I agreed to pay too much

[tranquility]

My mentor let me use his client's property but I made a mistake and ended up owing money within a week after I started my internship.

What happened that made you feel you owed money. What was the "mistake"?

I agreed to pay because I knew I messed up and I felt he was entitled to be compensated.

How did you mess up?

The concern I have and had is, what is the consideration they gave for the "contract"? I assume it would be to give up the potential lawsuit against you, but if there really isn't any legal basis for you having liability for the mistake that could be a problem. The information I think important is more related to the mistake and not the agreement.

 

[BL]

What happened that made you feel you owed money. What was the "mistake"?

How did you mess up?

The concern I have and had is, what is the consideration they gave for the "contract"? I assume it would be to give up the potential lawsuit against you, but if there really isn't any legal basis for you having liability for the mistake that could be a problem. The information I think important is more related to the mistake and not the agreement.

I went to the dendist today ,but they didn't have to pull any teeth .

 

[tranquility]

Heck, while we're here, tell us more about this unpaid internship.

 

[Antigone*]

Heck, while we're here, tell us more about this unpaid internship.

I sure hope you're in the mood to bartend.

 

[fayesplease]

What happened that made you feel you owed money. What was the "mistake"?

How did you mess up?

The concern I have and had is, what is the consideration they gave for the "contract"? I assume it would be to give up the potential lawsuit against you, but if there really isn't any legal basis for you having liability for the mistake that could be a problem. The information I think important is more related to the mistake and not the agreement.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize what facts you guys wanted. I made a mistake and damaged my mentor's client's property that my mentor gave me to use. I thought I was doing something the right way but it turned out I wasn't and the property ended up getting damaged.

My question is not whether I am liable for the mistake. I consider myself liable and I do not mind paying something for my mistake. I just want to know if he asked me to pay and I agreed in writing, does it matter at all that I find out later that he is asking me to pay too much? It wouldn't surprise me if it didn't and I actually feel that I already missed the boat as far as paying less but I just wanted to make sure.

 

[tranquility]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize what facts you guys wanted. I made a mistake and damaged my mentor's client's property that my mentor gave me to use. I thought I was doing something the right way but it turned out I wasn't and the property ended up getting damaged.

My question is not whether I am liable for the mistake. I consider myself liable and I do not mind paying something for my mistake. I just want to know if he asked me to pay and I agreed in writing, does it matter at all that I find out later that he is asking me to pay too much? It wouldn't surprise me if it didn't and I actually feel that I already missed the boat as far as paying less but I just wanted to make sure.

If you consider yourself liable, then pay as much as you think you're liable for. If they don't like the amount, let them prove up their damages. Just because there is an "agreement" does not make you liable for more unless they gave up something for the agreement. What did they give up?

 

[fayesplease]

Heck, while we're here, tell us more about this unpaid internship.

There wasn't too much too it. I thought it would give me something to do in my spare time while I learned something. We cleaned the area, and had some training time. The others were there all day but I was only there from 7am to 10:45am. We didn't start cleaning right at seven. Depnding on when we started, we would be done by 9 to 9:30. Then there would be a little downtime and then at 9:30 to 10:00 we would either go to the classroom and watch videos or have a lecture or do something hands on. I figured we "interns" were mostly just free labor but I didn't care.

 

[Antigone*]

You had to ask, dincha tranq...

 

[LdiJ]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize what facts you guys wanted. I made a mistake and damaged my mentor's client's property that my mentor gave me to use. I thought I was doing something the right way but it turned out I wasn't and the property ended up getting damaged.

My question is not whether I am liable for the mistake. I consider myself liable and I do not mind paying something for my mistake. I just want to know if he asked me to pay and I agreed in writing, does it matter at all that I find out later that he is asking me to pay too much? It wouldn't surprise me if it didn't and I actually feel that I already missed the boat as far as paying less but I just wanted to make sure.

