Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia
Failure to honor a lawn sprinkler warranty
Our lawn sprinker company says we have to pay for service and parts due to a broken sprinkler valve because he says we did not turn it off properly in the winter and we did not pay his company to come out and turn it off in the winter. It is under waranty and the warranty says nothing about voiding the warranty if we turn off the sprinklers ourselves, plus we did it right anyway, I think the valve is defective.
Do we need to pay him to fix it first then sue him or sue him first. If we sue him first, he may jack up the service charge if he looses. He will only give us a verbal estimate.
Or, should we have another company fix it and sue him for the amount we paid the other comapany? We just don't trust this guy....please help us if you can.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Failure to honor a lawn sprinkler warranty
As a legal matter, you could do either. If you really want to sue him, though, you'd better find someone else who can not only fix the sprinkler but who's willing to come to court to act as an expert witness, 'cause you'll need one. Be prepared to pay for that service, too.
I'd go out and get the parts and fix it myself, and have done with that company, if I were you. A ten dollar case is as difficult to try in court as a ten thousand dollar case, and there's just not enough money involved in this to make it worthwhile.
One way to make it worthwhile is to identify a violation of the Virginia Home Solication Sales Act or the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The minimum amount of money you can get if you win is five hundred dollars, and the statute provides for an award of attorneys' fees. Was this the result of a solicitation made to you at your home? And if so, did you get a written contract containing a notice of your right to cancel the contract within three days? If the answers are "yes" and "no" respectively, that's a violation.
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