How to handling a monetary dispute with a contractor over the quality of their work?
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How to handling a monetary dispute with a contractor over the quality of their work?
The landscape contractor used old sod grass and did not prep properly and now have brown areas in lawn, plus bumpy and uneven ground. I disputed the $1,000 credit card charge and now the contractor is threatening to remove the sod and charge me for extra landscaping services that he previously designated as free. What options do I have?
Asked on May 20, 2019 under Business Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
It's not worth litigating, or getting involved in a lawsuit over this: even if you were to represent yourself ("pro se") so there's no attorney's fees, unless you have some landscaper training or experience yourself, you'd need to hire some expert (e.g. a horticulturalist) to testify in court that the problems are due to something the landscapper did--i.e. as a nonexpert, you can't meaningfully testify as to whether the sod was defective or not, or what caused the brown patches, etc. Hiring the expert could cost a large part of what you hope to save, and winning the case is not certain (no case is ever certain; do not believe any attorney who tells you that the outcome is guaranteed). Try to work it out with him, but if you can't, you are better off paying than litigating.
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