Being sued for hydroseeding.

[MR HYDROSEED]

Back in 2005 I found a new development, with several houses that needed new lawns. I left business cards on doors and got 3 calls for quotes. 3 houses right next to each other. First house I hydroseed, comes out great and customer couldn't be happier. Second house needed some loam and final raking an hydroseeding. Came out great. Next door, a police officer. His house was 1/2 finished and was still being worked on. He had another contractor bring in the loam and york rake the yard. I quoted him to rake out any areas the york rake couldn't reach and to rake out any tire tracks and to finally hydroseed. I rake out the yard and hydroseed it no differently than the neighboring 2 houses. While i'm hydroseeing I am trying to do so while other contractors are working on the house basicly walking all over my hydroseeding slurry. We get rain a few days later and there's some puddling in the front yard because the excuvating contractor did not grade the yard properly. I was called back by the owner to reseed the front lawn and some areas in the back that had washed out. I came back as we had scheduled on the phone which was almost an hour long drive! Only to find that the excuvating contractor didn't show to fix the yard. So i wasted a trip up there. then they finally come and i reseed all there work again no charge cause i'm a nice guy. I didn't have a contract, all i gave him was a quote. I did what was on my quote and beyond. I had no written contract. Now I'm getting a letter from his attorney saying "i breached said contract by failing to perform as agreed and by failing to uphold your express warranty to dinkhole... your breach of this contract has resulted in Mr. dinkhole covering his damages. So he's sueing me for: loam $600, labor $700, reseed $825, reclaim & reseed backyard$500, F.H Labor $700. For a total of $3325.00!!! the job was only for $1158. Bottomline is he's a cop on a power trip trying to rip me off! I did exactly what was on my quote. There was never any contract or warranty. He had contractors trampling over the newly seeded lawn for months afterwards and never watered. I only hydroseeded the lawn!!! now i'm being sued for 3 times what i quoted for what? I guess I need a lawyer huh. Pretty flippen stupid! I just had a baby and don't have the money to pay for this crap! I've been screwed by the developer in that neighborhood too, but because I didn't have a signed contract I thought it would be a lost cause trying to get an money from him. No contract means no deal right??? Last year, i used contracts because of this crap. Does this cop have a case or what?

[Team-Green L&L]

Do you have photo evidence supporting your claims of the contractor's negligence or malice?

Do you have records to support your receipt of less than the amount of damages being claimed?

You're going to get "chewed out" for not have a written agreement for services rendered, but that happens a lot more than you think.

Do you have evidence to support the fact that you completed (a service) of any kind to specifications of that particular service? I ask this because he will have to prove that you neglected to fulfill the "reasonable duties entailed to complete the task at hand". Since there was no written agreement, it will be by a "preponderance of evidence" which will lean toward the plaintiff in most cases.

I hope that helps.

[MR HYDROSEED]

Do you have photo evidence supporting your claims of the contractor's negligence or malice?

Do you have records to support your receipt of less than the amount of damages being claimed?

You're going to get "chewed out" for not have a written agreement for services rendered, but that happens a lot more than you think.

Do you have evidence to support the fact that you completed (a service) of any kind to specifications of that particular service? I ask this because he will have to prove that you neglected to fulfill the "reasonable duties entailed to complete the task at hand". Since there was no written agreement, it will be by a "preponderance of evidence" which will lean toward the plaintiff in most cases.

I hope that helps.

I worked on this property with my worker/friend, he watched me hydroseed this lawn. The neighbor across the street would vouch that i hydroseeded the lawn and the next door neighbor.

I don't mind getting chewed out for not having a written contract, but the consumer is just as quilty for not requesting one.

If you say he will have to prove "I" (defendant) neglected to fulfill the reasonable duties entailed..... and there's was no contractwhy do you say the preponderance of evidence will lean towards the plaintiff? I actually hydroseeded his property twice. The first time after we raked the property and the second time after the front yard was regraded and I resprayed a small amount of erosion caused by a rain storm. By the time the second time came around there was actually grass already growing.

