going to the mediator soon

[mia001]

What is the name of your state? CA



Hello,
My client is suing me for the work that's paid in full at the end of the day with overall satisfaction.

The work took about 8 days and it was hardwood floor refinishing. It was sanding one room, and buffing two rooms.
Three rooms cost him $527 + $356 + $427 = $1310, which includes $100 each room for base board.

He is suing me for two rooms ($356 + $427), but actual amount he is suing me is $1233.

okay..here is the situation.
He didn't want to pay for these two rooms so he only asked me for buffing. I did all the work and he paid in full at the end of day.

He moved the furniture, and the floor poly peeled off. He asked me to come out and fix it for him, but I said I can't and enclosed him $150 for him to fix it.

He cashed out the check and now he is suing me for more money.

What I think I should give him is this:

He is only suing me for two rooms, $783.
Substract base board fee <$200>
Substract labor fee for moving furniture and removing the carpet <$250>

So it comes out to about $333.

I already paid him $150, and he cashed out, so the remaining $180 to offer.

But he is suing me for $1233 that he probably got from other estimator....maybe for sanding...now he wants me to pay for his sanding...

Trust me, the carpet was 50 years old with water stains all over...
The floor looks a lot better right now, and if he gets this money, basically he got that floor done for free.

Do you think this is reasonable?
Honestly, I don't want to give him a penny, but I really don't want to go to a court, and missing my other work.

I am also unlicensed for flooring work. Can he sue me for doing the job and not being licensed?


Thanks in advance....

 

[Tercr6]

Was there a signed contract or was this verbal ?
If it was a contract,what was the specified terms ?
Did you advise him to wait for the period if time specified for the poly to dry before walking on/putting his furniture back ?
Did you advertize your Services and if so how ? or was this a casual agreement ?
How much experience have you had in this kind of work ?
Can you show in written directions ,how this job is preformed,and back up that you preformed the job satisfactory ?
If he was pleased with the work & paid you,and your correctly advised him to wait the correct amount of time for drying,(and he didn't - wich caused the marks),It's on him !!
I take it after you sanded the one room,you polyed it.He was pleased with 1 room,but not the other two,after the fact because he mared them ?
Sounds like he wants something for nothing !!
On the other hand you offered him the money to repair what he messed up( could be construde you admit fault ).
He accepted it !! and now wants more . If he cashed the ck,what was the memo on the ck. PD in full. partial payment payment for repair ??
You'll have to examine these many factors,but i doubt he would get what he wants unless the wood itself was scratched,and your work was unsatisfactory.
Do some home work ( and get documentation) that the work you preformed was correct proceedures,and you then offered to let him repair "his" neglect, of not waiting the proper amount of time,before using the floor, as a "GOOD GUESTER "only.

 

[mia001]

Thanks.........Also...

Was there a signed contract or was this verbal ?
**** There was a signed contract. At the end of the day, I signed his contract paper that I got paid full. He wanted to make sure that he paid in full and the work was done. I even wrote the words, "paid in full".

If it was a contract,what was the specified terms ?
**** There wasn't any specified terms. 1 room dried very fast since it was sanded, but 2,3 rooms were drying slow. But it shouldn't take more than a week.

Did you advise him to wait for the period if time specified for the poly to dry before walking on/putting his furniture back ?
**** Yeah, I told him he can walk lightly after 2-3 days, but he should wait at least a week to move the heavy furniture, and most importantly, he should check before he does it. I told him to use the best judgement.

Did you advertize your Services and if so how ? or was this a casual agreement ?
****I advertised it in yellow page.

How much experience have you had in this kind of work ?
**** I did professionally in Michigan working for somebody for 3 years, but after I moved to California, I did 1 year working for somebody. And I changed my career to office administrator for 2 years. It was my part time job to make some extra money. But I know what I am doing.

