Help!!!! Anyone here know contract law????
 

Hi all,

Just wondering if someone can please give me their professional opinion on this
matter. To make a long story short here are the basic details.

Needed some plumbing work done, called XXX plumber.
Plumber came in and we discussed my needs. He took note of all the material he
would need and reassured me that all my needs would be met.

Plumber returned with a helper the next day to do the work. Started at 9:15 and
APPARENTLY ended at 8:15

2 days later I received an invoice with a labour cost of almost $1000.00
reflecting 11 hours worth of work. Total on the invoice came out to over 1700.00

Went to check on the work with my general contractor and the work had not been
completed. Parts were missing and rough ins that were needed for the general
contractor to finish his end of the renovations had not been done. Furthermore,
my contractor was extremely surprised that the work he saw took 11 hours for 2
people to complete. His exact words were "11 hours? that's bullshit."

I sent a letter to XXX plumber explaining that I did not feel the hours worked
reflected the work done and gave them a reduced cheque to reflect what I felt
was a much fairer amount, a difference of $207.85

My question is; since nothing was signed prior to the work being done and no
formal estimate was given verbally or in writing and since XXX plumber already
cashed the cheque doesn't that constitute offer and acceptance???? And, since
they accepted my counter offer by cashing the cheque, can they come after me for
the remainder of the balance? I feel like they can't since acceptance has
already been implied by cashing the cheque but I'd like to know if anyone here
can help me out.

I really feel like they tried to rip me off and I really want to settle this
out of court but on principle, I refuse to let these thieves think they can
strong arm me by getting a collections agency to send a threatening letter.


Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading

Pablo

Just an opinion...

If I understand correctly, there was no written contract, or estimate prior to the work being performed? The work performed was not completed to your satisfaction? Did you ever sign ANYTHING for the plumber prior to receiving an invoice?

It sounds to me like you are on the right side of this one. In your position I don't think I would have paid anything at all, at least not until the job was completed to your satisfaction. I suspect the plumbing company is going to come after you for the remaining balance. I would recommend that you contact a lawyer. I doubt that they will go so far as to drag you into court but they may send it to collections and a lawyer is you best option to handle it.

call Mike Holmes (silly Canadian)

Hi 02A6Beau and thanks for the reply,

You're right. Nothing was signed and nothing was put down in writing prior to or after the work was done (except for the invoice I received in the mail). My signature was in the letter I sent along with the cheque. the end of the letter goes something like this:

In order for a contract to be valid there must be an offer made by the contractor and an acceptance made by the client. I accepted the offer under the impression that the work would be complete. In the beginning I was made to feel that the amount on the invoice covered all the work that needed to be done when clearly this was not the case. Therefore this agreement is not valid. I am hereby amending invoice no. XXXXX to reflect a fair amount of time to do the work that WAS done and the time lost in the process of finding and paying another contractor to finish the work that was not done.

Enclosed you will find a cheque in the amount XXXXX

I trust that this matter is closed.

Sincerely,

XXXXX

what a shady plumber. i've never had somebody come to my house to fix something without signing a contract saying "yes i agree with the cost estimates and you can proceed to fulfill the contract."

like 02A6 said, i wouldn't have paid anything. are they professionals with a license? if so you can threaten to file an official complaint with the licensing board to have their license taken away. idk what you needed done but i had a guy come in to put swap out a boiler furnace with 6 zones pumps and it only took him 11 hours with 1 helper lol. i myself am very sufficient with plumbing work and have done several large projects around my house. as a matter of fact it took me and my dad 8 hours to install the toilet, sink and bathtub with all plumbing done in 1 day. asians work fast ; )

Hey dude! Sorry to hear about your luck. I hope everything else in your life has been good/better!

Yeah, not too sure of what to do here. Obviously you want to protect your credit rating, so if these guys have hired a collection agency I'd probably start by calling them and getting the low-down on how to dispute the claim. There must be some process, or else businesses could do this all the time. Yeah, with nothing signed or written beforehand, I'd not have paid them a dime until the work was done properly and in its entirety. Take pictures if the work is still incomplete and maybe get a written letter from your general contractor so you can have some 'evidence' if this does go to court. If small-claims is where this takes you, then that's where you should go. I too would fight this on principle.

Hey guys thanks so much for the help, much appreciated. Pretty sure I'm on the right side of this one as well but if anyone else has any opinion on this I'd love to hear from you. I don't really think it was a mistake to pay them because they DID do SOME of the work so, I paid them what I felt was fair and the difference went to the contractor that finished the work. It didn't even cover half of what it cost to finish it but it at least covered some of the amount.

I think you don't need to worry about this unless they come after you. Even then, I really wouldn't worry about it. This was a cash transaction and with them cashing the check, it typically stands as acceptance of payment. Wait and see if you get any come back but I doubt it. It will not be worth the 200 bucks for them to take it to collections without first trying it themselves. Likewise, won't be worth the time or the effort to go to small claims court. If they come back at you, simply tell them that the work was not completed as agreed and that should they decide to dispute it, you have more than enough time and resources to screw them, not only in court, but with the better business bureau, the licensing board and the social media where much word of mouth and small business advertising takes place.
Next time, use language in the letter that says that this is "payment in full" This typically stands in collections issues that the matter is closed upon cashing of the check.
Good luck. I wouldn't sweat it.

Thanks Rail runner. I've already received a letter from a collection agency regarding this matter so I think the next step will be to send the plumber a registered letter telling them how much they can loose if they choose to pursue the matter further. What do you think??? Should the letter be sent to them or to the collection agency?

Oh, sorry. Didn't see where they had done that.
1st, tell the collection agency not to contact you again. Then, tell him if he does not retract the collection agency, you will be taking him to court. Dont say why. Likewise, let him know you will be looking into finding others who have experienced the same thing with him and calling them as witnesses. Lastly, that you will be speaking to the licensing board as well as the BBB.
Finally, check out Clark Howard's Consumer advice website. They have people you can chat with on line who can offer advice.
Good Luck.

^ ^ ^ Good advice. You want to make them afraid... show 'em that you're not going to roll over on this. They will not want to go to court for such a small amount (when they should know that the work they did was bogus).