# What would be the fair way to handle a mistake that we didn't cause but we are benefiting from? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892 "2021-05-25T17:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/82 "2021-05-26T19:59:43Z")
Coincidently, I have actually filed a police report online recently, when our kids backpacks were stolen out of the back of the car. It actually worked out well, since someone returned the backpacks to the police and we got a lot of our kids more sentimental stuff back. I did not see that coming and only filed the police report because the school district asked us to (a laptop belonging to them was in the backpack). But I think that situation is somewhat different and more than anything likely serves an administrative process (i.e. providing a mild barrier to entry to just claiming their laptops are gone and/or distinguishing between parental neglect and an actual theft). All joking aside, and speaking more generally, I’m still perplexed by the instinct to jump to antagonistic stances like bringing in the cops for simple misunderstandings or mistakes. Just… work it out like human beings. You’ll know pretty quickly if you’re dealing with someone rational and of solid character who will own up to the mistake and make you whole again. Am I just naive or is it just a fact of life that in the litigious United States you need to leave a trail of police reports behind you for any disagreements involving a non-negligible amount of money? ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/83 "2021-05-26T20:00:02Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > The value of the destroyed door would not make them whole if there is no way to replace the door for that amount of money. I just realized how wrong this was, the way I wrote it. You’re right that the value of the destroyed door is too little if the scenario is the OP refusing the door. What I meant was more like, if they were to refuse the door, and the contractor would then have to make them whole, they’d possibly have to pay the difference in value between the destroyed door and a new door when the repairs were made, because in the end, they’d have a new door vs an old door that needed work. I am not sure when you get market value vs replacement value for something like this. Not my area either, and I am trying to do too much else while posting… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/84 "2021-05-26T20:01:13Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I also wouldn’t bother trying to get them to paint the door or anything like that. If the contractor had instead been given the job of painting your neighbor’s garage instead of replacing his garage door, and the resulting paint job, which would have looked great on your neighbor’s garage, clashed with the color scheme of _your_ house, would you react any differently? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/85 "2021-05-26T20:03:46Z")
Yeah, but I wouldn’t have gotten a new garage door in that scenario. I was just saying what I would do, not that there isn’t some justification for asking the contractor for them to fix the color issue in whatever way they see fit. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/86 "2021-05-26T20:13:45Z")
I think I’d post my property ‘no trespassing’ and learn to like the door color. Down the line the new door will add value to the house when it is appraised or sold. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/87 "2021-05-26T20:15:07Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Again, my main point was, if you intend to not pay anything, you should consult a lawyer. Not unless the contractor makes threats or files a lien. > [@Folly](#): > > I don’t think there has been anything in the story yet about anyone even asking for anything. Personally, I wouldn’t bother consulting a lawyer until that happened at the very least. Right. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/88 "2021-05-26T20:33:03Z")
I can relate a story of a homeowner in our neighborhood. He had a stone wall [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.atlasobscura.com/articles/new-england-stone-walls.amp](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.atlasobscura.com/articles/new-england-stone-walls.amp) about 6 feet from the street, very common in New England. It had the appearance of a pile of stones. Homeowner was at their lake house for a week. Came back to find this [The history, science and poetry of New England's stone walls](https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/history-science-and-poetry-new-englands-stone-walls/) kind of wall in its place. Turned out that the stone for the new wall was delivered to the wrong driveway. By a SUB contractor. The contractors guys showed up and replaced this guys wall. The contractor wasn’t claiming anything from the homeowner but he would pay the subcontractor who supplied the stone. The supplier puts a mechanics lien on the house. Cost him $2500 in legal fees to get the lien removed. The stone itself was $3000 and change. But the homeowner was dammed if he was going to pay for a wall he didn’t want. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/89 "2021-05-26T20:33:13Z")
