Previous posts about this topic if you want a reminder:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Short Version: WE WON!!!
Long Version:
We arrived at the court with 25 8x10 photos, a stack of paper evidence, 1 cabinet, 2 doors, 1 drawer and my 2 expert witnesses (a salesman for the exact line of cabinets we have, and a professional cabinet maker/refinisher)
The contractor arrived at the court with one piece of paper, and 2 cabinet doors (one ugly and one perfect)
The Sheriff took us to a conference room to talk to a mediator to see if we could work things out. After talking for an hour the contractor was unwilling to negotiate and was actually lying quite a bit. He said the refinishing job went bad because we chose a color that would not work, and not because he did a bad job. He also showed the before and after door to prove he can do a good job. The mediator said to pack our stuff and go back to the courtroom. Once the contractor left the room, both of my witnesses told me the contractor lied and those 2 doors he brought it were NOT the same as mine, and were actually very high quality solid wood doors.
The judge called us forward and swore us in. He explained the rules, I go first and have 10 minutes to talk, show my evidence and hear my witnesses, then the contractor goes for 10 minutes, then I go again for 10 minutes.
My turn:
I gave my overview and gave the judge all the evidence, his eyes nearly came out of his head when he saw the photos, you could tell that he was hocked. My witnesses also gave a great testimony as to why the cabinets should have never been sanded and that a professional would have been able to tell that.
His turn:
He explained why he was counter-suing and that the whole problem with the cabinets was my fault for picking a color that he did not recommend. He told the judge that $2100 of the counter suit was for additional hours, the judge immediately asked him were in the contract it says he can charge extra, or if he ever presented us with a bill, the contractor said it was normal practice not to mention any extra charges till the end of the job, the judge almost laughed and said ?I don?t think it works that way?, the other part of the counter suit was for him losing a job because he had to come to court, the judge asked for proof?he did not have any. The judge then asked him if he ever notified us of the extra charge and if so when, the contractor said he notified us today, the judge almost rolled his eyes. The judge then told him that he just heard from the expert witnesses that the stain does not do a bad job, the person applying messes it up. The contractor did not have a response. He then showed the 2 doors and said they were the exact ones we had and they came out great because he used a lighter color stain and he said once again that it was our fault.
My turn:
I told the judge that the witnesses looked at the door and they are 100% sure the doors are not the same, the judge looked at the witnesses for a confirmation and they both agreed. I then told the judge that the color we picked was from one of the samples the contractor gave us. He then held up a photo of the stain dripping down the cabinets, down the floor molding and onto the floor, he asked my witnesses if this was what the cabinets looked like and if they ever came to my house and saw them first hand, they both said yes and the judge asked them to rate the work they say from 1(the worst) to 10(the best), they said it was a 1 and that they never saw such a bad job.
The judges turn:
He said he was outraged at the poor workmanship, and really cut the contractor down assaying that he was amazed that a so called professional could do such a bad job and mentioned it was the photos and the overwhelming amount of evidence that won the case . He awarded us everything we wanted except for 2 hundred dollars and said the least he could do was to make sure we got new cabinets, molding and installation plus court costs. He then dismissed the counter-claim the contractor had saying that the contract was for a fixed cost and he had no proof of losing a job.
After:
The contractor jumped up grabbed his 2 doors and asked in an angry tone to the judge how he could appeal the case, the judge told him to go talk to the clerk. Once the contractor left the judge was super cool and said he would not appeal once he would have to put up a bond equal to the judgment (about $5000), he then said he felt bad we had to go through all of this and wanted to know what we were going to do about the kitchen, we told him we are purchasing new high-quality cabinets.
The end:
If we ever see any money does not bother us, we are fortunate enough not to really need the money, but it would be nice. We feel really good that we won and the contractor now knows he was wrong and that he cannot get away with something like this, he will also have to live with having a big red x on his credit report for 7 years if he does not pay. We have to wait 15 days to see if he will appeal, then we can go after any personal assets he has (we sued the person and the company because his company was not licensed), the court clerk said she would help us fill out all the garnishment papers for wages and bank accounts. The grey cloud that was hanging over us is gone and we can finally relax after 4 months of headaches, and we look forward to our new kitchen.
Thanks to all of you for the advice you gave us!
