Opinions for a totally made up story!!!

DevMcLovin

This is a hypothetical situation.

Lets say… that I got someone to do a job for me around the house. He estimated the cost to be €500, the job was done by someone that worked for him. 7 months later (2 days before Christmas) he lands at my door with an invoice for €900, I hadn’t heard from him since the job was done, I queried the price as there was no more work required than was originally needed. The next day I rang him and said that I couldn’t afford €900 and would he settle for €500 cash, He agreed, Before I met him I typed up a letter to state that the acc was now settled. (As I since found out that he is not the most trustworthy) He asked to count the money which I handed over; he then refused to sign what I had typed up and sped off. I rang him straight away and asked what he was at. He wouldn’t explain his actions. After a few phone calls over the next 20 mins (as he kept hanging up) he said not to worry as no one would be calling to my door. So I left it at that.
1 year later I get a letter from a person claiming to be working for this man that I had employed looking for the balance “owed”. I rang him straight away and explained the story, he said he would look into it. 1 year later (1 month ago) I get a letter from a solicitor looking for the balance. I type a letter explaining the situation, to which I get a reply telling me of a court date that I must appear at or pay the “balance owed” in 10 days.
The 10 days have lapsed as I refuse to pay him,
I can’t afford to pay and he agreed to settle. What are my options i.e how much would a solicitor cost as I would rather pay them that to hand over the money this fella.
Also when I was ringing him I recorded the phonecall and he can clearly be heard saying “no one would be calling to me again”. Is this of any use in court would you think?
Would I be stupid to be going to court with legal representation if I had to? Another small thing, let say
On the letter telling me of the court date, the dates that they have down that the work was carried out is 5 months later than it actually was. Would this make any difference or am I watching too much law & order? Sorry for this long winded hypothetical story..

source

Tbh, this to me sounds too detailed to be hypothetical, you need to talk to a solicitor mate.

coylemj

Agree with foinse, this is quite clearly not a hypothetical situation and do you have to use that big font?

If you were being taken to court you would be notified by a document sent by the courts, a solicitor cannot summons you to court by writing to you and virtually ordering you to turn up.

The start of the post I find interesting, you're implying that the job was done and then seven months later your man turns up looking for his money?

Have you not heard the golden rule that applies when engaging someone to do a job for a fixed fee? It goes something like this - you agree the scope of the work to be done and the price, put it in writing and both of you sign it.

FreudianSlippers

coylemj wrote: »

Have you not heard the golden rule that applies when engaging someone to do a job for a fixed fee? It goes something like this - you agree the scope of the work to be done and the price, put it in writing and both of you sign it.

I had kind of hoped that would rhyme.

DevMcLovin wrote: »

[..] 2 days before Christmas [...]

Sure, totally hypothetical.