Originally Posted by MorePSI

What do you have in writing of any kind between you and the shop you're dealing with? There should be some kind of written service order detailing what was to be done and the price to be paid. Proving a verbal agreement becomes difficult unless you can get the other person to come right out and say that was the original agreement. Generally I've found everyone has a hazy memory when it comes to verbal contracts later on if things go south so I follow up any phone call or conversation with an email detailing what was said and agreed upon with the pretense of "my memory isn't perfect so this is to make sure we're both on the same page". Not saying you couldn't get a badass lawyer that could do something for you but lawyers aren't free and depending on exact costs you may not come out ahead at all.

Source: Not a lawyer but I've dealt with many contracts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range with the occasional issue of time, money, or scope (sometimes all three) and that's been my experience.

Originally Posted by truckdoug

every rod shop I have ever dealt with has gladly used my supplied parts (of course they are much happier to make some margin on stuff they sell, so I do that when I can)

and they have been incredibly clear on the scope of the work they were to do, and spelled it out on the service order. I usually pay half down, on a credit card so I have some leverage.

if they can't itemize what was done beyond "put the motor and stuff in" it means they arent tracking labor properly and are pretty fly-by nite. amateur hour.

$7000 is my neck of the woods is still small claims court. council is nice but not necessary.
file a claim and don't send them a penny. Him selling off your property would be looked upon poorly by the court.

quick fyi, a verbal agreement is as good as any legal document in most property cases. only specific types of transaction require written contracts. if homie said 24 hours labor and you didnt agree to changes in that number, THAT is your case.

sources: wife is a know-it-all (lawyer) and i been ****** with cars for 25 years


let me offer some more advice bro. don;t let this thing consume you. I've been in protracted legal battles and the stress of a just a couple grand is incredible. Don't put your life on hold as this **** tends to drag out.

good luck

Originally Posted by MIAmotorsports

Text messages will work fine. He cannot charge you 3x the agreed upon price without asking for permission and documenting WHY. He has to prove that u OK'd him to move forward. If yu have the 20hrs mentioned in a text then you are in good shape. These guys that say things come up...agreed but it is your job as a business owner to convey those to a customer and get peission to move on. We are talking 3x the original quote. Not 10 or 20%. Of as a business owner you think this is OK or can understand please post your business so we can steer clear. It is NEVER OK to charge 300% more than quoted without asking if said person still want to do it and documentation as to why it happened. This is not a gray area. Written contract are nice but a text will absolutely work.