Billing dispute (need advice) (longish)

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I think you do not owe a refund in any amount, and that you should take legal action to collect the full amount of the check that you had been given. I also think you owe nothing to the HO or the designer in compensation for the other person who installed the dimmers or for the stop-payment fee. Here is my reasoning:

The right thing that should have been done is that the HO should have arranged for you to enter the house and install the dimmers. How much would that have cost the HO? Nothing. How much would that have cost you? That is nobody?s business but your own.

Instead, what happened is that the HO arranged for someone else to install the dimmers. How much did that save you? That is nobody?s business but your own. How much did that cost the HO? It does not matter. That is because the HO could have gotten the work done at no cost to the HO, and chose instead to pay someone to do the work. That is the HO?s poor decision, and the HO should pay the price of that poor decision.

In no circumstances are you liable for the price of the stop-payment fee. It was not your choice, you were not given an opportunity to prevent it, and the fact that it happened has already cost you money. I suspect that you do have a case for legal action for that stop-payment.
 
Charlie, have you been watching Judge Judy?

Check the contract you signed, to make sure there's no "Work Not Completed", or "Repair" section, other than that, I think Charlie is pretty right.

If you want to play dirty, file a lien against the house, and include court costs and legal fees, along with what you're owed, in full, when you file your papers for court. This is definitely a good time for a good lawyer, don't try to do it yourself.
 
You know this reminds me of some work I did awhile back. The "designer" had her own people. I was able to talk the homeowner out of some of "her " people's ideas as they were ignorant and short sighted. While the job went well, and I got along fine with her, she was acting as a builder/GC in respect to having workers come in.

I would assume that since she wrote you the checks, she marked up your work, thereby acting as a builder/GC. In my state, she would have broken the law. Also, in my state, the contractor has a right to fix the problem if their is an issue.

c2500
 
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