Expert: Michael Brotherton - 6/7/2008

Question
We ordered our trim from an out of state company thru their sales rep.  We never filled out a credit application, they only have our names, address and phone number.  The materials came at different times and there were many errors on pricing and amounts received.  They never asked anyone to sign for the deliveries.  Some of the other contractors onsite even told us at times the sales rep showed up and took some of our materials to use at another site, he had a customer that needed the items immediately.  The rep told me he would give me credit for those items.  Also for the items delivered that we didn't need....those items are still in our garage.  We paid a large amount for the first delivery up front.  The invoices we started to receive after that had so many errors, we called the rep, he kept promising to come over and go over it with us.  He finally did, he looked at the items in our garage and even took some of them with him that night.  He said he would be back to finish working out the differences.  He never came back, never called back.  We then started getting phone calls from the company.  The girl said we just needed to work with her (i asked about our sales rep).  I told her we needed to go over the invoices and have someone make the corrections.  I also asked about all the finance charges they were adding to the invoices.  She said not to worry they would take ALL of them off.  She continued to call to try to get money but my husband would not pay any until the final amount due was agreed upon.  They finally offered to settle with a reduced amount a couple of months ago.  We didn't know what to do, so we just didn't jump on the idea, again, we still have some of their stuff in our garage, we don't even want it.  But they didn't care about that they only wanted some money.  We just received a letter from an attorney in the mail.  They want the full amount with all the finance charges included.  I plan to dispute it by writing a letter to the attorney.  But I don't really know about my rights.  I know a contractor usually has only 6 months after a job to place a lien, but i don't know anything about lawsuits.  We had all our contractors sign a lien waiver, because we paid them and the jobs were complete.  This is the only company we had problems with.  And of course it would be an out of state supplier, bad decision on our part to begin with.  Should we get an attorney? or is this something we can work thru on our own?  we don't have money to get an attorney, but they want over $6000.00 and we know we don't even owe half that much.  Should we call the company and just try to make a settlement and throw their stuff away?  I don't know what to do.

Answer
First things first. You will need to account for items not received and items received but not ordered. Document everything. Then write a letter to the attorney with a copy to the company and a copy to an attorney if you can find one that will advise you rather than represent you. This would be much cheaper than retaining an attorney to represent you.

You may also want to find out who regulates builders and/or suppliers in your state and file a complaint with that organization. Possibly the state attorney general or federal trade commission. Also the Better Business Bureau in your area and theirs.

Make a proposal for a settlement for the amount you believe is accurate and give them a specific time to accept your offer. If they do not respond timely, file a counter suit for actual and punitive damages. You may be able to do this yourself or at least seek counsel before taking any action.

Only communicate in writing and make sure you have record of all communication. Be aggressive and hit them from all sides. If they see you are serious they should come back with a more reasonable settlement offer or accept your offer. I would even threaten to go to the media in your area and theirs. Follow through if they do not respond.

If you show them you wont take no for an answer they will bend. Let them know you will be their worst nightmare if they do not deal honestly with you.; No company likes bad publicity. MAKE SOME NOISE!