[Lone Oak]

We recently did work for this lady, I will refer to her as "Crazy Mary", and as soon as she opened her mouth, the alarms started sounding. From the very first time we did work for her, she started complaining about cost. Even when she was told the price beforehand. She had been buying plants on clearance in or around Boone, NC at a Home Depot and been stockpiling them here until she could plant them. Azaleas, sagos, Oleander in one gallon pots kept in full shade with little to no water nor care. A year later, she hired us to plant them in her yard - no irrigation hard packed sand. We bid the job on labor only and installed the plants. These guys were so root bound we had to cut 3/4 of the pots off of the plants....I pointed out on several instances the girdling that was already occuring but we put them in the ground anyway. I told her on no un certain terms that we were NOT putting any warranty on these plants and she was fine. Then we do land clearing for her. She insists on a set bid for the job. We refused to quote her a price but told her it would be at least $500.00 for the equipment and operator to be there for one day + rental of attachments, haul off, etc....BIG MISTAKE. We try to call her to discuss the job situation and that her bill has come to $1000.00 and if she wants us to do the extra items - they will cost more but we wouldn't do anymore until we talked to her. When she comes back into town and makes her usual phone call two weeks after the due date, we go over to personally speak to her - as usual. She immeadiatly says that we've doubled the estimate. We told her "No, we stopped at your cutoff but we completed the job you requested". No no no she insists that this was robbery. After 45 minutes of alternating tirades and bouts of crying, we told her I am sorry but I do not have time for this right now. I will call you later to discuss this.....This time we call her and she starts in with this insane story about why she didn't pay our guys for their sidework (She had hired our guys to come out and work on their off time for less than we charge per hour). She told them to make us pay them for the time and laid into me about the terrible job we did. I reiterated to her that there was no written estimate for her property, nor did we imply that there was. She gave me this long drawn out story and became so off course that I was having trouble following what instance she was talking about. She was yelling and accusing my husband of hoarding money and sending it to Mexico at which time I told her that she was impossible to talk to and that the work was completed and she needed to pay for the work she received. I informed her she had 30 days to do so (added to the two weeks she already took). I followed up with a certified letter stating this same story to her and reminded her of the 30 day time period. She then proceeded to go to small claims court and file against us for cutting her phone line (the one she called me on), not finishing the job, doubling our estimate, hanging up on her, causing plants to die, holding up jobs on property. She then hired another local land clearing company and had them do the next job that we were scheduled to do and paid them with a smile. (By the way, the reason the work was held up was because we wouldn't do it until she paid us for the last one) Now, she's been going to local nurseries and bad mouthing our company to anyone who will listen. They not only defended us, they called to let me know she'd been around. Luckily, we've built up a good reputation and most people see her for what she is. She did basically the same thing to a local tree company and he's going to bear witness to her shady dealings. My court date is set for the end of Sept. and I am nervous because it's our first time....Anybody have any opinions about the story you'd care to share?? I am looking to see what my odds are in court. I have my rentals I used for her property, I have past invoices and the slow payments she gave, I have a witness, I have my paperwork......SHE'S SUING ME FOR $2500.00. My opinion is that we are going to go to court, tell the truth, and hope it turns out well. We've contacted an attorney as well that is helping us.

Crossing fingers.......

[Greensmith]

I was going to say that you will win in small claims ifyou have the documents. But on retrospect she is slandering your company even with you being in the right. I would take legal action on her, those nurseries have to many interactions with local clientele to brush off her claims.

[Stonehenge]

She's suing you for hanging up on her? I guess I have some old girlfriends that owe me money, then.

I'm not sure what you have for a written contract; that would likely be the one main document that would determine the outcome. (And if you don't have one, get one and start using it - there's a sample of ours on the site, from the home page, click on articles, then the link with something about legaleze).

Since she initiated crazy, you might bring crazy to her doorstep - get a letter or two signed from your suppliers documenting her libel and slander. File a counter-suit for the limit of small claims ($5k in our state) for lost work.

As for your time in court, try not to worry too much. I know, easier said. But there won't be any TV cameras, they won't haul you off to jail if you lose. Be organized, have any paperwork ready (and copies) and have your story straight.

Good luck!

[Fine Edge]

Living in NC, I know that oleander is more of a coastal tropical plant and would never live in Boone. Is this the kind of plants she wanted installed?
As for court, you'll probably be too bored awaiting your turn to be nervous.

[AZTLANLC]

Originally Posted by Stonehenge

She's suing you for hanging up on her? I guess I have some old girlfriends that owe me money, then.

you have such a good sense of humor.

I'd recommend to include your workers into the counter suit against her to get pay for their time.

[Lone Oak]

Yeah, Oleanders are not normally grown in Boone and require full sun to grow correctly. We spoke to our lawyer yesterday about her and as soon as we pulled out her file he goes "Oh Lord, you're dealing with HER?!" Apparently he had a run in with her years ago over the sale of a house where she was essentially the same way and told everyone in town he was a crook. He said he's going to send one of his lawyers down to make sure everything is handled well but says he refuses to be in the same room with her. Live and learn....when the spidey senses tingle, run away from the cause!!

[Greensmith]

A lawyer is afraid of her? Wow.

[obryanmaint]

a small but hard lesson i learned,that is mentioned above ...is have copies of ALL of your paperwork for the judge/magistrate...i did not in one instance and it ticked him off a bit

[Terre]

Suggestion. She is the plaintiff, she will get to talk first. Let her. Don't say a word. Take notes while she is rambling, so you can make counterpoints. Sounds like she will easily hang herself. In my experience, small claims judges have heard it all before, and the crazies lawsuits get tossed out quickly. Judges don't like having their time wasted. And frequently they have seen these people before. Some people make a habit of suing.

I had a business partner once who served a restraining order on me. She went to court and told the judge she was afraid of me. 5'4" 102 lb me. (She outweighed me easily by 75 pounds.) When he asked her what she was afraid of, she told him "She's married to an Italian, and you know what they are!" Apparently she didn't notice the plaque on the desk showing the judges name, which ended in "ini". He basically told her he'd seen her name on multiple suits, she wasn't a lawyer, and not to let the door hit her ass on the way out.

[Andyboy]

Just came across this thread and I'm dying to know how it worked out.


Jason

[Lone Oak]

Oh - STILL waiting, the court date was moved to the 26th of this month so I will let you know how it goes!! Thanks for asking!!

[Lone Oak]

UPDATE: CASE DISMISSED FOR LACK OF CLAIM. Putting a lean on the house and wiping my hands of the deal...I have got to get a better client screening process!