A Fort Collins man is in a nasty legal battle with the Girls Scouts over $42 dollars worth of cookies. He paid with a check, his check was returned, he was sent to collections, and if he ends up on the losing end of this judgment, he could end up paying nearly $800 for for $42 cookie purchase.

Sounds like a nightmare.

According to The Denver Channel, the guy's name is Tad Osborn, and he wrote a $42 check for cookies to a Girl Scout Troop back in January of 2013.

He says the next thing he heard about his 'bad check' was when he was contacted by a collection agency for using a check from a closed account along with a bill for $84 (The original check amount plus $40 in charges.)

The Denver Channel report that Osborn says he has a letter from his bank saying he has never closed an account with them, he wrote a letter disputing the charges, and says he contacted the Girl Scouts, who said it was out of their hands since it had been sent to collections. He says he even sent the Girl Scouts another check for $42 to try and make amends, but that check was never cashed.

Now, the collection agency is seeking a judgment that breaks down Osborn having to pay $126 in principal balance, $450 in attorney fees, and $163.85 in court costs. A total of $739.85 for a measly $42 worth of Girl Scout Cookies.

Ouch!

I do have to say, I am very impressed with the way Osborn seems to be handling himself. At least the way the Denver Channel story was written, it looks like this poor guy is just trying to not lose $700 over a few boxes of cookies and a bank miscue and not trying to run a Girl Scout smear campaign.

I don't have anything against the Girl Scouts or their cause. I just feel like [Girl Scout] management should've listened to me when I explained the situation and made it right...

The Girl Scout management mishandled this for sure. They didn't contact me. They didn't follow their own internal procedures. I don't blame the Girl Scouts. I think it's a nonprofit organization that does great for kids.

You can read the entire story from the Denver Channel's investigative report here. There are a lot of details to be had in this one.

Obviously, there is always more than one side to a story, but if everything this guy says is true and I were in his shoes, I would be more than a little upset. I mean, I was peeved that the price for a box of cookies was going up 50-cents, this guy might be out hundreds of dollars because some clerical or banking error mistook his checking account for a closed one.

Now, because of this fiasco, someone has to pay for all the legal mumbo-jumbo. Do you think it should be this guy or the Girl Scouts? (Or maybe the bank that screwed up in taking the check to begin with?)

We'll all find out what happens when this goes to trial on May 8th, 2014.

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