Sued a Repair Shop, They Have Countersued for the Repair Bill

**litmu** · 07-11-2011, 09:51 AM

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: NC
Hi All: Some of you will remember my earlier postings. Thank you indeed you were a tremendous support.

I had filed a small claims complaint to have my vehicle recovered (with damages left TBD)from the repair shop who would not give me an estimate for 2 weeks, and then later asked me to not be seen on their property nor initiate communication with them or I would be arrested. However upon filing the small biz complaint, a friend of the repair shop started mediating the issue between us. He offered me to pay 6xx in cash and take my vehicle.

I went their in presence of an officer with cash. However at that time, the repair shop gave me a receipt which had a fine print saying: "In consideration for sale and or repair ... Customer agrees to indemnify ... and hold harmless for all expenses including payment of damages ... legal fees ....". I protested at that and put my own comment saying that I am signing it in duress. The repair shop owner said he 'wont let me bastardize his form and that I either sign it cleanly or he is sending my vehicle to the scrap-yard for its parts'. I told the cops that this is against the law, it is blackmail, to which he noddingly agreed with me but said that it is a civil issue for me to handle. I requested the Officer to bear witness that this is happening in total duress and my signature carries no meaning (as otherwise my vehicle will be sent for parts).

So yesterday I got served by an attorney notice of a 'counter claim complaint for money owed'. Amount is: 500. It says: 'plaintiff commenced this action in this court now comes defendent by way of a counterclaim alleges that pursuant to the attached, plaintiff is required to indemnify the defendant for legal fees and court costs'.

Any advice/comments/critical remarks that can awaken me, all are so much appreciated.

jk · 07-11-2011, 11:40 AM

this is where your claim of signing the agreement under duress is your defense. If you win, your agreement to indemnify the defendant is no longer valid and the defendant's claim fails.

**litmu** · 07-11-2011, 04:29 PM

A couple of questions below: Thanks:

Excerpt taken: http://www.unc.edu/student/orgs/sls/legal:auto_repair
"The Duty of Care"
Once you have agreed upon the terms of the repair contract, the repair person has a legal duty to make all authorized repairs in a workmanlike manner according to the standards and skills for such repairs in the trade. If you do not get an effective repair, if unauthorized repairs are made, or if your car is damaged during the repair process, you also have certain legal rights and remedies under contract, negligence, and consumer protection laws.

Q: What are those: a) legal rights, b) remedies under contract, c) negligence, d) consumer protection laws?

"Protecting Your Legal Rights"
If the matter is not resolved, you will be entitled at law to recover any reasonably related costs you incur to get an effective repair as well compensation for the loss of use of your car.

Q: How do I come with a reasonable cost estimate. I have not been able to figure it out all 100%. How do I calculate the compensation for loss of car use? In the damage section, is it right to add expenses such as time off from work to attend court date?

Q: I am anticipating that the repair shop will argue the motor vehicle repair act does not apply to them. How do I counter that?
As a backup, I need to know as well, since this conversion van repairs in question is like a house as well, what are the applicable repair acts in that category?

jk · 07-11-2011, 07:23 PM

isn't this the RV that may or may not fit within the motor vehicle repair law?

Q1: none of the above. The bolded section is merely a statement informing you that 1. you have legal rights in this situation and 2. there are consumer protection laws that your legal rights come from.

remedies under contract are where there are remedies within the contract you signed. I suspect there are no remedies under the contract. Negligence refers to how or why any damages may have come about. It means they did not use adequate care in performing whatever and as a result, there was damage. Accidentally breaking a window is a negligent act. Poorly repair work is not negligence. It is merely defective performance.

Q2. time off from work for court is not recoverable. It is simply a cost of taking care of business. Loss of use is exactly what it said. Did you lose anything due to the loss of the vehicle? Typically a rental vehicle is what they are speaking of there. In some cases, if the vehicle was a specialty vehicle and could not be replaced and there was a loss of income due to not being able to use the vehicle, that too is a compensable loss.

Q3. I don't think we ever came to an answer for that one. If nothing else, if there were any repairs to the vehicle itself, then it would fall under the act. I suspect repairs to non-vehicle portions of the RV would not be covered under the act but I am far from certain. I don't remember if there is a state office you can contact concerning the law. If there is, call them and ask them.

**litmu** · 07-29-2011, 12:30 PM

FRIENDS, we were immensely humbled YESTERDAY in the court and after returning home my wife could not stop crying - the weirdest feeling I have ever felt. Not because we lost, but because we WON and that we won after a pretty serious suffering at the hands of the repair shop owner who all through boasted with power and arrogance. In the end, however the owners relations could not influence the court. On both counts, our complaint as well as countersuit was ruled in our favor. Sincerest thanks to everyone.