customer gone bad. do i file first?

[mmonsey]

What is the name of your state? texas

I own a small plumbing company and am having a bad time with a customer. did work under her slab in jan 2003. she had additional problems we do not work on (speptic system was full) and was shown(via a video sewer camera) and told it was full and we do not clean them. now she has charged back via her credit card company a check her gave us as final payment. charge back has caused major problems with my bank account and from what i am told was illegal. can i file for bank service charges on her in small claims court.

her has complained to the plumbing board. (they found in our favour) and will propably file in small claims court against us.

is it better if i file first?

 

[Terry7]

What was the SPECIFIED work you were to/agreed to preform ?

If you were contracted to come & fix the problem,and did not complete the job, I don't see how you could recover.

Finnally,being even a small contractor,you should be able to tell,the septic system is FULL,or at least check that FIRST.
So, she may have had a right to stop payment , for your neglect of not checking first things first,especially if your licensed.

If you tore up the slab,It was NOT specified to be done by the consumer,that didn't NEED to be done,then they can sue you !!

 

[mmonsey]

the first thing we did was check for leaks. leaks were found on the water system and the sewer system. video inspection of the line showed the break as well as the full sysptic system. the customer agreed to us fixing the water and sewer leaks and signed the contract.

 

[djohnson]

Typically when someone denies a charge on the credit card, the CC company would send you something to verify. You would send that in and prove legit transaction. Has all that happened and now the only difference is the fees on your bank account? If so then I would think you may have a case in small claims court. You will need that proof. If you never fought it out with the credit card company they could use that against you.

 

[mmonsey]

proof

i have over 50 pages of documents. the charge back is based on a check not a credit card. (fact is not disputed by customer) i am almost positive i will win the second charge back on the check amount. my worry now is she will charge back the real amount after the check charge back is over, which will mean 3 more months of hell.

do you know if there is any way to avoid a third and fourth charge back from the same person for a diffrent amount?

 

[djohnson]

I'm confused as to what actually happened with the payment. You state in your first post that she charged back via credit card, now you are saying it was a check. Can you please be more specific on the payment and how it has been followed up on.

 

[mmonsey]

payment

this case is confusing
partial payment was made via cc ($2353) the day work was complete. check ($2040) was mailed to us a week later. her credit card company has allowed her to charge back the check amount $2040.

just got update that her credit card company is saying they are only doing a partial charge back of the original cc amount ($2353). seems funny that it is the same amount as the check which the customer says she tried to stop payment on

 

[Terry7]

Still confused:
Orig. post charged back CC final ck amount $2040
$2353 seems funny is the same amount they TRYED to stop payment on.

Let me see if i get this straight ( let me know ).
You did a job.
They PD. you $2353 CC
They sent a CK final payment $2040,but stopped payment.
They tryed stopping the payment.
The Plumbing board sided w/ you.
So what your loss ?? If the bank is charging it back to her CC,then you shold get your payment and the bank should retract any fees you incurred ( what they are you haven't explained ).
You should then be Balenced out.