business not willing to pay for snow removal

[OHRoadwarrior]

In the old days things like this were resolved in the parking lot or a dark alley.

That was when people named their children Guido and Manny. Now they call them Trevor and Brent and it is a courthouse. Honest.

 

[You Are Guilty]

After reading this thread, I'm getting flashbacks.

http://creaturesofsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/11-calvin-and-hobbes-child-pyschologist.gif

 

[quincy]

Hahaha.

I personally think, all legalities aside, that HomeGuru's tongue-in-cheek suggestion to group frowning snowmen in the client's parking lot would be a creative and refreshing way to get the non-paying client's attention (and perhaps money) and maybe avoid a court confrontation.

Again, all legalities aside.

 

[hawk01]

I agree with the snowmen in the parking lot, would I really spend time to do that, probably not, joking about doing "childish" things like that is in no way a bad business practice it's having a little sence of humor when a larger company treats a small company like dirt. Carrying out those "childish" behaviors is where the business practices come into question even if they are well deserved.

 

[hawk01]

Here is the whole story I found out about this morning on the phone. Last summer I gave a written estimate for lawn care and snow removal to a building with 4 or 5 businesses in them. I business owner was my contact. I bid lawn care, bush trimming, snow removal but nowhere in the estimate did I say anything about sprinkler system work. A group of them looked over the estimate and after discussing the charges and lowering them a little on my part, they ok'd it. After the first of Jan. their sprinklers froze and broke some copper parts and sprinkler head condition is unknown at this point. They are withholding around $300.00 from snow removal charges because they believe it's my fault the sprinklers weren't blown out. They want me to pay some ammount for the repairs. They never asked me if I could blow out sprinklers and they told me the last guy did everything so they all missed it on my estimate but believe I should take half of the blame. They fired me from doing lawn care next year but want me to continue snow removal for the remainder of this year. What do I do, all joking aside?

 

[Zigner]

Sue the bad guys in small claims court. Don't plan on doing any work for them in the future.

 

[hawk01]

No one signed anything on either end, it was just them looking over the estimate which I have a copy of and everything else was verbal. Are there any good grounds for me to stand on?

 

[You Are Guilty]

No one signed anything on either end, it was just them looking over the estimate which I have a copy of and everything else was verbal. Are there any good grounds for me to stand on?

Sure. Bring a copy of your estimate and copies of their prior checks (even the partial payments) to help prove up your verbal contract. If you have any witnesses, bring them too. (Heck, if you have any logs or other documentation as to when you did the actual work, bring it all).

Verbal contracts are real things, just harder to prove than written ones.

 

[hawk01]

ok, thank you, do you had a profesional law background if it's ok for me to ask?

 

[quincy]

hawk01, you should read the "Important Notice" at the bottom of this page.

While there are several attorneys who respond to posts on this site, you should take all advice offered on this site (regardless of who offers it) as general information only. The volunteers may or may not have a legal background, but most of the volunteers will have legal knowledge or be skillful researchers, and most of the volunteers who post here regularly are really really really smart (although there are, admittedly, a few idiots who post here, too ).

So, you should take what you learn here and then seek legal advice from an attorney in your area, who has access to all of the facts, and can personally review all of these facts, and advise you accordingly.

(as a note: You Are Guilty is one of the best and the brightest of the volunteers on this forum, so you have been advised well)

 

[hawk01]

Thank you, I understand completely, do you believe it's legal to hold money from a snow removal service to try to cover an incident that had nothing to do with removing the snow that the charges were for?

 

[quincy]

Thank you, I understand completely, do you believe it's legal to hold money from a snow removal service to try to cover an incident that had nothing to do with removing the snow that the charges were for?

huh?

 

[tranquility]

Thank you, I understand completely, do you believe it's legal to hold money from a snow removal service to try to cover an incident that had nothing to do with removing the snow that the charges were for?

Did you break something?

 

[Zigner]

I think the OP is trying to separate his contract in to smaller chunks. He's asking if the customer can refuse to pay for X just because the customer feels you failed to do Y. The problem is that it's all one ball of wax, so no, it's not illegal to withhold payment if a portion of the contract was not fulfilled or because of damage caused. The next step is for the court to decide who is right and who is wrong.

 

[Zigner]

Did you break something?

His customer feels that he's responsible for the breakage because he failed to perform a certain task.