Disdain or Disregard (Pelephone)?

A True Case from the Small Claims

Mrs. Avriela felt that the Pelephone Cell Phone Company acted towards her with disdain and disregard. Therefore she sued the company in Small Claims Court for 7000 shekels. The case was heard and decided by the Honorable Judge Mr. Harvey Grubbs of the Kfar Saba Small Claims Court on August 9th, 2010.

Mrs. Avriela (the plaintiff), was visited by a representative of Pelephone (the defendant) on August 28th 2008 and was persuaded to switch providers from Cellcom to Pelephone.

According to the contract signed by the parties, the defendant was committed to return to the plaintiff 3000 shekels for the fine that the plaintiff would have to pay for ending her contract with Cellcom before the original contract ended. It was also agreed that the mutual commitment between the plaintiff and defendant would be for a minimum period of 24 months.

The plaintiff proved by showing her monthly statements that she indeed had paid 3000 shekels to Cellcom, but the defendant insisted on receiving an official single document or receipt from Cellcom before paying the plaintiff.

After 18 months, Mrs. Avriela decided to end the contract with Pelephone because she still had not been reimbursed for the 3000 shekels which was considered, in her opinion, a breach of the contract by the defendant, therefore releasing her from the contract.

The judge decided for the plaintiff as follows:

The Plaintiff had to cope with two large and strong companies and by no means could she dictate terms to them.

The defendant should have accepted the regular bill the plaintiff showed as proof and if the defendant had any doubts about the authenticity of these documents, they could have easily verified this.

The judge felt that the defendant was exploiting the weakness of the plaintiff, knowing how difficult it was for the plaintiff to present the single document demanded by the defendant. The judge concluded that this behavior represented a lack of good faith.

The judge ruled that the plaintiff was entitled to end the contract after 18 months instead of the stipulated 24 months because of the refusal to reimburse the plaintiff.

In addition, the judge ruled the defendant has to pay the plaintiff a total of 4500 shekels.

Note: The Honorable Judge Harvey Grubbs is a native of England. He retired from the bench a few years ago as the Head of the Netanya Court. He is back on the bench in the Kfar Saba and Petach Tikvah Small Claims Court.

 
Sincerely,

 
Tzvi Szajnbrum, Attorney at Law