I am new to this site. If anyone has been in a situation like this i could use some guidance. I own a 1966 PA28-140,i took it to my mechanic and he offerd to paint her for a fixed amount.Since the plane was old, but very good mechnical condition i thought it would be nice to have fresh paint on it. 8 months later and after many,many conversations with this person the plane is now ready for pick-up. He also stated that before i come down for pick-up i should bring an extra $5600.00 or he will not let it go. There was never any talk about extra money,parts needed or anything else.not even a contract (my mistake i know). Any direction would be much appreciated. BTW great site !! Cheers
I assume you have nothing in writing to verify the terms of the deal. You can hire a lawyer and take him to court and force him to show that the value of his work equals what he billed you. You will have to have an expert to dispute his valuation. Probably not a viable option. To make a case for fraud you will have to have evidence that he took your airplane with the intention from the beginning to charge you more than he quoted. In your case I would guess that the only way you get this is by showing a pattern and practice - finding out that the same thing has happened to the last ten people who brought their planes to him. Hard to do without hiring a private investigator. Or you can consider it a $5,900 lesson in doing business. This ain't the "good ole days" someone reminded me lately. Disclaimer: Free legal advice is worth what you paid for it.
Negotiate to get the price down. Go get the airplane. If he refuses to come down, you have two options. Pay (probably best) get a lawyer. either way, go get the airplane.
Is the extra amount simply for the paint or what? I am assuming that your state may have a law that requires the shop doing the work to inform you if the amount charged will exceed the amount quoted (by usually something like 10%). So, you could pay it, and then sue to get your money back. Or, your best option might be to try to haggle it down to avoid litigation.
