A couple things...

1. He probably isn't going to do "anything' for $500, but if it were me and he was going to do something, I'd let him go through all the trouble of filing the paperwork and all the other jazz, and then just slap him the face with the money the day of the court date. Because of the amount, depending on what state you are in, it's probably a "small claims" thing with no attorneys involved.

2. make sure that you remind him that HE STILL OWES YOU $500 more dollars per your agreement.

3. Don't take legal advice from a marketing forum

It might not be worth the hassle. You're going to go through too much frustration for 500 bucks. let it go and get that loser out of your life.

It's unfortunate that the agreement was made over the phone as (in this situation) having some paperwork would certainly help your case. However, it might also work against him. Courts don't usually take to kindly to people that openly disclose their credit card information over the phone and then decide later that they don't feel they've gotten their money's worth. In my honest opinion, don't refund the customer their money just yet.

In the end, both of you would just end up losing money as court fees, as we all know, aren't cheap.

I think he has no written proof of that 500 and he participated in the seminar right? Then I don't see any point refunding the money to him.

I'm not a lawyer, I don't play one on TV and Jeremy's right about not taking legal advice from a marketing forum. But I'll share my thoughts based on my experience with deadbeat clients in the past.

If it were me, I would write him a letter and send it registered mail & requiring a signature -- that will cost you a buck or two but it's very important because it shows you're serious + you want proof he received it -- detailing what your agreement was and that according to that agreement he still owes you $500.

If he admitted in one of the emails that he only came to half the seminar then I would definitely mention that, something like, "As you said in your email on x date, you only came to half of the seminar (be more specific about dates and times, if you can, of both the entire seminar and what he attended)." As a result, he can't hold you accountable for getting less than satisfying results.

I'd say too that it was a no refunds course, your obligation was to provide the seminar and his was to attend. You're sorry he chose not to do that, but he still needs to pay for the full seminar as agreed. In fact, he was supposed to pay the remained by x date and it's now been x days past that.

So, you're going to give him x days to pay up before you file a claim in YOUR county's small claims court.

(That last part won't be a big deal if he's local, but if he's not, he's not going to want to travel.)

You might even say that your email communications show he was aware of this obligation and that he's choosing not to fulfill it. (If they do.)

If you have a lawyer, cc them. But if not, don't fake that.

He'll either...

a) pay up
b) make a counter proposal
c) say fine, sue me (doubtful though because you've shown that you've been documenting things even if the original agreement was by phone)
d) file a chargeback

If he chooses C or D, you can decide whether you want to keep messing with it or not. At least for D, you can send the cc company your letter and documentation and you may win because you have it. (Unless it's AMEX, LOL)

But in my experience, they'll usually reply with A or B and you get something out of them + you feel better about not getting weaseled. And who knows, maybe he'll think twice before doing it again.

Of course, you should think about sending a recap" email next time you sign someone up by phone even if it's just to restate what they're agreeing to. They'll usually find it helpful and you'll have something in hand in case this happens again.

Just my 2 1/2 cents. Good luck!

Refund him. Count it as a lesson learned. Let the rule of karma come into play.

I agree with everything Jeremy said...

In my experience, the world moves a lot smoother if you just...give back the money. Tell him thanks, sorry you couldn't work together, and leave it at that. Negative feelings by clients build and can do MUCH more damage than your handing back some money. If you had delivered tangible products, that is one thing, but intangibles are so hard to force in these cases. Yes, this person is a waste of time and energy, and probably will NEVER be successful, but in the offline world, you are bound to trip on situations like this every once in a while. Smile, hand over the money, and keep on trucking...living well is the best revenge...

Mac the Knife

My 2 cents would be dont refund him and let him do what he wants.

At the end of the day can you return a book after you have read it? No

You go to a concert. Even if you dont have a good time, can you get your money back? Legally, no.

Can you return a purchase, in the eyes of the law, if you no longer want it? No, though businesses avoid the bad press by allowing it but legally they dont have to.

You "sold" a seat at the seminar. There was no actual contract of sale. Just him phoning up, saying I wanna come and then giving you his card details.

One alarm bell that would have been ringing straight away would be the fact he only wanted/could pay $500 as opposed to the full $1000. I am assuming you werent running some kind of offer and that the $1000 was the full admission price that probably everyone else paid?

What has probably happened is this guy hasnt been able to implement any of the methods he seen and subsequently lost money.

Re the courts I dont think he will go through them because of the fees involved. He will probably keep on at yourself hoping you will cave in or he will go down the chargeback route, if he knows about it, which, judging by how long this has been going on for, he doesnt.

If he did go down the chargeback route then the issuing company would have to investigate, even though his actions appear on the face of it to be without merit, in order to "protect" their customer.

In this instance they would initiate correspondence with yourself to determine what he paid for exactly. So you would have to be clear in what you were selling and how you were selling it. For example, on WSO's there are always claims to make thousands upon thousands of dollar implementing methods for peanuts. Almost all of them dont work but they put, normally in the 1st page, a disclaimer about potential earnings.