[stevelsc1]

I have been doing this for over 35 years and just went through the same experience with a poor cop. I had a signed contract, tapes of what I did, photos of what I did and went to court with a big gun laywer friend of mine. The judge wouldn't even listen to my laywer or me.

We put up a Unilock wall not to his liking because I refused to cut the corners on a 45 degree angle hurting the strength of the wall.

I kept the deposit, but lost my balance and had to to pay the laywer also

So look at this as an investment in your education as to cross all tees and dot your eyes and photograph everything ,it saved my ass by filming everything and always get a signed agreement. Most of all if your gut says this homeowner is a snake learn the magic word your new baby knows. Learn to walk away from a no good homeowner and say NO its not always the money:waving:

[MR HYDROSEED]

So you think I'm going to lose just because he's a cop? Are you people serious?

[stevelsc1]

by reading what went on you are wrong in many ways, the ground was.'t graded right etc, remember the contractor should always know better, you sound like a young hard working guy, this is an education. If you would like call me I be mre than happy to give you my advice 631-827 1845

[Accu-cut Lawn Care]

In the future, stay away from the 3 P's(police, politicians,peachers). They always think they deserve to receive services for free.

[AintNoFun]

our proposals state we are not responsible for exisiting grading and soil conditions. my lawyer told me to stay away from the word Grading in ANY contract if at all possible...

[MR HYDROSEED]

by reading what went on you are wrong in many ways, the ground was.'t graded right etc, remember the contractor should always know better, you sound like a young hard working guy, this is an education. If you would like call me I be mre than happy to give you my advice 631-827 1845

What ways am I wrong, that would find me negligent in a court of law? The grade was only slightly dished and was not my problem. It caused a small puddle in heavy rain. The issue is not about the grade of yard, because after it was regraded I hydroseeded it again. The owner didn't water the lawn once because it was late fall. Yes I will chalk this up as a learning experience, but it sounds like some of you are suggesting that I should accept the fact that some power trippen cop is trying to take advantage of me. I'm 31 years old, I have 4 kids and I don't have $3,325 in extra money to give some a-hole for a learning experience. I'm getting a lawyer and fighting this a-hole. You know, I always grew up respecting the police.
Even if i hydroseeded his yard with no seed and nothing grew, how can anyone think I could be responsible for $600 in loam and $1400 in labor and $1325 in seeding?

[tthomass]

looks like i may be headed to court too.........with an FBI

[mojob]

I would think having no contract would work to your advantage in this case. There was no written warranty and you did make an effort to help this guy out. It sounds like he didn't even give you an opportunity to fix it the last time before he called the other people. I think that will work to your advantage. Also, the fact that the neighbor's houses turned out ok will make you look good. You can't stop it from raining and you had no control over the construction work after you seeded. Did this guy make any changes to the yard after you did the work? It sounds like he might have and just wants someone else to pay for it. That's fraud, and if you can prove that, he might find himself out of a job. Police departments tend to distance themselves from crooked cops. Have your lawyer send this guy a letter stating that if you win in court and there's any evidence of fraud, then you'll be asking the D.A. to look into it for any wrongdoing. This might make this guy go away. Don't you just love people. The more people I meet....the more I like rattlesnakes. BTW, I have to agree with what's been said about cops in the last few posts. They don't make good customers, usually and that's coming from a guy that likes cops. I wish you the best of luck and don't forget, this guy's day is coming.

[JimLewis]

First off, don't get too worried about it. He will probably not prevail. And he'll learn a hard lesson. First reaction when you hear you are being sued is to over-react, freak out, can't sleep, get all worried. Don't worry. Trust me, it's not the end of the world. I've never been actually sued. But I've had a few tell me they were going to sue me and I worried to no end for weeks about it. After having been through all sorts of challenges over the years, I can tell you this - it's just a challenge. Nothing more. The sky is not falling. You won't go out of business. Everything will end up okay in the end.

