My bestest buddy Dave, brought his Jeep Scrambler to a mechanics garage in order to have him put on disc brakes on the rear (easy job but my buddy had no time to do it himself). He gave the guy $500.00 to get it done before the work was started. The Jeep had to be ramped to the shop because it was not regestered... another ($75.00).
He has been to the shop at least four times since to get the guy moving and he keeps hearing "Sorry, I'll definately get it done by Monday" and he falls for it every time. Now here's the kicker... the Jeep was supposed to be done JULY 4th weekend!
Now the guy wants him to take it back (nothing done yet) and not give back the $500.00! It's been there over seven months. Here's the last e-mail from my buddy:
I had a discussion with Al today about my jeep.He says he dosen’t have my money,to get my jeep out of there today,and that he hasn’t got any idea when he will have my money.He was upset at me!!!
He told me he’s not in the mood to talk about it and hung up on me.
I’m going to suprise him tomorrow by leaving work early and pop in on him.I plan on having a small tape recorder on me.I think I might need yoor help on this one depending how things go tomorrow. (if I’m found dead somewhere you know who killed me)David
Beside me slapping the guy around, what can we do? I’m not sure that he’s got a reciept for the $500.00 but I think he does.
The thing that sucks is your buddy will probably never get his money back. Sounds to me like the place is going tits up and the guy really doesn’t have the money, or he just blew it on blackjack or some hooker named Steve. The guy probably owes the bank, his parts distributors, ect way more money, which means when the law gets involved, your buddy will be last on the list to be reimbursted. Or the guy is just being a dick in which case I would have beat his ass a long time ago!
[quote]derek wrote:
So… I should just choke the livin’ shit outta this guy?![/quote]
Uhhhh… no. File a small claims action and handle it that way. Nothing overly complicated and no need to involve a lawyer (although your buddy certainly can if he wishes to, but I would use a friend who is willing to handle it pro bono). It’s probably the one way to handle getting his money back on something like this. In addition, call the local Better Business Bureau to report it.
Going to a lawyer will be more expensive than what it is worth. Go the the county courthouse and aks about CONCILIATION Court. It’s the formal name for small claims court.
The place will have forms there that you can just fill out to file your claim. Complete it, submit it to the court, have your case, collect your money.
[quote]derek wrote:
So… I should just choke the livin’ shit outta this guy?![/quote]
no, just ask your friends tony, vinny, and donny, ya know, the guys with the brass knuckles and baseball bats to give his knees some loving, he’ll get the messege
i guess you could do that whole small claims court thing too