Is it worth taking them to court, and can I make them pay my legal expenses?

Long story short, I'm in college and my roommate and I often ordered Chinese delivery together. Later we were contacted by the restaurant and my friend was refunded an amount of money because they claimed to have charged her double in the past.



Well, after hearing that I decided to check my account out of curiosity to be sure it wasn't done to me. Turned out that I had been charged double as well. My friend and I compared our bank statements to be sure the refund wasn't to supposed to have been mine. Her bank statement showed double charges as well on the same dates that it happened to me.



I explained all of this to the Chinese restaurant but he insists that he had already given the money back. The total for all of the double charges adds up to almost $50, and I'm not ready to let it go. If I need to I will drag them to court. College is expensive and I can't afford to lose ANY money.



I want so badly to take my claim to court, and I know that I would win as our bank statements are evidence enough. But will the restaurant be liable to pay my legal expenses if I do win?Is it worth taking them to court, and can I make them pay my legal expenses?
Small claims court is the way to go. It won't be worth the trouble to get the money back, but it will prove a point.



There are certain laws that let you recoup legal expenses, but they all stipulate reasonable amounts, and you wouldn't get away with a $10,000 legal bill over a $50 dispute.



Another, probably better, option is to complain to your bank. If you used the Visa/Mastercard feature, a successful dispute could lead to a bad record on their merchant account, and they don't want too many of those.



It's a shame some of these places haven't learned that good service and honesty are how you make it in business in this country.
File in small claims on your own. You should be able to find the procedures for your court jurisdiction on the internet easily enough. It will only cost you a filing fee and you're very likely to win. Is it worth taking them to court, and can I make them pay my legal expenses?
Go visit him with the statements. People can be a lot easier to deal with than you think.

Btw, for a broke college student you sure spend a lot on Chinese food! Just kidding.
The thing I'm confused with is how on earth do you claim to not be able to lose any money, yet your able to order $50 worth of Chinese food over a period of time?Is it worth taking them to court, and can I make them pay my legal expenses?
I don't want to answer With a question of my own but here goes. How much could you get done in studying time or resting or relaxing with friends? For fifty dollars is it worth what the restaurant owner is doing to you he hasn't given you a moment of thought while you are letting him in to disrupt much of you life that he has no Business to. So start a tally with the fifty dollars and the hourly fee that you think your time is worth and the time it will take in civil court I don't see punitive damages so if as you say you can prove with every statement that he is into you for the fifty and you win the whole fifty back what is it worth now?
Taking a restaurant to court for just the amount of $50. doesn't worth it! Why not just go and to the restaurant and show them that they charge you double. As long as you have the receipt as your evidence and your bank account as well.

Lawyers are not interested to take your case, since you don't have a real case (no money for them in your case). Ask the Restaurant about it but make sure that you're certain about them double charging you. Best of luck.