While I agree with Tranq's answer, you are still being vague. Why don't you tell us exactly what you damaged, how you damaged it, why you agree to pay a certain amount, what that amount is, and why exactly you feel that you have now discovered that its too much?

I will give you an example: Mr. X lent me a laptop. I accidentally spilled soda on the laptop. Mr. X told it it would cost 500.00 to repair and I agreed in writing to pay that to repair the laptop. I later found out from Mr. Y that it only cost 125.00 to repair the laptop. I have paid that much already. Am I obligated to pay the full 500.00?

Those are the kind of facts we are looking for.

 

[BL]

I sure hope you're in the mood to bartend.

Now we're from damaging something to cleaning .

Must be some good stuff.

 

[tranquility]

I have no idea why you are answering as you are. You say one thing in the beginning of your post and then say you don't really care at the end. From your phraseology, I'm also starting to think you are not a U.S. citizen. That does not make what has gone on wrong from your position, but it makes this unpaid internship a bit more clear.

Frankly, I'd be done with it all and tell everyone to just move on. If they want to sue you, let them sue you. They're not going to get more than the damage you've done. Sure, there is a possibility they could get the agreement amount. (I still hesitate to call it a contract, but it certainly could be.) But, the more you write, the more doubtful I am that they would want to sue you over it.

Frankly, because you seem so trustworthy, I just want you to know I am also a minister of a small African country that happens to have some funds tied up in a U.S. bank. Please PM me with your contact information, including your bank account numbers and I will transfer this money to you. You will then allocate that money to a government representative--after taking your 10% expediter's fee of course.

 

[fayesplease]

If you consider yourself liable, then pay as much as you think you're liable for. If they don't like the amount, let them prove up their damages. Just because there is an "agreement" does not make you liable for more unless they gave up something for the agreement. What did they give up?

Well, I think he gave up something when he paid the client but it's not mentioned in my note because I didn't know he was going to do that. I just got a cashier's check made out to him, made a copy of it, and wrote a little note on the copy saying that I owed my mentor money because of the property I damaged and that I was going to pay a certain amount. Then I got the note notarized. I didn't bother to put the client's name on it since I don't know who the client is anyway. I just wanted it to be proof that I paid my mentor so he couldn't come back later and say I didn't pay or say that I owed him more money. I just thought I would give the check to him and then he would give his client that amount of money. After I made the first payment, he said he would scrounge up the other 90% and pay the client off so the next two payments would be paying the mentor back for the money he gave to the client to pay for the damages I caused. I never asked for any proof of how much the client was asking for or anything like that.

 

[Antigone*]

Forget the funsuckers...

BL do you have the Nitros???

 

[swalsh411]

Property damage is a risk you take when you bring on unpaid interns. Unless it was deliberate I don't think you owe him anything. I would stop paying immediately and let him sue you.

 

[fayesplease]

While I agree with Tranq's answer, you are still being vague. Why don't you tell us exactly what you damaged, how you damaged it, why you agree to pay a certain amount, what that amount is, and why exactly you feel that you have now discovered that its too much?

I will give you an example: Mr. X lent me a laptop. I accidentally spilled soda on the laptop. Mr. X told it it would cost 500.00 to repair and I agreed in writing to pay that to repair the laptop. I later found out from Mr. Y that it only cost 125.00 to repair the laptop. I have paid that much already. Am I obligated to pay the full 500.00?

Those are the kind of facts we are looking for.

It seems you have a perfect understanding of the situation whether I was being vague or not.

I agreed to pay a certain amount because that's the amount he asked for. I didn't do any homework on the subject and I thought that the law doesn't protect you just because you don't do your homework but I wanted to get some advice and be sure.

I discovered he's probably asking too much because I've been working to try to find a replacement or repair the property somehow before my last payment is due. I've been talking to people about this. My mentor had other items of the same type and age from this client and I found out that my mentor advertised them online as being for sale. I had my friend call up my mentor and ask what he wanted for them and that's how I find out how much he really thought the property was worth.