YEARS AGO, I went to small claims court and was the defendant. Garbage company was suing me for non-payment of 3 years. Problem was, a trash container was dropped off at my house when I moved into the neighborhood and I never knew it was private collection and never signed a contract. A guy shows up at my door 3 years later to collect 3 years worth of trash collection. I told him to go fuck himself.
Went to court and it looked like a tiny classroom and the "judge" might have been 30 years old and was wearing khakis and a polo shirt. I got a little snippy with him and he stopped the proceedings and said "this might not look like a court room, but it is; I might not look like a judge, but I am". I got the hint and fell in line and avoided being taken away. My point to the judge was that I never signed a contract and how was I to know this was a private service not paid for by the city. I told him that it was like a scam that this guy drops off trash cans and comes years later to collect a large amount of money. The judge said he saw my point but that by allowing them to take my garbage for 3 years, (can't remember the term) I implicitly was bound contractually. He did say that the statue of limitations only allow the garbage company to collect for the past 9 months. He suspended the case for 30 days and if neither of us came back and settled the matter, it would be dropped. I wrote the guy a check for the 9 months and continued to pay the monthly fee until I sold the house. I still felt like I was cheated but it was an okay compromise.