Location: Colorado
In June 2025, I dropped off two pairs of high-end sunglasses at a national eyewear retailer for simple lens replacement. Over several visits, the store repeatedly damaged them during installation. Both pairs were ultimately returned to me unusable.
In August, management offered reimbursement if I purchased replacements myself. I did so (~$1,150) and submitted receipts. Since then, I have been promised multiple times that a reimbursement check was “authorized” or “overnighted,” but nothing ever arrived. I have filed complaints with the BBB and the Colorado Attorney General, but the company continues to delay.
Because I began to doubt reimbursement would ever happen, I returned the new pairs within the return window. However, I am still left with my two original sunglasses destroyed by the store’s mishandling.
My questions:
- Can I take this retailer to Colorado small claims court for the value of my destroyed property?
- How much will getting this processed cost? How long?
- How likely is a win?
- Should I name the local store or the corporate entity as the defendant?
- Am I limited to the property value, or can I also ask for additional costs such as time and travel?
Comments
Take a look at the “small claims” section to see if it works for you:
https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/
You returned the glasses, so you can’t claim the expense for replacement. You can only claim the damage to the existing pairs.
If they find out you returned the replacements and are still pursuing them under that premise, it could be construed as fraud.
Your small claims case though for damages should be fairly straight forward. They damaged them, told you the checks in the mail, etc. that’s usually enough for you to argue they agreed they damaged the goods.
However, your old glasses will likely be argued for depreciation. Because they were not new and almost everything goes down in value the past 50 years accept high end collectibles and houses.
If the replacement was $1150, odds are they will argue it should only be X % because you had them for so many years.