Legal Question in Consumer Law in Virginia

Re: Car Repair

You may have claims, including but not limited to, claims for breach of contract, violations of the Consumer Protection Act, and Repair Facilities Act.

Re: Car Repair

My colleague (no relation that I know of) is correct. I would add that the three biggest problems anyone has in these types of situations is (1) proving what was actually said, (2) proving what work was or was not done, and (3) demonsrating the dollar amount of your losses ("damages"), that is what are you asking from the Court?

As to (1), it helps to write a letter because they might answer in writing and they might admit to some aspects of the case. You can bring a neutral witness with you when you discuss the problem because they might admit to some details. But you may be surprised at their version of events, what they remember, and what they deny (especially since they see lots of customers).

As to (2) suppose the judge asks you how do you know that they did not do the work promised? Are you a mechanic? You may need to bring to court a mechanic of your own to give an expert opinion that they did not do the work promised.

The good side is that under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act you could POTENTIALLY (don't start spendng the money yet!) win 3 times what you have lost.

As to (3), showing how much you have lost can be tricky. What if they did some of the work but not all? What is the dollar value of what they did versus what they did not do? Again, bringing your own mechanic to court may be essential. Note that you could win 3 times what you actually lost, NOT what you paid. So if you received $1500 in true value out of $2500, you could get 3 times $1000 under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. But you might also get attorneys fees and other add-ons as well ONLY under the VCPA (not normally).

Of course this is also just a straight breach of contract case also, IF you can prove what was said between you verbally.

Note that this is different from a "lemon law" case, because they promised to perform X services in return for $Y payment. It is not about the car itself.