Do I owe my mechanic for work performed after leaving him a message to stop?
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Do I owe my mechanic for work performed after leaving him a message to stop?
On Friday afternoon after receiving the estimate I told my mechanic to go ahead with the work. He said the vehicle wouldn’t be ready until Wednesday or Thursday. Later Friday, I called and left a message to not do any further work on the vehicle I was getting rid of it. Saturday morning I stopped by and left a written message not to do any work on the vehicle. They are closed on the weekend. When I called Monday they said it was finished because they came in over the weekend to complete it but didn’t see my messages. Do I still owe them for the work they completed?
Asked on July 23, 2012 under Business Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
What you have is a classic triable issue of fact as to whether you owe money for repairs to your vehicle that you requested not be done but were done after the message was given but it is unknown whether the mechanic received such before the work was performed. This is why people go to trial for the trier of fact to make the decision concerning the dispute.
Most likely you will owe for some services rendered to repair your car, but perhaps not at current market rate. I suggest that you try and resolve the dispute with the repair facility in an amount that both you and its owner can live with rather than having the court system resolve the dispute.
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