Legal Question in Consumer Law in North Carolina

Sued a mechanic in small claim paid him 450$ trans. 2 weeks after the work was done it went out. I brought it back and the car sat for 2 years. In court the defendant didn't show the judge heard my case and awarded me 500$. 2 hours later I get a phone call, it was the judge, she tells me that she thought about it and that amount that she awarded wasn't fair to the defendant so she told me to gather three estimates for repair. I got the estimates to replace the seal 350$-400$ and to replace the trans.1,000$ She mailed my judgement for 150$ Can I appeal? What she did, legal? What are my options?


Asked on 6/08/11, 2:33 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

You have 30 days to appeal to the district court. Who cares if what the magistrate did was legal? When you appeal, the case is heard anew as if nothing ever happened.

Magistrates do what they want so while I don't think that she acted properly, you haven't handled this correctly either. It was your fault for allowing your car to sit for 2 years. You never should have allowed this to go on like that. You also should have prepared your case by getting the estimates before you went to court. You also needed a mechanic to testify that whatever the first guy did was wrong. I am not a mechanic and I don't know what was done for $450 and whether it was done correctly or not.

Your options are to appeal and get a lawyer so that this can be handled correctly. You cannot re-sue so if you do nothing, you have a piece of paper that allows you to collect $150. And you will still need an attorney to try and collect that unless the mechanic pays you voluntarily.

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Answered on 6/08/11, 1:01 pm


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