I’ll cut right to it: I signed a contract for basement waterproofing on the October 4, 2011. Due to scheduling, the completion date of my 3-day job is February 2, 2012. I have found another reputable company who can get the job done in the next 2-3 weeks.
Since I’m outside the 3-day “cooling off period,” does anyone know offhand if I have any recourse?
I’m hoping that, worst case, I’m out my $500 deposit, and best case I’m released and able to have my home repaired in a much more timely fashion.
I think your $500 is gone no matter what. I would think a company with enough business to be booked solid through February would be happy to accept your cancellation and $500 for doing nothing.
You shouldn’t be out the deposit if they haven’t done anything. IANA lawyer, but they say all the time that the law abhors a default. If they did some work, let them have the $500. It’s probably not worth fighting over. If they claim you owe more, make them prove it. If they can, based on hours worked and materials purchased, pay them what you owe.
Without knowing the specific details of your contract, it sounds like the $500 is considered liquidated damages.
The idea is that they can’t hit you with a penalty for breaking a contract (basic contract law prohibits it), but they can collect money for preparations that they made in beginning to work on your contract. So, instead of bickering and arguing over how much that would be in the event of a breach, the contract language states both parties agree that $500 is a fair amount.
The only way you could get that back would be to take them to court and say that $500 is outrageous or “unconscionable” and that it acts as a penalty instead of damages. With a company that busy, you may have a point that $500 is too much, but I would be prepared for them to argue that they had approximately that in labor, form processing, estimates, etc. to be close enough to be considered reasonable.
IANAL (but almost 1/2 there ) and my amateur opinion is that you can cancel but you will lose the $500.
They have visited his site, determined the nature of the project, taken the time to calculate the costs involved, prepared the contracts and added them to the schedule. Does this COST $500, no but you have already mutually agreed to a deposit. These types of deposits are taken for this exact reason, buyers remorse, extended research turned up a better rate later, etc, etc. You would be amazed how many consumers will walk over $50 on a $10,000 job if they didnt have some kind of non refundable deposit. We ran into the same phenomenon with computers, after getting stuck with 2-3 machines, we started doing non-refundable deposits.
To the OP: If new job +$500 is still cheaper than current guy, its kinda a no brainer. You might even try pitching the guy that has the lower bid saying you are gonna lose a $500 deposit to go with him and see if he will shave off some of his to match it iff $500+new contract is still a little more.
When did they tell you that? ISTM (IANAL) that this gives you a good justification to drop them… IF they waited to tell you until after the 3 day remorse period was past. Ostensibly you need the waterproofing done before winter, right?
If they told you the schedule during the period when you had time to change your mind, though, you’re likely SOL.
Why not try calling the company and telling a manager about your situation? He may be willing (and able) to refund all or part of your deposit in the interest of keeping you as a customer and not losing a future sale. He may also be willing to move up your appointment in the interest of not losing THIS sale.
Jobs like this, repeat customers are going to be few and far between. This is an empty threat. My business has a similar problem with home users. Someone calls me, I fix the computer, charge $150, and don’t see them again for 3 years.
Didn’t see this before. Those are costs the company assumed at their own risk. If the OP never signed the contract, they would have been lost. And if they refuse to return his to deposit and he sues, they won’t be counted toward actual expenses. Now if the company in question has actual expenses, they can keep the part of the deposit that covers them. They could actually sue to recover any costs that exceed the amount of the deposit.
If you got stuck with computers, that would mean you went out and purchased them on speculation, otherwise you werent’t stuck. And you shouldn’t have spent money before you had the deposit and a signed contract. And you could have then sued to recover any actual costs even if they exceeded the deposit.
Deposits have to be returned if there are no actual costs involved, always.
) and my amateur opinion is that you can cancel but you will lose the $500.