Service Company's Responsibility for Damage Caused by a Worker

[Bullseye50]

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Florida

I have a condo maintenance/repair contract that covers HVAC. The compressor failed on 4/2/12 and the company attempted to replace it on 4/3/12 however the technician doing the work was having problems and eventually shorted out my whole breaker panel inside my unit - rendering the AC breaker connection on the panel bus bar unusable.

A company supervisor came by the same day and stated the breaker panel would need to be replaced and power restored to the roof system before they could further diagnose the compressor problem. He quoted $800-$1200 implying it would be an expense for me which I knew was wrong considering their work caused the problem.

That same day I called in a private electrician from another company to check out the breaker panel. There was room to rearrange the breakers and replace the blown-out AC breaker. When done he was able to restore power to the rooftop. I advised the maintenance company of this and they sent out a different technician with another compressor 2 days later on 4/5/12. The AC system was then repaired and worked correctly.

I called the maintenance company the next day regarding compensation for the private electricians bill of $238. I told the company that extending my service contract ($229) for another year would be acceptable to close the incident. They called me back 2 days later saying they didn't want to do that but would replace the breaker panel for $400 since they felt the problem was caused by their technician.

I plan to refuse this offer so if I have to resort to small claims court and I'd like your opinion on how you think that may turn out.

I should also add that I had to cancel a flight to Chicago on 4/4/12 to await repair to the AC system. Re-booking the flight cost me an additional $350 so I'd like to know if I can also claim that if I wind up in court.

Thanks in advance. New here and first post so easy on any flaming please.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You incurred costs of $238 to fix the problem, you wanted to settle the claim for an extension of your service contract, valued at $229, and they offered you $400 instead? So... what's the problem?

You should not expect to recover for your rebooking fee.