Being taking to court by tradie

[sunshine]

I will cut a long story short,

Tradie went over agreed budget, he says by a little bit, I say a bl@@dy lot - 50%

I need some guidance as to how much of the story I can tell here without legal advice?

Anyways, I basically said (in writing) that not paying more than the agreed budget and the reasons why. I got a call and after lots of ranting and raving and ranting (not on my part though) he said see you in court - I look forward to it I said - almost 6 months ago.

Now I have received the statement of claim for the Small Claims Tribunal and have way under the 28 days to respond - or not. This is being done on his behalf by a debt collection agency.

My solicitor is out of the office at the moment, so I am busily researching what I need to do next.

Has any body been here?? Any advice (apart from told you so - that has been hubby's job for a little while now )

 

[Xenia]

How much would it cost in legal fees vs just paying the bill to the tradie?

We had a drafts person quote max $5000 for a development project and after alot of stuffing around and delays (by him), we recieved a bill for $10,000.

We didn't want a court case so just paid him and moved on. Our motto is that we can make more than $5000 focusing on our business and investments than focusing on a court case and wasting time. We will never use him again and have warned people not to use him, but we put it down to learning rather than fighting it.

Focusing on something negative just drains your energy and takes you away from where you want to head in life. Is it worth it????

The reason why I mentioned all the above is: Is it really worth it? Even if you win the court case how much is your time worth. What was the bill for? How much money has he gone over? Did he do a decent job anyway?

 

[Sunfish]

I doubt you can take a lawyer with you into the small claims court. That's the point of it.

Does he have a case? Unforseen difficulties for example. If you insist on a written quote which can't be varied, it is reasonable for the tradie to add a 25% "contingency" charge. Occasionally someone will ask me to fix some gear I know a little about and I will quote on a "best endeavour" basis. I'm trying to convince a tradie mate of mine to give written quotes on that basis too, especially on older and European cars. He has spent a lot of time and money on an old Merc and has not been paid because there are still problems. The problem is the bluddy car.

 

[sunshine]

How much would it cost in legal fees vs just paying the bill to the tradie?

Checking this out

We had a drafts person quote max $5000 for a development project and after alot of stuffing around and delays (by him), we recieved a bill for $10,000.

We didn't want a court case so just paid him and moved on. Our motto is that we can make more than $5000 focusing on our business and investments than focusing on a court case and wasting time. We will never use him again and have warned people not to use him, but we put it down to learning rather than fighting it.

Focusing on something negative just drains your energy and takes you away from where you want to head in life. Is it worth it????

I have been trying to use the power of positive energy and asking te universe to get this dropped, but perhaps the old "you attract what you think about" could be in play

The reason why I mentioned all the above is: Is it really worth it? Even if you win the court case how much is your time worth. What was the bill for? How much money has he gone over? Did he do a decent job anyway?

Good points Xenia.

Probably not. agreed budget/quote was for under $5000. Accounts came to $6700. Job was not finished and fairly ordinary, with the clean up left to me.

Landscaping

When asked for itemised account for specific works, he could not provide as he did not keep those records. e.g paving quoted as under $800 but account more than double which equals roughly $156 per sqm laying only . what the ...

I did let some tradies get away with more than I should have on this particular reno, but I can't seem to let this one go for some reason ...

 

[sunshine]

I don't believe he does have a case Sunfish. I believe that although a couple of things were added, a much larger job was not done. For my way of thinking this should not be adding anything extra on at all.

When I asked him if it would go over the budget of $5000 (before the works were started), he replied "oh god no, not that much"

In one part of the "itemised account" 1 hour to move sprinkler $85 - don't think so...I was there

anyway I think I am getting over it, probably can't be bothered, don't live in the town any more, and KNOW that he is slandering me, cause he slandered everyone ELSE to me!! yada yada yada life goes on .... he in his own little kennel and backward thinking, but for me onwards upwards making moosh by NOT working for a living!

 

[kathryn d]

hi Sunshine,
Maybe he is slandering everyone else is because he takes them to small claims court also when he overcharges?
Take a day and go to court. Take your quotes and anything else you have, including photos. What do you have to lose?
Keep your cool, stick to the facts, don't get into name calling. He sounds like a hothead.

Maybe you will teach this guy a lesson, and stop scamming people. If he told you upfront what he planned on charging you, you may have decided to hire someone else.

Goodluck and keep us posted.

 

[sunshine]

I have just spoken to my solicitor, who basically said "stuff em lets go". Gosh I LOVE his attitude.

