Small claims verdicts

Winning doesn't mean you can collect

Lance Martin, Herald Senior Staff Writer

ROANOKE RAPIDS - Even in winning his civil court case, Terrence Jeffers has still come out losing.

The Roanoke Rapids area man is not alone.

Although there are really no statistics on the matter, court and law enforcement officials say winning your case in small claims court is not a guarantee you're going to get your money.

“A lot of people don't understand that it's not automatic,” said Lt. Van Barfield, of the Halifax County Sheriff's Office's Civil Division.

In fact, Barfield said, sometimes the plaintiff loses a lot more money in winning the case.

Jeffers' case is a perfect example. While he successfully won a case against a local transmission repair shop for failing to fix his 2001 Mustang GT in 2006, he has yet to receive the nearly $300 the court decided he was owed.

When he bought the repossessed car in 2004 from the State Employee's Credit Union, it was running well. The car had been trouble-free until, after two years of owning the car, an overdrive light came on and the speedometer kept going back and forth.

“The car was lacking power and seemed like the gear was missing,” Jeffers said in a recent interview.

Based on several recommendations, he took the vehicle to Automatic Transmission Exchange in Roanoke Rapids. The company assured him they could fix the problem, Jeffers said. After a month, Jeffers went to pick up his car and paid approximately $199.

“It was still doing the same thing,” he said.

When he took the car back to the company he came back to pick it up after four days and $99. He hadn't driven it 8 miles when it started doing the same thing.

“I told them I wasn't going to pay any more money. It was supposed to be fixed,” Jeffers said.

When he asked for a refund, he was refused. He ended up taking the car to a Ford dealership in Roanoke Rapids and after three days, the problem was solved at the cost of $331.61, according to records provided by Jeffers.

The Ford dealership noted in the service write-up the sensor was damaged and “could have caused damage that has not shown up at this time.”

With no refund from Automatic Transmission Exchange, Jeffers said he only had one option. “If they would have given me the money for labor, I would have let it ride. My next step was to take them to court.”

He won the case, with the court agreeing he should be reimbursed $297.95.

Reached by phone, an employee said the company declined to comment. A request by the Daily Herald to speak with the owner, Steven Pulliam, was not successful and he could not be independently located.

Since the court case, Jeffers has yet to be reimbursed, but has taken out a lien against the company so if any of its assets are sold, he will have to be paid.

In taking out the lien, Jeffers took the only action that was available to him. And the lien, or judgment, still doesn't assure you will get your money.

“The only thing it prevents is if (the defendant) wants to borrow money,” said county Clerk of Court Becky Spragins. “It affects his credit. A lot of times they will take care of it if they need some money.”

Jeffers said he was only doing what he thought was the right thing to do.

“I'm not a bad person,” he said. “I don't want it to happen to anyone else. My thing is all I wanted them to do was fix my car right. If they did that to me, they can do it to anybody.”

He also feels the court system let him down. “I felt like that the court could have garnished his income tax check.

Even me, I owed money to Halifax Community College, and they garnished my check. In a way I blame the court system, they could have said ‘you owed the man money.'”