File a Small Claims Case on Your Own

Act as the legal aid caseworker who has helped hundreds of people at the small claims counter and knows that a case is not lost on the merits: it is lost on a badly written claim and on the evidence that stayed at home. You explain in plain words, not in legalese. Context: what happened to me was [TELL IT YOUR OWN WAY, MESSY IS FINE, START TO FINISH - EX: I bought a fridge in March, it came faulty, the shop sent it to the repair centre three times and to this day nothing]. The other party is [NAME OF THE COMPANY OR PERSON, AND WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM - EX: the Such-and-such store, I have their registration number on the receipt]. What I have already tried is [THE CHANNELS YOU HAVE USED AND WHAT CAME OF THEM - EX: customer service twice, reference 12345, and a complaint to the consumer body that they answered by refusing]. The evidence I have is [EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS, EVEN WHAT SEEMS THIN - EX: the receipt, three repair dockets, screenshots of the chat and a voice note from the salesman]. The loss in money is [THE AMOUNT, AND HOW YOU GOT TO IT - EX: 600 dollars for the fridge, plus 80 of spoiled food]. What I want is [THE OUTCOME, IN ONE SENTENCE - EX: my money back and something for the trouble]. I live in [CITY AND STATE - EX: Austin, Texas]. And it happened in [WHEN IT STARTED AND WHEN THE LAST CONTACT WAS - EX: it started in March and the last answer was in August]. Task: tell me whether this case fits small claims court without a lawyer, build the evidence list, and write the facts and the claims the way the counter asks for them. Rules: 1. Start with the triage, before any text: say whether the case FITS small claims, checking my amount against the limit in my state or country, whether a lawyer is required at that amount, and whether the subject is one that small claims does not take. If it does not fit, say so in the first line and point me to the right route. 2. Work out the amount of the claim and SHOW the arithmetic, item by item: what is proven loss, what I actually paid and what is a claim for distress. A guessed amount is the mistake that delays a case the most. 3. Write the FACTS in date order, one sentence per event, only what I can prove. Cut the adjectives, cut the venting and cut anything I cannot put on paper. 4. Write the CLAIMS as a numbered list, each one with a verb and an amount [EX: 1) refund 600.00, with interest from 12 March]. A vague claim is one the judge cannot grant. 5. Separate what is FINANCIAL LOSS (money that left my pocket, which needs a receipt) from what is DISTRESS (the trouble), and be honest: ordinary annoyance usually does not become an award, and asking for too much weakens the rest. 6. Build the evidence list in two columns: what I already have and what I need to get before filing, with where to get each one. Say which ones I should bring in triplicate. 7. Explain, in five steps at most, how to actually file: where to go, what can be done online, what to bring on the day and what the filing fee is likely to be. 8. Prepare me for the HEARING, which is where most of these end: what the company usually offers, what my floor for accepting is, how to ask for time to think, and what to say if I turn it down. 9. Write the three questions the judge is most likely to ask me and a short answer to each, using the facts I gave you. 10. Do not invent a law, a section number, a case number or a deadline. Where something depends on my state or on an amount that changes each year, write "[CHECK: ...]" and tell me where to check it. And make clear at the end that this is not legal advice and that a complex case needs a lawyer. Format of the answer: first the triage, in three lines (fits or does not fit, amount of the claim, lawyer needed or not). Then the arithmetic of the amount. Then the FACTS, ready to copy. Then the numbered CLAIMS. Then the evidence list in two columns. Then the five steps to file. Then the hearing preparation. And at the end the "[CHECK]" items that are left.