With recovery fees etc etc the "amount due" is over $4000, my solicitor reckons it will cost me under $2000 with most of the costs being incurred in court - if it gets there.

Kathryn thanks for the support and whilst I don't want to bow down to his slandering level, I will say that his memory is not what it should be ......

I shall let you know how this progresses

 

[Glebe]

I have just spoken to my solicitor, who basically said "stuff em lets go". Gosh I LOVE his attitude.

You do realise that your solicitor will seek payments for this..

 

[Sunfish]

If he doesn't have itemised accounts he will have a problem in the tribunal. I'd test it too. If I'm correct that it's just you, him and the arbitrator it shouldn't cost much more than your time. Go for it.

I know some tree loppers are dodgy, seems that extends to landscapers.

 

[MishMash]

I know some tree loppers are dodgy, seems that extends to landscapers.

I think you will find there are 'dodgy' people in any industry, no need to single out landscapers specifically.

 

[AlmostBob]

Nil Illegitemi Corundum​

get em, and keep getting em.
after the first one, particularly in small towns there won't be any more.
Stacie W, Keith X & Shirley Y know what happend to Julie Z, and paid up in full on demand.
and always include interest charges and legal fees in your demand

 

[natmarie73]

I would go to court as well. If he does win, you can at least sleep knowing you did your best not to get ripped off by this character - even if it does cost you more. If you win, then perhaps he will learn his lesson and stop trying to scam people. He sounds like a bully to me, and bullies should always get what's coming to them with a big helping of you know what on the side.

I personally could not live with myself if I just rolled over and let him rip me off, but you need to do what you feel is the best thing for you and your situation.

From what you have said, it sounds as though you have more chance of getting compensated than he does since he did not even do the larger job he charged for.

 

[sunshine]

the outcome

Firstly thankyou for all the encouragement and support.

I think I may have just thought buggar it, take it as another lesson learnt and not fought.

BUT I did fight and I DID win

Legals were under $300. I am way in front.

They pulled out of proceedings before we had our day in court.

So hopefully this particular landscaping mob will have second thoughts before ripping anyone else off.

Sunshine

 

[Sunfish]

Good news! Congrats.

 

[Beef_Hooked]

BUT I did fight and I DID win

Excellent result Sunshine, Well Done!!

So many of these shonky operators are full of bluff, having learnt that most people will just swallow the pain rather than fight. It's great to hear someone making a stand and having a win against them.

I had some problems a few years ago with a particular business, when I went to fair trading they said something along the lines of "OH No! you didn't deal with them, we have a file this thick on that business"

Of course my question was "Why?" Not why are they so shonky, but why have they got away with it for so long that Fair trading had collected so many complaints. The b*ggers went into liquidation eventually and I gave up but it wasn't easy to just let it go.

Sometimes it seems it's up to good people themselves to stand up and not just accept victim status.

Best story I've read all week.

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Nice one Sunshine. Good to know you stood up for yourself and fought the bas.tard. While I can see Xenia's point of view of not wanting to stuff around in court, it's often attitudes like that that allow these people to get away with what they do get away with.

Mark

 

[WinstonWolfe]

BUT I did fight and I DID win
Sunshine

Great to hear that.
For evil to succeed, good men (persons) must do nothing...
Good guys need to get their &alls back, despite a dysfunctional legal system.
Bullys always bully until hit back hard.

 

[handyandy]

Firstly thankyou for all the encouragement and support.

I think I may have just thought buggar it, take it as another lesson learnt and not fought.

BUT I did fight and I DID win

Legals were under $300. I am way in front.

They pulled out of proceedings before we had our day in court.

So hopefully this particular landscaping mob will have second thoughts before ripping anyone else off.

Sunshine

Congrats Sunshine but unfortunately its unlikely that he learnt anything.

I would suggest that this is most probably his standard approach including the overcharging and lodging a claim.

All up it most probably cost him 100-200$ and this 'investment' compared to the payback 4000$ is not a bad return with a likely outcome at say 50-50.

Each time I have heard of this sort of practice they always seem to end with the case not proceeding.

Cheers

 

[sailor]

BZ Sunshine...good job. I'm pleased to see you obtained a JUST outcome.

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Each time I have heard of this sort of practice they always seem to end with the case not proceeding.

Cheers

I'd agree with that.

Sunshine, could I also suggest you pursue the matter with his professional trade organization- landscapers guild or whatever they call it....

spread the word to everyone you know....landscaping suppliers, garden societies, builders, school P&Ts, mortgage brokers etc etc.....gosh, even mention his company here.....

You are doing him and others a favour by negatively reinforcing his negative behaviour.....

now where's that bottle of red......