Hi,
We employed a company to demolish an old house for us.
They did the job but came a day earlier than they stated and destroyed a 70 year old gargoyle dragon that was on the top of the house, potentially worth a couple of thousand dollars.
So they claim that their standard contract that we signed gives them "ownership" or "control" of the entire property immediately.
we don't have an issue with that, BUT...
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We have written permission from the company stating that:
1. we could take any items from the house that we liked before demolition
2. that they would start demolition on the following Wednesday
So I went to the house on the day before demolition to retrieve my dragon statue, and found that they had already entered the property and smashed the dragon along with the roof tiles. (I found broken dragon)
So I am assuming that the written permission along with the start date gives me the right to expect my dragon to be intact up until the start date.
I gave them 2 options:
1. I pay the balance minus $2,000 which we argue over in court
2. They alter the invoice now and deduct $500 and we settle with that.
They refused, saying that they will take me to court and also claim costs from me.
Questions:
1. Who do you think will win if it goes to court?
2. Which court would they take me to over $2,000?
3. Can they also claim costs from me if they win? (I know VCAT doesn't allow lawyers or costs to be added)
Thanks for any advice..
Mike
We employed a company to demolish an old house for us.
They did the job but came a day earlier than they stated and destroyed a 70 year old gargoyle dragon that was on the top of the house, potentially worth a couple of thousand dollars.
So they claim that their standard contract that we signed gives them "ownership" or "control" of the entire property immediately.
we don't have an issue with that, BUT...
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
We have written permission from the company stating that:
1. we could take any items from the house that we liked before demolition
2. that they would start demolition on the following Wednesday
So I went to the house on the day before demolition to retrieve my dragon statue, and found that they had already entered the property and smashed the dragon along with the roof tiles. (I found broken dragon)
So I am assuming that the written permission along with the start date gives me the right to expect my dragon to be intact up until the start date.
I gave them 2 options:
1. I pay the balance minus $2,000 which we argue over in court
2. They alter the invoice now and deduct $500 and we settle with that.
They refused, saying that they will take me to court and also claim costs from me.
Questions:
1. Who do you think will win if it goes to court?
2. Which court would they take me to over $2,000?
3. Can they also claim costs from me if they win? (I know VCAT doesn't allow lawyers or costs to be added)
Thanks for any advice..
Mike