You have to serve them, but you can do it through a registered letter. There is very likely a nonprofit legal services entity in your area that can advise you about how the process works and what you need to do, at low or no cost.

It's not nearly as complex or intimidating as it seems. Most of what is needed for normal court is not needed for small claims. The whole point of small claims court is to make courts useful for smaller cases, to regular people who aren't legal experts or loaded with money.

The one gotcha most people aren't aware of is if a court (small claims or otherwise) rules in your favor, it's still on you to collect whatever was awarded. The courts won't do that part -- all they do is give you the legal power to do it.

However, 90% of the time when a company is involved and they don't have a strong case, they'll just settle with you before the court ever hears the case.

My main piece of advice is to collect and retain every document you can that relates to the matter, including emails, personal notes you may have made, etc., and bring it all into court (if you actually end up having to be in court.) Have it organized so that if/when the judge asks for something, you can find it quickly.