Did you have a similar disclaimer?

You have to be clear in what you actually sold him if he does go down a chargeback route but sounds to me he is just at the intimidating stage and doesnt have the foresight to go down proper channels.

Become a better business person. Don't make deals that are not in writing.
Do you have a refund policy posted somewhere, satsifaction guarentee? I do not think the courts will be your concern, send him a bill for the $500 balance registered, not certified and if he continues to complain and you go to court he risks having to shell out another $500 in your counter-complaint. The only concern should be his complaint to your credit card pos system. Worry if you have other complaints, if he is the only one, then no worries.

I am probably not going to be very popular for this opinion, but trust me, follow my advice and you'll sleep better at night.

1. Do not argue based upon principles or morals or ethics about what is right and wrong.

2. Do not argue about what is legal or what is illegal or what your rights are. None of it matters.

3. IMPORTANT: Just REFUND HIM in full and make sure you have the documentation that shows without question you refunded him in full.

Now, the question you may have at this point is "Why should I refund him?" Here's why:

1. You may win in court but given this man's scruples, if you do go to court I would expect him to disparage you without proof online while he remains anonymous. In this business, all it takes is one person to cause dramatic harm to your business.

It's bad enough there are REAL scammers out there. But to be lumped in with them, is a heartbreak to an entrepreneur.

2. Refunding $500 is cheap money to make it all go away quickly and nicely. If you proceed by letting him take control of the situation, even if he's in the wrong, it could haunt forever. And you'll definitely be in for some sleepless nights.

The complaints industry is criminal and ruthless. Extortion is abound. The best way to avoid is just to steer clear of people like this, and the minute they come into your life, refund them regardless of who's right or wrong.

It's far easier and cheaper long and short term, to just refund him.

- Rick Duris

PS: Those who want to know more about this topic, there is a book I highly recommend. It's called:

Amazon.com: Google Bomb: The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the Internet (9780757314155): John W. Dozier Jr., Sue Scheff, Michael Fertik: Books

You should just refund him the $500 and be on your way. Unless you have a written agreement you will never get the additional $500 you were promised anyways.

Give him the $500, happily, and take it as a lesson learned in how you manage your business. It is, however, unfortunate that a spoken agreement is worth next to nothing now days.

Just consider what your time is actually worth and how much time it will take you to go through all the legal hassle and stress if this guy is actually relentless in his pursuit of a refund. $500 is nice, its not loose change by any means, but this dude could cause you more hassle than its worth.

I'll gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today. The first mistake was willingly letting anyone split the payments on a live event. Since you did, you can likely kiss the remaining balance goodbye. Generally in the live event industry it is common to refund if you don't like what you get, however, that wasn't part of your agreement so it is highly unlikely he would win his case in court. However, is it worth the hit on your businesses reputation to let this be publicly drug through the court system

Martin

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Refund him. Or it will look bad infront of the whole court room. The credit card holder always wins. If he didnt pay the other $500 and he wants the first $500 back, whats the issue? Just give him his money back.

I agree with Sylviad. The guy could dispute the charge with his credit card company and the credit card company could very well refund his money. You could win the dispute, but the credit card companies are more apt to be loyal to their customers.

Why not negotiate a compromise, offer to refund half the money and be done with it?

If you are going to do $1000 seminars then make it a $1000 seminar. For that kind of price they should at least walk away with a big fat notebook with pages of the presentation with fill in the blanks that they fill in as you cover the material. Any other collateral that you can create that adds value. I would even consider at the very least making audio tapings of the event that you can pass out at the end of the second day so they can relive their experience over and over. At $1000 the should have something very tangible that they got in exchange for their money. It should be more than just sitting for 2 days listening to you talk and flip through a powerpoint presentation.

When my wife and I took Robert Allen's Real Estate Investment course, we walked away with 2 bags of books and cd's and dvd's. If you dump real books and collateral in their hands it will go alot better for you with the courts and credit card companies.

Martin Blakley

More fortunes have been lost due to fighting over "princible", the courts are full of people who won court cases that went bankrupt soon there after. If you make decisions based on your ego I guarentee you will end up broke! Send him a registered esstoppel letter for the $500 balance due and move on. You made a poor decision letting him make payments, don't make another guided by your ego.

Did you find out why he didn't finish the seminar? Are you incorporated?

I ran a seminar business and found the most important part of PR for me was customer satisfaction. Not only from the seminar evaluation from they completed at the end of the seminar but by calling them to find out if you can help the implement anything they learned in the seminar. Then let them know of any upcoming seminars or a great course you have now on your website.

If you refund him the money, it may be the best $500 you invested in your business.
Find out why he didn't finish, what you could have done differently to keep him from leaving, and ask him to be specific. The public expects a lot for $1000. We have to keep giving them more than they expected.

Have you checked him out on Facebook? Right now hopefully it's only an email war and the last thing a local seminar business needs is an unhappy customer social networking.

Also, incorporation is important. People are less likely to ask for a seminar refund from
"National Seminars Inc." than from "Local Seminars"