail actually and illegal, you can not ask for or demand money not to file a police report.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippi101

What do you guys think about this and the situation I am in?

Any form of blackmail or extortion is illegal. Part of the problem here is you don't know who is responsible. It may not be the owner. It could be someone working for the restaurant and the owner is clueless.

Also you are trying to extort 1500-5000 for about $300 that you were reimbursed for? And you are angry with this store? Seems to me like you are a worse thief.

And how did you manage to go three months without noticing this? I check my account daily. If I saw a debit I didn't authorize, I would have notified the bank immediately. So you are blaming the restaurant for taking advantage of YOUR negligence. And then you want to extort 5 times the amount from them.

You are a piece of work! Approach the restaurant owner. I hope he calls the police on you and you wind up in jail where you belong.

Has Zippi been a member before with a very similar screen name?

Here's the thing. When you sue someone you can only sue them for the amount you're out. In other words, they have to make you whole. You're only out $300. If the bank reimburses you then you aren't out any money, and will not be compensated for more than what you are out.

Once the bank reimburses you they can choose to sue the restaurant, but just like you, they can only sue for the amount of money there are out, the $300, no more.

You can file a claim, but you won't win more than $300, and you'd only win that if the bank doesn't reimburse you.

Technically you can also sue for pain and suffering and variations of that. Some Courts allow such claims; other Courts do not. If the charges caused the OP's credit card to go over the limit, anything like that, that's also a cause.

I am addressing the US and realize you are in Canada. I don't know where the OP is.

I agree Judy, but do want to point out that the charges were on his debit card, not credit card, at least according to his original post. So going over the limit really isn't a concern. If he hadn't had the money in his account, the charges wouldn't have been made, so he really is only out the $300.

What really strikes me is the OP doesn't care that someone may be doing this to other people. If he did he would report it to the police. His only concern is what he can get out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

What really strikes me is the OP doesn't care that someone may be doing this to other people. If he did he would report it to the police. His only concern is what he can get out of it.

I agree. In my opinion, the OP is a bigger thief than the person that charged his debit card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alty

I agree Judy, but do want to point out that the charges were on his debit card, not credit card, at least according to his original post. So going over the limit really isn't a concern. If he hadn't had the money in his account, the charges wouldn't have been made, so he really is only out the $300.

I stand corrected. It's a debit card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

I stand corrected. It's a debit card.

Hello:

My debit card has overdraft protection...

Just saying..

excon