That letter is beautiful, you don't need anything else to win in small claims court. Even a first year torts law student would know not to admit to your client being at fault in a legal document. I like the part how a representative told you it wouldn't work, and that it would fail, yet went ahead and made you one any ways because you insisted, what did you do hold a gun to his head <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> What a complete fool, he gave you everything you need to prove your claim. Atleast before you got the letter the shop could have claimed you didn't tell them what you wanted to do with the driveshaft. Passing the Vermont state bar must be one of the easiest in the nation with a moron like this being licensed to practice law.

I would think it shouldn't take you long to get the money depending on how back logged the small claims court are in your area, at worste it shouldn't be more than 1-2 yrs, and is definately worth persuing. It would have been nice if your first letter would have done the trick, but thanks to their response you shouldn't have any problem recovering your damages in court. With any luck after you file in small claims court, they will settle up to avoid any bad publicity.