Even worse case scenario - he wins and gets a judgement for $3325. You don't have to pay all that at once. It's very difficult to collect judgements. And you are allowed to make payments. So you're not going to go broke even if the worse case scenario happens.

But from what it sounds like, you have a great case.

First let's address the "contract". You don't have to actually have a written and signed 'official' contract. A contract can be verbal. Or it can be another form of writing. In this case, your written estimate will probably be the 'contract' that the judge uses. He may scold you for not having used a more official contract. But there's nothing illegal in not doing so. So you just politely say, "Yes. You're honor. I've definitely learned that lesson and we always use contracts these days."

Since this estimate is the contract, Mojob is right - there is no written or implied warranty. So that helps right there. Also, the fact that he paid you in full helps as well. You argue, "If he wasn't happy with the job when we were done, why did he pay me in full then?" You also have a great case in that the 2 other neighbors' lawns turned out great. You need to go get pictures of those lawns as evidence. And, if possible, maybe get an affidavit from or at least a letter, saying that you did good work. This is going to weigh in big time.

Next, you need to make sure and bring your friend. He is a good witness for you.

Finally, just go to court, bring all this stuff with you, be extremely respectful, dress nice, and present your case. I think there's a good chance you'll be totally exonerated.

He may have an attorney there. But this is a small claims court, right? So attorneys aren't customary in small claims courts. If he does have his attorney, don't worry. I don't think it's going to help him too much. I'm anxious to hear how this turns out.

Fight this guy all the way! I bet you'll win.

[jsf343]

I really hope you win also. Its sad how people try to take advantage.
My question is to anyone out there... If a warranty was not offered in some way won't that make him look like he was not standing behind his work to some degree to the courts? I Personally thought it was above and beyond that you went back and re-did the yard again. So maybe you could say just that in your defense, "I didn't offer a warranty so I didn't HAVE to do anything, but because I wanted the customer to be satisfied I went back and re did it and ate the cost." Might give you more leverage, seems to me you have quite a bit already though. Good luck, hope that @#!% looses.

[Vikings]

Show up and counter sue.

Phone him up and talk to him about the job on a speaker phone, record it. If he says something useful..

[grasswhacker]

Show up and counter sue.

Phone him up and talk to him about the job on a speaker phone, record it. If he says something useful..

Just let him know about the recording before you start the conversation.

[Vikings]

Just let him know about the recording before you start the conversation.

Is it illegal? up here only one person needs to be aware and usually thats the one recording. I thought I seen this on judge judy also (I'm not a lawyer obviously)

[Sunscaper]

Memories, memories.... I just got finished wth a similar story this august. ! year after the fact. I had a contract and every other thing in the world on my side. Basically the court will try to make both parties equally unhappy in any matter.

My advice, even though its a small claims case get an attorney. This will help you out alot. It depends on the judge. I had 3 people in small claims court last year and basically it amounted to me paying for their service, me paying the court to hear the case, me paying the sheriff to serve the papers, and me paying a lawyer. I lost big time.

In Pa you can appeal any small claims jugdement and take it to civil action. When the customer adds up the attorney's fee's and the other charges his claim has little value. It will eat up $2000.00 easily and his odds are not good.

Hydroseeding is a risky business. Mine is for sale here if anyone is interested due to this very reason. HYDROSEEDING=TROUBLE...

[grasswhacker]

Is it illegal? up here only one person needs to be aware and usually thats the one recording. I thought I seen this on judge judy also (I'm not a lawyer obviously)
Every state is different, so i would check before i proceeded with recording without disclosure.

[JimLewis]

http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html

[teamoneoutdoors]

If you did what you said you were going to do and then so, don't worry. I have been in your shoes and have won(plantiff didn't show up at court when he discovered I was prepared to meet his lies). It cost me money(time) to defend myself, but it will happen when you are in business.

