What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I bought a number of chairs from a restaurant for resale. Referred by the restaurant mgr., I contacted the original upholsterer as they had the patterns on file. I had 10 chairs recovered by them over a period of about 18 months. I would take a few in, choose fabric, pay a deposit, pay the balance on completion. They did the work as they had time between big commercial orders. It is not my main income, so there was no urgency. It was a very friendly, casual relationship. The manager knew we came a long distance to the shop, and encouraged us to leave chairs there so they could work on them when they had time. We left only as many as we paid a deposit for. We finished three orders this way, except for two chairs from the third order that had to be done over due to a mistake on their part. Those two were fully paid for. We left a fourth order, six chairs, with a deposit on the same day we left the two to be redone. Months passed. The mgr told me on two occasions that they had been very busy and she'd contact me when the order was ready. I didn't hear from her, and then health issues caused me to put the whole project on hold. I finally called the shop last month and the manager I had such a good relationship with had left the business under very bad circumstances, a lawsuit. The owner knew nothing about them, but eventually found my chairs stored in the rafters of her warehouse. They are asking more than $700. storage before they will give the chairs back. It's true that 20 months passed since my last contact with the shop, but it was an open invoice, why didn't they contact me when the previous mgr left? There is nothing on my invoices or their website outlining storage policy or fee liability. The relationship with the previous manager, my only contact with the business, led me to feel that this was still an open, ongoing project. Can they legally charge me storage? The chairs were obviously not in their way since they knew nothing about them until I called. Do I have any recourse?
I bought a number of chairs from a restaurant for resale. Referred by the restaurant mgr., I contacted the original upholsterer as they had the patterns on file. I had 10 chairs recovered by them over a period of about 18 months. I would take a few in, choose fabric, pay a deposit, pay the balance on completion. They did the work as they had time between big commercial orders. It is not my main income, so there was no urgency. It was a very friendly, casual relationship. The manager knew we came a long distance to the shop, and encouraged us to leave chairs there so they could work on them when they had time. We left only as many as we paid a deposit for. We finished three orders this way, except for two chairs from the third order that had to be done over due to a mistake on their part. Those two were fully paid for. We left a fourth order, six chairs, with a deposit on the same day we left the two to be redone. Months passed. The mgr told me on two occasions that they had been very busy and she'd contact me when the order was ready. I didn't hear from her, and then health issues caused me to put the whole project on hold. I finally called the shop last month and the manager I had such a good relationship with had left the business under very bad circumstances, a lawsuit. The owner knew nothing about them, but eventually found my chairs stored in the rafters of her warehouse. They are asking more than $700. storage before they will give the chairs back. It's true that 20 months passed since my last contact with the shop, but it was an open invoice, why didn't they contact me when the previous mgr left? There is nothing on my invoices or their website outlining storage policy or fee liability. The relationship with the previous manager, my only contact with the business, led me to feel that this was still an open, ongoing project. Can they legally charge me storage? The chairs were obviously not in their way since they knew nothing about them until I called. Do I have any recourse?