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Short Version: WE WON!!!
Long Version:
We arrived at the court with 25 8x10 photos, a stack of paper evidence, 1 cabinet, 2 doors, 1 drawer and my 2 expert witnesses (a salesman for the exact line of cabinets we have, and a professional cabinet maker/refinisher)
The contractor arrived at the court with one piece of paper, and 2 cabinet doors (one ugly and one perfect)
The Sheriff took us to a conference room to talk to a mediator to see if we could work things out. After talking for an hour the contractor was unwilling to negotiate and was actually lying quite a bit. He said the refinishing job went bad because we chose a color that would not work, and not because he did a bad job. He also showed the before and after door to prove he can do a good job. The mediator said to pack our stuff and go back to the courtroom. Once the contractor left the room, both of my witnesses told me the contractor lied and those 2 doors he brought it were NOT the same as mine, and were actually very high quality solid wood doors.
The judge called us forward and swore us in. He explained the rules, I go first and have 10 minutes to talk, show my evidence and hear my witnesses, then the contractor goes for 10 minutes, then I go again for 10 minutes.
My turn:
I gave my overview and gave the judge all the evidence, his eyes nearly came out of his head when he saw the photos, you could tell that he was hocked. My witnesses also gave a great testimony as to why the cabinets should have never been sanded and that a professional would have been able to tell that.
His turn:
He explained why he was counter-suing and that the whole problem with the cabinets was my fault for picking a color that he did not recommend. He told the judge that $2100 of the counter suit was for additional hours, the judge immediately asked him were in the contract it says he can charge extra, or if he ever presented us with a bill, the contractor said it was normal practice not to mention any extra charges till the end of the job, the judge almost laughed and said ?I don?t think it works that way?, the other part of the counter suit was for him losing a job because he had to come to court, the judge asked for proof?he did not have any. The judge then asked him if he ever notified us of the extra charge and if so when, the contractor said he notified us today, the judge almost rolled his eyes. The judge then told him that he just heard from the expert witnesses that the stain does not do a bad job, the person applying messes it up. The contractor did not have a response. He then showed the 2 doors and said they were the exact ones we had and they came out great because he used a lighter color stain and he said once again that it was our fault.
My turn:
I told the judge that the witnesses looked at the door and they are 100% sure the doors are not the same, the judge looked at the witnesses for a confirmation and they both agreed. I then told the judge that the color we picked was from one of the samples the contractor gave us. He then held up a photo of the stain dripping down the cabinets, down the floor molding and onto the floor, he asked my witnesses if this was what the cabinets looked like and if they ever came to my house and saw them first hand, they both said yes and the judge asked them to rate the work they say from 1(the worst) to 10(the best), they said it was a 1 and that they never saw such a bad job.
The judges turn:
He said he was outraged at the poor workmanship, and really cut the contractor down assaying that he was amazed that a so called professional could do such a bad job and mentioned it was the photos and the overwhelming amount of evidence that won the case . He awarded us everything we wanted except for 2 hundred dollars and said the least he could do was to make sure we got new cabinets, molding and installation plus court costs. He then dismissed the counter-claim the contractor had saying that the contract was for a fixed cost and he had no proof of losing a job.
After:
The contractor jumped up grabbed his 2 doors and asked in an angry tone to the judge how he could appeal the case, the judge told him to go talk to the clerk. Once the contractor left the judge was super cool and said he would not appeal once he would have to put up a bond equal to the judgment (about $5000), he then said he felt bad we had to go through all of this and wanted to know what we were going to do about the kitchen, we told him we are purchasing new high-quality cabinets.
The end:
If we ever see any money does not bother us, we are fortunate enough not to really need the money, but it would be nice. We feel really good that we won and the contractor now knows he was wrong and that he cannot get away with something like this, he will also have to live with having a big red x on his credit report for 7 years if he does not pay. We have to wait 15 days to see if he will appeal, then we can go after any personal assets he has (we sued the person and the company because his company was not licensed), the court clerk said she would help us fill out all the garnishment papers for wages and bank accounts. The grey cloud that was hanging over us is gone and we can finally relax after 4 months of headaches, and we look forward to our new kitchen.
Thanks to all of you for the advice you gave us!
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