So I will try to sum up this crazy problem:
We started a new 10u TB softball team this fall. We held tryouts during the summer and filled our team. We had 3 girls that were very close to making the team, but not quite ready. I will call them A, B, C. The Dad of A offered to start a 2nd team (team 2). He had experience being a HC for a few years. He asked if we could help him get it started and if he could use our team name, and piggyback on all of the startup efforts we had already completed. Player A, B, C all said they were in, and through a few connections, we quickly added 4 more players (players D,E,F,G). All players paid their dues ($280) for the fall (few tournaments), but they paid the dues to me since I was helping get things started and I had a PayPal account. At this time, we ordered uniforms, paid league dues, etc. We were quite confident in finding 3-4 more players within 30 days. A few days later, player B and C quit. They claimed that the team wasn't good enough and they were done. That caused the entire team to collapse and fold. I was able to get about 65-70% of the money refunded for items purchased. I gave the refund amount to the Dad/Coach to allocate back to the players. He decided to pay back players D,E,F,G 100% of their money since the team folding was not their fault, and he refunded back A (his daughter) some money as well. He elected to not pay back player B or C anything since they quit the team and the agreement they signed says "no refunds".
Fast forward a few weeks, and player B and C are threatening ME with a small claims lawsuit, and have already filed a claim with PayPal for the full amount. They are also threatening to file a complaint with our league, and all softball governing bodies unless I pay them back $175 each. Paying them anything at this point would be coming directly out of my pocket.
So....do I:
1. Pay the money and walk away? I would be out at least $350 on a team that I was only helping.
2. Answer the claim with PayPal and see if I win? If I win I pay nothing, but if I lose I pay it all.
3. If I win the PayPal claim, they will most likely still proceed with small claims where I could lose full amount of payment (plus court costs).
4. Any downside to them reporting me to local league, and governing bodies?
Please help. The easy thing to do is pay the money, but I am already down over $1k on MY team, and I don't feel this is fair or just. The contract they signed said "no refunds" is that ok?
We started a new 10u TB softball team this fall. We held tryouts during the summer and filled our team. We had 3 girls that were very close to making the team, but not quite ready. I will call them A, B, C. The Dad of A offered to start a 2nd team (team 2). He had experience being a HC for a few years. He asked if we could help him get it started and if he could use our team name, and piggyback on all of the startup efforts we had already completed. Player A, B, C all said they were in, and through a few connections, we quickly added 4 more players (players D,E,F,G). All players paid their dues ($280) for the fall (few tournaments), but they paid the dues to me since I was helping get things started and I had a PayPal account. At this time, we ordered uniforms, paid league dues, etc. We were quite confident in finding 3-4 more players within 30 days. A few days later, player B and C quit. They claimed that the team wasn't good enough and they were done. That caused the entire team to collapse and fold. I was able to get about 65-70% of the money refunded for items purchased. I gave the refund amount to the Dad/Coach to allocate back to the players. He decided to pay back players D,E,F,G 100% of their money since the team folding was not their fault, and he refunded back A (his daughter) some money as well. He elected to not pay back player B or C anything since they quit the team and the agreement they signed says "no refunds".
Fast forward a few weeks, and player B and C are threatening ME with a small claims lawsuit, and have already filed a claim with PayPal for the full amount. They are also threatening to file a complaint with our league, and all softball governing bodies unless I pay them back $175 each. Paying them anything at this point would be coming directly out of my pocket.
So....do I:
1. Pay the money and walk away? I would be out at least $350 on a team that I was only helping.
2. Answer the claim with PayPal and see if I win? If I win I pay nothing, but if I lose I pay it all.
3. If I win the PayPal claim, they will most likely still proceed with small claims where I could lose full amount of payment (plus court costs).
4. Any downside to them reporting me to local league, and governing bodies?
Please help. The easy thing to do is pay the money, but I am already down over $1k on MY team, and I don't feel this is fair or just. The contract they signed said "no refunds" is that ok?
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