Defective products are everywhere. You buy some pens and they leak ink inside your shirt pocket. You buy a cleaner, but it does not remove the stains it claims to remove. Instead, it eats holes in what it was supposed to clean. You buy a car because the company claims that it has solved the "dirty diesel" problem and now you can drive an eco-friendly car. Instead, you find that the company cheated the emissions tests, and diesel is still as dirty as it ever was.
So, what can you do about defective products? What kinds of products are worth pursuing a lawsuit? Here is how to determine if your product is actually considered defective, and whether or not you actually would have a case.
Small, Inexpensive Items
Small, inexpensive items, such as a ballpoint pen, while defective in your eyes, are not worth the lawsuit. The only time you should consider pursuing a lawsuit is if the pen leaks inside the pocket of your Armani suit, or the pen causes irreparable damage to something else really expensive. Then you can sue, because you are entitled to a replacement or compensation for the value of the item damaged. In fact, you should view all small, inexpensive, and defective items as something that will just happen, and reserve lawsuits for expensive things damaged by typically inexpensive things.
Medium Expense Items
An example of a medium expense item is a 3D high definition television set. When you pay two or three grand for a device such as this, you have expectations that the device will perform as promised. If there are not as many pixels, the 3D experience is barely 3D, and/or there is something clearly wrong with the backlit display, you should get all of your money back from the store where you bought it. If the store refuses to take back the expensive item, or is only willing to pay you a discounted amount of what you paid, keep the TV and consult with defective products law services and a defective products lawyer. You should get what you expected for your money or get all of your money back, period.
High Expense Items, Fraudulent Items, or Items That Could Maim or Kill You
Without a single doubt, this is the definitive category of items where you absolutely should sue. Thousands upon thousands of dollars are owed to you, the consumer. Regardless of the length of time you used the item before finding out that you were cheated, or that the item had defective parts, you still get your money back.
Additionally, all items that have the potential to maim or kill you are worthy of a lawsuit. Typically, it is car manufacturers that are guilty of this, but plane manufactures and appliance manufacturers have also been guilty in the past. You should be able to operate the machines you buy without fear of losing life or limb. Companies like these are expected to send out recall notices or repair and replace the faulty parts at no charge to you. When you are not satisfied by their actions, and you expect a full refund, that also gives you some ground to sue.
Going back to the car manufacturer at the beginning, it was discovered that the fraudulent claims not only defrauded the U.S. government, but the citizens of the U.S. the actual emissions that were dumped into U.S. air were even higher and more lethal than those emitted by all other diesel vehicles on the road in the U.S. today. Cases like this result in a class action suit, with monetary or product compensation being the end result. You should expect the same for your defective product lawsuit.
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