“Consulting a lawyer” does not mean starting legal action. It just means spending half an hour telling the lawyer the facts of the case and knowing basically where you stand _if_ things get antagonistic. I think the time and expense of such a preliminary consultation would be small, and it would be money well spent. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/90 "2021-05-26T20:38:45Z")
If you get a _free_ consult- _maybe._ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/91 "2021-05-26T21:00:35Z")
Anyone else reminded of [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQbx8lIEKME)? (oh, and, OP - do not put out one cent to fix this. It’s not your problem). ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/92 "2021-05-26T21:07:16Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > All joking aside, and speaking more generally, I’m still perplexed by the instinct to jump to antagonistic stances like bringing in the cops for simple misunderstandings or mistakes. > [@Driver8](#): > > I would think that the facts on the ground would be more important, Bringing in the cops doesn’t have to be antagonistic; it can be an easy and cheap way to get a neutral party to document what the facts on the ground really are at this stage. If you find out later that everybody is nice and pleasant and reasonable, it doesn’t have to go anywhere, but if you find out later that there is a problem (and in some states, contractors can let multiple years go by before attempting to enforce a lien, for example), it may be too late to get documentation that the court or the insurance company will accept as readily as a police report. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/93 "2021-05-26T21:13:25Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I’m still perplexed by the instinct to jump to antagonistic stances like bringing in the cops for simple misunderstandings or mistakes. Just… work it out like human beings. You’ll know pretty quickly if you’re dealing with someone rational and of solid character who will own up to the mistake and make you whole again. > > Am I just naive or is it just a fact of life that in the litigious United States you need to leave a trail of police reports behind you for any disagreements involving a non-negligible amount of money? Seriously. Sometimes this board has a weird Ayn Randian aftertaste that appears, particularly around matters of personal property. My advice: have a conversation with your neighbor, find out what his/her plans are. Decide how important the paint color is to you. If it’s important, decide if the simplicity of painting it yourself is more important than the time/effort/expense involved vs. the time/effort of getting the contractor to do it. Act accordingly. Things not to do at this stage: press charges, call the police, go to small claims court, or burn the neighborhood down. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/94 "2021-05-26T22:22:43Z")
In the jurisdictions I’m familiar with, courts don’t set awards at “replacement value”, but actual value. A 60 yr old door ain’t worth much. For example, if you wreck someone’s twenty year old junker worth $500, you don’t get $15,000 for a new car. That IS being “made whole”, because your actual damages are only $500. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/95 "2021-05-26T23:00:54Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > That IS being “made whole”, because your actual damages are only $500. So in this case, if you were the OP’s lawyer you wouldn’t bring up the possibility that the mismatched color could bring down the property value? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/96 "2021-05-26T23:07:42Z")
OP’s lawyer being again, the lawyer that would work on contingency over a $500 claim? Or the lawyer working on fee for $400/hr over a $500 claim? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/97 "2021-05-26T23:08:08Z")
That’s not what “replacement value” means. Replacement cost is what it would cost someone to replace something. If you have a 20 year old junker then replacement value is whatever you would have to pay for a similar old junker. Replacement value in the case of an old garage door is whatever you would have to pay to have a replacement garage door installed. Since there is no market in old, used garage doors, you’d have to get a new one. Hence, replacement value for the old garage door is the cost of a new one including installation. If it were otherwise, my home insurance wouldn’t have paid for a modern sectional garage door after my old flip-up style one was badly bent up when my garage was broken into. And believe me, they did initially object to the quotes I secured for garage door replacement and insisted on soliciting their own to make sure I wasn’t trying to get a free upgrade, because my quotes were for insulated doors and my old one was uninsulated. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/98 "2021-05-26T23:26:13Z")
Insurance claims are different than what a court would likely reward you. If someone breaks your 20 yr old CRT monitor, the court is going to award you the value of that monitor, which is zero, not the value of a new flat screen. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/99 "2021-05-27T01:03:30Z")