Your contract is your estimate and your word. If you did both, good for you. Go back in time and reconstruct through documentation all events leading up to this job where you engaged in any dialogue with the customer about your services. Then document all phases of the job from the last time you saw his property. Document what damage incorrect hydorseeding can lead to. I would guess another hydroseeding install which you did for him. If that did not work, did he contact you again? If not and a warranty was not valid, then just realize that the world is full of bad people.

I helped a friend who is a cop when he backed into his mother's car. Repaired the damage, repainted, then car, and saved him some money. Took 3 months to get $600 while he was busy taking 3 vacations and buying plasma televisions. I was the A-hole when I toldd him that I did not appreciate him not paying me. By the way, his dad is our preacher.

Don't worry!!!!!!!!!! Hug your children and rid yourself of the worry. Good book tells me HE will take care of us!

For those of you who do not budget attorney fees in your business plan, you need to create a line item and make sure you have money set aside for these matters.

[Uranus]

Hold on! Can he prove it was you that did the job? "I gave this guy a verbal quote over the phone. He agreed to it and I told him I needed a signed contract approving the work and price. I mailed a contract out to him and never heard any response from plaintiff. I assumed he hired someone else when I never heard back. I didn't even set foot on his property. Here are my invoices from the day of, day before, and day after he claims I was there. Was not me your honor." LOL worth a try.
Your just going to have to show an effort if fix the problem. I dont see you paying anything more than a full refund of what he paid your.

[Lawnmasters]

One of our Technicians sprayed the wrong lawn last year. I called the person to explain we should have been across the street but sprayed him by mistake. I said sorry but at least your grass will green up and a lot of weeds will die, and of course we won't bill you. Not good enough for Mr. A hole. He says, Oh no, we have a problem, I have Centipede grass and it's not supposed to have any fertilizer or weed control applied to it, it will kill it. Then he informs me that if his grass doesn't look GREAT this year, he will expect me to reseed his lawn. He only had Centipede in about 15% of the lawn, the rest was Heinz 57. So, I get a letter from his attorney saying, I caused irreparable damage to his lawn, and they have obtained an estimate of $7,200.00 to reseed 47,000 sq. ft of lawn with Centipede. Never mind that the lawn was only 21,000 sq. ft. I was smart enough to take pictures of his lawn the day of the mistake, a month later and 3 months later. His lawn looked great. This was border line insurance fraud. He thought I would roll over and pay. Gave pictures of the property with complete description of his lawn, and all the research I could gather on Centipede to our attorney. This was late last summer, haven't heard anything since. Our attorney thinks its over and he was looking for something for nothing.

Don't back down. But learn from this, pictures truly are worth a thousand words.

[JimLewis]

Hold on! Can he prove it was you that did the job? "I gave this guy a verbal quote over the phone. He agreed to it and I told him I needed a signed contract approving the work and price. I mailed a contract out to him and never heard any response from plaintiff. I assumed he hired someone else when I never heard back. I didn't even set foot on his property. Here are my invoices from the day of, day before, and day after he claims I was there. Was not me your honor." LOL worth a try.

Yah, and then the other guy says, "Oh, really? Then where did these canceled checks made out to your company come from?" - then you look like a liar and lose all credibility with the judge.

Probably not the best idea. :nono:

[Mike33]

I would not listen to everyones tales here. I would get a good attorney and handle it that way. We might have our thoughts and experiences but every case is different, we are landscapers not lawyers. As far as him being a cop tough ****.
Mike

[John Gamba]

[QUOTE=MR HYDROSEED; I've been screwed by the developer in that neighborhood too, but because I didn't have a signed contract I thought it would be a lost cause trying to get an money from him. No contract means no deal right??? ,. Does this cop have a case or what?[/QUOTE]




Read what you typed.

[dKoester]

First, you should of had a contract and then before and after pictures of the job you did. Evidence.