Silence_Dogood
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
Our company had a maintenance contract with a company that repairs trailer refrigeration units to do preventative maintenance on our units. Before performing major repairs in the past, the company always provided our company with a written estimate describing the work to be performed and how much it should be. About a year ago, the company sent out a repairman to do routine maintenance. The repairman who came out began working on a trailer that did not belong to our company, but was in our parking lot. Unlike all of our trailers, this one did not have our name and logo in big letters on it. It was unmarked. The repairman proceeded to rebuild the entire (long non-functional) cooling unit on the trailer that did not belong to us. After completing repairs, we were presented a bill for just under $5000. The repair company is now suing us for the amount due on the bill, although we have informed them of the name and address of the owner of the trailer which was repaired.
Our company is no way is getting a windfall from this. The trailer that was repaired was never used in service of our company. We allowed the trailer's owner to park the trailer there as a favor. He was storing junk in it. There was no reason for the repairman who came out to think it was a trailer we wanted repaired, beyond the fact that it was broken down and parked in the far corner of our parking lot. No authorization to work on the trailer in question was given by anyone from our company or anyone else that we know of.
Florida Statute 559.905 requires a written estimate be given to the customer and signed if the repairs are more than $100, but specifically excludes "trailers" under the definition of motor vehicles, which is the scope of the statute. As this the repairs were made on the cooling unit of a refrigerated semitrailer, FS 559.905 does not apply.
We don't even have a copy of the maintenance contract anymore, or if there even was one. One employee says there was one but cannot locate it while another employee says it was oral only. The employee who dealt with the plaintiff directly has since moved on may not be friendly to our company now. (Possible unrelated sour grapes.) But either way (written contract or oral) I am positive it would not include allowing major repairs like entire rebuilds without an estimate. That would be outside normal practices in the industry since we often conclude that a cooling unit isn't worth repairing based on the condition of the rest of the trailer.
What legal defense does our company have against the plaintiff's attempt to enforce the repair bill on our company? What about the $500 statute of frauds? What about prior practices?
Our company had a maintenance contract with a company that repairs trailer refrigeration units to do preventative maintenance on our units. Before performing major repairs in the past, the company always provided our company with a written estimate describing the work to be performed and how much it should be. About a year ago, the company sent out a repairman to do routine maintenance. The repairman who came out began working on a trailer that did not belong to our company, but was in our parking lot. Unlike all of our trailers, this one did not have our name and logo in big letters on it. It was unmarked. The repairman proceeded to rebuild the entire (long non-functional) cooling unit on the trailer that did not belong to us. After completing repairs, we were presented a bill for just under $5000. The repair company is now suing us for the amount due on the bill, although we have informed them of the name and address of the owner of the trailer which was repaired.
Our company is no way is getting a windfall from this. The trailer that was repaired was never used in service of our company. We allowed the trailer's owner to park the trailer there as a favor. He was storing junk in it. There was no reason for the repairman who came out to think it was a trailer we wanted repaired, beyond the fact that it was broken down and parked in the far corner of our parking lot. No authorization to work on the trailer in question was given by anyone from our company or anyone else that we know of.
Florida Statute 559.905 requires a written estimate be given to the customer and signed if the repairs are more than $100, but specifically excludes "trailers" under the definition of motor vehicles, which is the scope of the statute. As this the repairs were made on the cooling unit of a refrigerated semitrailer, FS 559.905 does not apply.
We don't even have a copy of the maintenance contract anymore, or if there even was one. One employee says there was one but cannot locate it while another employee says it was oral only. The employee who dealt with the plaintiff directly has since moved on may not be friendly to our company now. (Possible unrelated sour grapes.) But either way (written contract or oral) I am positive it would not include allowing major repairs like entire rebuilds without an estimate. That would be outside normal practices in the industry since we often conclude that a cooling unit isn't worth repairing based on the condition of the rest of the trailer.
What legal defense does our company have against the plaintiff's attempt to enforce the repair bill on our company? What about the $500 statute of frauds? What about prior practices?
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