Legal Question in Business Law in New York

signed contract/agreement

i have a small (only myself) air duct cleaning business. this is a part-time business. my full-time job is an hvac

svc. tech. i qive this as background info.only. while at a residence (for hvac svc) I stated that the ductwork should be cleaned to remove debris from within (soot from a cracked heat exchanger). i gave the cust. my proposal (duct cleaning) with a total price on the bottom for the work to be performed.I was going to leave the residence (my hvac work had been completed earlier) when the customer stopped me and stated that since the work needed to be done she may as well sign ''it'' now. which she did. that was on 04/03/06 it was agreed that the work be done on 04/08/06 upon arrival on 04/08 the cust. stated that the work had been done by another company on 04/06/06 and the cust. gave an apology and said ''i meant to call you''.

What recourse do i have to this? the price for work was

a little over $700 plus tax. i do not have a lot of ''legal fees'' avail. i had to travel aprox. 1 hour to get to this jobsite to find out i would not be doing it as orig. intended. sub-question --- if the cust. offered gas money should i have accepted ($20) -- i did not accept it

-- change of agreement?


Asked on 4/08/06, 9:55 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Carlos Gonzalez Gonzalez Legal Associates PLLC

Re: signed contract/agreement

Generally you are entitled to collect on a contract, however there are specific mitigating factors. As you did not have to do any actual work this becomes a difficulty in showing your entitlement to the entire amount. Generally the court will probably give you a reasonable fee for your travels and for your expenses, and potentially for the lost time if you could have had another client in the time slot given... this would be the biggest mitigating factor - did you put off another client to take on this job...

please feel free to send me another email to further discuss this issue.

Carlos Gonzalez, Esq.

phone: 7185419077

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Answered on 4/09/06, 8:13 pm
Peter Moulinos Moulinos & Associates LLC

Re: signed contract/agreement

I will have to see what the customer signed to determine exactly your recourse however, an agreement to have you work, if it is unequivocal, can be used against the customer to recover for your damages.

Feel free to forward the document to me for review.

Kind regards,

Peter Moulinos

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Answered on 4/08/06, 4:32 pm


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