Can you show in written directions ,how this job is preformed,and back up that you preformed the job satisfactory ?
****Well, at the last day, he asked me how much is the total, and asked me if I had invoices and receipts and stuff. ( He knows that I did a lot of extra work, and spent money for little materials...). I told him I just want what we agreed on originally, $1310.
There was one more charge during the work, removing a big stains in room 2. We agreed on it for $200. I started removing the stain, and he started telling me it's too expensive. I didn't say anything at that time, but at the end of the work, I told him I won't charge that $200 since you thought it was too expensive. I was very confident that he totally got his money back from the work.
When I told him that I will only charge him $1310, original cost, he asked me,"Really? But we agreed to pay....why don't I give you $100 more instead of $200?"
So final check that I got from him is $1410.

If he was pleased with the work & paid you,and your correctly advised him to wait the correct amount of time for drying,(and he didn't - wich caused the marks),It's on him !!
I take it after you sanded the one room,you polyed it.He was pleased with 1 room,but not the other two,after the fact because he mared them ?
****Exactly.... Why would he pay me if he wasn't satisfied? I remember that on third day, he told me that he woundn't pay me if it doesn't look good, and threathening me that he was at war a long time ago, etc......Well...I didn't say anything, actually I showed him respect and kind...
My fiance also helped me out during work, and she is asian. He would talk to her like, "So, are you gonna sweep the floor today?" stuff like that. I admit that she doesn't know everything, but she learned a lot from me. Of course, she felt that she was discriminated, but she didnt' say anything. She tried to pretend that she was okay. Even telling him that he looks very young compare to his age and stuff like that...

Sounds like he wants something for nothing !!
On the other hand you offered him the money to repair what he messed up( could be construde you admit fault ).
****I thought that I wasn't doing the best customer service for him. I just wanted him to be happy. That's why I didn't charge him for all those extra work that I did. I feel really betrayed, and I don't even want to do it again. The other big reason is that I didn't want to deal with him at all, but then he was my customer, that's why I offered him money.......
I talked to him with letters because I knew that he would yell at me. On the letter, I told him, "I am not responsible for someting that you did, and this is the best I can offer you for you to fix it. Otherwise you can take further action".
Since I didn't answer his phone calls, he wrote me a letter first saying that he would take a further action if I don't come out and fix it.


He accepted it !! and now wants more . If he cashed the ck,what was the memo on the ck. PD in full. partial payment payment for repair ??
****Basically, that's what I said. Best offer I can do, and sorry that I can't come out to your house....I wasn't expecting he would cash it out if he wanted more... after I checked the check was cashed out, I thoght I could breath....but then next day, I received the letter saying I need to go the mediator.......

You'll have to examine these many factors,but i doubt he would get what he wants unless the wood itself was scratched,and your work was unsatisfactory.
Do some home work ( and get documentation) that the work you preformed was correct proceedures,and you then offered to let him repair "his" neglect, of not waiting the proper amount of time,before using the floor, as a "GOOD GUESTER "only.
****Thank you so so so so much for your help. I am so fraustrated....

 

[Terry7]

I wouldn't be discourage from doing this work again:
As Protections to you though, write up a specified contract/estimate,of what work that will be preformed,and the projected out come"
( as an example: Hardwood floor in living room: Condition-2 ft. stain in center. will sand entired floor,refinish,no garrenties sanding will entirely eliminate stain after.
Do this for all parts of the job to be preformed.
Write on contract ,payment due at the time of completion, or whatever your terms.
After work is completed take pictures.If the consumer ask why your doing this,tell them it's nothing personal,I do this on all my work,and i use the pictures as references for potential costomers.
In the event you run into a situation such as this,you not only will have been paid,but you can prove through pictures the end product of your work.

In this case he told you in 3 days of your work if he wasn't satisfied,you would not get paid.He may denie this at mediation,but if he admitts it,that will be in your favor,bring Your girlfreinfd as your whitness.

 

[MAPLE BLUES]

You at least deserve credit for refunding him the $ for fixing the damages. I'm in a similar situation, but on the customer side. A man came and did our floors did a horible job, when he refuse to fix them we refused to pay. our state law requires us to pay him then presue a law suit. this all could have been resolved if an agreement could have been made to fix the problem. Have you tried to agree to repair the "damage"?