Small claims court

[suthdj]

I had a plumbing company schedule me for an inspection twice both times they failed to do it. So now i have lost 2 vacation days they offered me a $50 home depot gift card and to reschedule, I declined until i have been compensated for my lost days. So can I sue in small claims for lost wages, because now my plans for an overseas vacation has just been shortened or will be unpaid.

[Jusme]

I had a plumbing company schedule me for an inspection twice both times they failed to do it. So now i have lost 2 vacation days they offered me a $50 home depot gift card and to reschedule, I declined until i have been compensated for my lost days. So can I sue in small claims for lost wages, because now my plans for an overseas vacation has just been shortened or will be unpaid.

You can go to small claims court, but you will then have to lose at least one more vacation day for which you would not be able to recover from the plumbing company. I don't know the dollar amount lost (nor do I need to) but I don't know that you would be able to recover enough to make it worth the time and trouble. JMHO

[RPBrown]

I had a plumbing company schedule me for an inspection twice both times they failed to do it. So now i have lost 2 vacation days they offered me a $50 home depot gift card and to reschedule, I declined until i have been compensated for my lost days. So can I sue in small claims for lost wages, because now my plans for an overseas vacation has just been shortened or will be unpaid.

You can go to small claims court, but you will then have to lose at least one more vacation day for which you would not be able to recover from the plumbing company. I don't know the dollar amount lost (nor do I need to) but I don't know that you would be able to recover enough to make it worth the time and trouble. JMHO

I just looked through the plumbing rules and regulations and found no penalties for a plumber that does not show up. Illegal, no. Bad business, Most definitely. As for a small claims court for civil penalties, I would think you would lose more that you gained if the judge ruled against you. I would look for a new plumber.

There is the old saying that if you get someone to do a good job for you, you may tell 1-2 people. However, if someone does you a bad job, then you will tell everyone you meet. This does hold true and could be the most damaging to the plumber.

[puma guy]

Try Judge Judy! Seriously, I don't think I don't think you can recover. A promise is not a contract; no consideration was involved, unless you put up some sort of deposit or prepayment, which I doubt.

[suthdj]

The work is already done I only need the inspection, after the install the plumber called back later that afternoon to confirm I wanted the next Friday, When that Friday came around nobody showed up, he claimed it was the master plumbers fault and that he would handle it personally and confirmed for the following Friday and again nobody showed up. So they have my $1300 for the install and I still have no inspection. But I am short 2 vacation days which amount to over $500 and yes I will be hitting every review site I can now the next issue is it the plumber I go after or Home Depot since they collected the money?

[WildBill]

Try Judge Judy! Seriously, I don't think I don't think you can recover. A promise is not a contract; no consideration was involved, unless you put up some sort of deposit or prepayment, which I doubt.

IANAL, but I don't think that small claims court has that jurisdiction.

[Soccerdad1995]

How did you pay?

If the inspection was part of the contracted work, and you paid $1,300 for the complete job, then you may have a case for a CC chargeback. Just tell the CC company that you will gladly pay if the vendor actually delivers what they agreed to deliver, and to date that has not yet happened. This would put the pressure back on the plumbing company instead of on you. You can then tell the plumbing company that you have given them two chances to schedule the inspection, so now you are scheduling it. Saturday at 10 A.M. Leave the house at 10:01. Then tell them next chance is a week from Sunday......

I had to do something similar when an agreement with Empire flooring went south. It's amazing how their tone changes once you get the money back via the CC company. They went from ignoring my calls to having a district manager show up personally.

[ELB]

The legislature abolished "Small Claims Court" in 2013. There are still "small claims" that operate under different, hopefully less complex, rules, just not a court by that name. I guess it is called "Justice Court" now.

This might or might not help. How to Sue in Justice Court. It's on the Texas Bar website. The copyright date on this one is 2013, not sure if that is the latest or not, you probably should double check.

I know how you feel. Will Fix It screwed me out of a day off one time when, at the time I called and made the initial appointment, they failed to tell me that the responding technician would call 30 minutes prior to his arrival and if I didn't answer he would cancel the call and go to his next one. I went out to feed the horse about 30 minutes prior and found the voicemail from the tech saying he cancelled because I didn't answer. When I called the scheduler immediately (voicemail less than 2 minutes old) they refused to redirect the technician even tho he had just called. The were a pain in the tookus about rescheduling and remarkably unfriendly about the whole deal -- I got a huge runaround trying to get it fixed, and none of their schedulers or supervisors seemed to think that not telling me about the pre-visit call was a problem. Luckily I hadn't given them any money yet, so better off than you, and I went with a different contractor.

Good luck.