Oh, wow! So many replies, I haven’t even skimmed them yet. Let me update you all on what has been happening. I told hubby about the possibility suggested by (damn, I forgot, sorry) the guy who suggested we get the contractor to take down the new door, install a new but simpler/cheaper one in white. The cost of the new-new door, and the labor involved in the entire sequence is NOT to be our problem. We had a basic working garage door to begin with, we’d have the same at the end, and we should not pay anything towards the labor since we had absolutely zip to do with causing the mistake to happen. Hubby is fine with this idea, if the contractor goes along. Then contractor is to go across the street, remove the old garage door there and install the one that spent a few days at our place, giving neighbor what he contracted for, if a few days belated. Contractor is out the cost of a cheaper door than at present plus his efforts and what he pays his helpers. Which hurts, but not as much as giving us a ritzy door plus maybe painting it AND buying/installing a ritzy door for the neighbor. Hubby called contractor and asked questions. Like, Can the new door be easily painted? (Answer seems be to be no, the door is made from some sort of miracle stuff that isn’t supposed to weather but tends to shed ordinary paint.) Can the door be uninstalled from our garage and reinstalled in the neighbors without it being damaged or disvalued in some way? (Yes, so long as the workers take care. Apparently all the connections are done with bolts, and can be unscrewed and rescrewed fine, unless they’ve been in place for years and years and years, enough for rust and corrosion and wear or such to happen. Any connector bit that looks bent or such would simply be discarded and replaced with a new one, at trivial expense, It’s the door panels that are costly.) Contractor still insisted that part of the blame falls on the neighbor for causing or not noticing the address error. Hubby and I talked to the neighbors last night, and explained all the above. The neighbor is sorta ‘hmmmm.’ He has some worries about the install/uninstall/reinstall sequence might cause some hidden damage that would cause the door to fail too quickly. He’s still sure he gave his address correctly, but admits to not having spotted the error on the purchase agreement. Basically, everyone seems to be acting like civilized people at the moment. And from our angle in particular, the neighbor explicitly said he knows none of this is our fault, and so did the contractor, who seems a bit sheepish. No definite agreement yet, but I think it’s clear he accepts the idea of replacing our garage door with a basic model and agreeing that that will be the end of it as far as we go. (Whew!) Though he still wants some more money from the neighbor for their ‘share’ in the mistake, but that will be between them. We haven’t mentioned it to anyone yet, but hubby thinks that maybe the contractor could extend whatever term the garage door is warranteed for to offset the neighbor’s concerns, and the neighbor could pay something – maybe a chunk of the labor cost of the in/out/in of our garage door – for his failure to catch the mistake. I dunno, but so far at least everyone is just talking, no yelling, no threats, no lawyers, no cops, so I think that’s good. BTW, as I said, nothing is in writing yet, but the contractor gave us a brochure about the various door options and costs. I think what we want is just about the cheapest possible, because I do think I want some windows in the door. I do projects out there with the door closed in bad weather, and I’d hate to lose the potential natural light. Otherwise, no insulation needed, plain old white steel instead of designer tinted wonder stuff, ordinary rollup garage looking door vs. 'this is a converted coach house from when we were a mansion". If I’m reading stuff correctly, the door I’d pick is about $550, the ones the neighbors chose something close to $2000. (Just for the door.) I’d think that price difference is enough to sweeten the contractor’s mood quite a bit, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/100 "2021-05-27T01:23:28Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > No definite agreement yet, but I think it’s clear he accepts the idea of replacing our garage door with a basic model and agreeing that that will be the end of it as far as we go. (Whew!) Sounds like a reasonable deal. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892/101 "2021-05-27T01:29:56Z")
All sounds very reasonable. It seems like a great “out” for the contractor if the door you choose is so much cheaper. Has the contractor acknowledged this, and clearly agreed that he’s eating the labor cost? Are I wasn’t clear - are you paying for your replacement door, or is he? If you are paying, you should certainly be paying only _his_ cost for the replacement door. The contractor will obtain the door at a substantial discount to the price list he showed you, that will include a substantial mark-up that boosts his profit. Also - make sure that you’re getting the normal warranty on _your_ door. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-fair-way-to-handle-a-mistake-that-we-didnt-cause-but-we-are-benefiting-from/942892.md?page=6)