[MasterOfNone]

I highly recommend disputing the charge if you paid by credit card. Money talks, though once they complete the inspection, the card company will consider their end fulfilled without regard for your wasted time.
I have always wanted to try a remedy frequently suggested by Clark Howard - picketing. As long as you stay on public property and do not lie, it is legal. Clark claims great response from businesses in cases where a single lost customer could mean significant lost money.

[carlson1]

I think the short answer is, you cannot be compensated for days off work.

[The Annoyed Man]

I think the short answer is, you cannot be compensated for days off work.

But if the vendor took those days out of a scheduled vacation, then can he be compensated for the lost vacation time? Maybe a slightly different angle?

He didn't lose pay (he was paid), what he lost was vacation, and that must have some value that a court can consider for compensation. If justice prevails......

[RPBrown]

If by inspection, you mean city inspections, you can call the city building inspection department, explain your problem and they will probably schedule an inspection for you.

[steveincowtown]

The work is already done I only need the inspection, after the install the plumber called back later that afternoon to confirm I wanted the next Friday, When that Friday came around nobody showed up, he claimed it was the master plumbers fault and that he would handle it personally and confirmed for the following Friday and again nobody showed up. So they have my $1300 for the install and I still have no inspection. But I am short 2 vacation days which amount to over $500 and yes I will be hitting every review site I can now the next issue is it the plumber I go after or Home Depot since they collected the money?

I'll echo what other have said and add to it.

- If the plumbing company is the one who is also responsible for the inspection. Dispute the charge with your CC company immediate.

- Call the Home Depot corporate office.

- Tweet Home Depot and ask "what is it going to take to get this work completed? #wastedvacationdays"

- When the call to schedule the inspection let me know you are only available after work hours, and they will now need to accommodate you.

[Soccerdad1995]

The work is already done I only need the inspection, after the install the plumber called back later that afternoon to confirm I wanted the next Friday, When that Friday came around nobody showed up, he claimed it was the master plumbers fault and that he would handle it personally and confirmed for the following Friday and again nobody showed up. So they have my $1300 for the install and I still have no inspection. But I am short 2 vacation days which amount to over $500 and yes I will be hitting every review site I can now the next issue is it the plumber I go after or Home Depot since they collected the money?

I'll echo what other have said and add to it.

- If the plumbing company is the one who is also responsible for the inspection. Dispute the charge with your CC company immediate.

- Call the Home Depot corporate office.

- Tweet Home Depot and ask "what is it going to take to get this work completed? #wastedvacationdays"

- When the call to schedule the inspection let me know you are only available after work hours, and they will now need to accommodate you.

You may be in decent shape since Home Depot is involved. I did some major remodeling at my house, including replacing 2,000 square feet of flooring. Bought the flooring, kitchen cabinets, and some other things through Home Depot.

The flooring ended up looking completely different than the sample (apparently the vendor sent them the wrong sample piece). This was not really Home Depot's fault, but they made it right after I got the district manager involved. I had 6 department managers at my house cleaning up the floors (sloppy/messy install as well), and they gave me a check for 50% of the total flooring cost (including installation). I am assuming (and hoping) that Home Depot recovered the money from the flooring vendor and installer, but the bottom line is that they made it right for me. Net-net, that company tends to care about their reputation if you make a big enough noise.

[suthdj]

The work is already done I only need the inspection, after the install the plumber called back later that afternoon to confirm I wanted the next Friday, When that Friday came around nobody showed up, he claimed it was the master plumbers fault and that he would handle it personally and confirmed for the following Friday and again nobody showed up. So they have my $1300 for the install and I still have no inspection. But I am short 2 vacation days which amount to over $500 and yes I will be hitting every review site I can now the next issue is it the plumber I go after or Home Depot since they collected the money?

I'll echo what other have said and add to it.

- If the plumbing company is the one who is also responsible for the inspection. Dispute the charge with your CC company immediate.

- Call the Home Depot corporate office.

- Tweet Home Depot and ask "what is it going to take to get this work completed? #wastedvacationdays"

- When the call to schedule the inspection let me know you are only available after work hours, and they will now need to accommodate you.

You may be in decent shape since Home Depot is involved. I did some major remodeling at my house, including replacing 2,000 square feet of flooring. Bought the flooring, kitchen cabinets, and some other things through Home Depot.

The flooring ended up looking completely different than the sample (apparently the vendor sent them the wrong sample piece). This was not really Home Depot's fault, but they made it right after I got the district manager involved. I had 6 department managers at my house cleaning up the floors (sloppy/messy install as well), and they gave me a check for 50% of the total flooring cost (including installation). I am assuming (and hoping) that Home Depot recovered the money from the flooring vendor and installer, but the bottom line is that they made it right for me. Net-net, that company tends to care about their reputation if you make a big enough noise.

Got a call back from Home Depot corporate office so this is the route I will pursue at this moment.