Full question:
My husband and I own a small business, a film processing photo lab. A new customer came in with several large boxes filled with old 35mm slides, which she asked us to scan onto CD. After several minutes of trying to count how many slides were in the boxes, she handed them over and said "just scan them all" I told her the price was $1.50 per slide. I told her I would call her to let her know how many slides there were, but she know there were hundreds, just by looking at the volume of boxes. I gave her a "call tag" with the date that the work would be ready, April 2nd at 4pm. I sent the slides upstairs to our lab and asked the technician to do the scans. I did not ask the technician to count the slides first. The work was done, and as there were 674 slides, the total came to $1,011. The customer came back to collect her work at the appointed time, clearly assuming it was done. When I presented her with the finished work and the bill, she then remembered that I was supposed to call her with the total. I apologized for not calling, but noted that if she was concerned about the price, knowing it was $1.50 each and she had hundreds of slides, why did she not follow up and call us to see what the total was before agreeing to have the work done? She clearly came in expecting that the work was finished, handing us her call tag and saying that she was here to pick up an order. Obviously she was surprised by the price, and now just wants to take her slides back and not pay for the finished work. My position, as the owner of a business who did the work in good faith because she brought her slides to us and requested that they all be scanned, feel that we should be paid for the work that was performed at her request. I was willing to give her a discount of 10%, but she just wants her original slides back and not to have to pay us at all. Can I sue her in small claims court for the amount the customer owes us?
- Category: Courts
- Date:
- State: California
Answer:
You can pursue a claim in small claims court but from the facts presented the case could go either way. This is because on the one hand she said scan them all but on the other you stated you would call her with the number. Unless she then stated no need to call there could be problems being successful in collecting. It could go either way especially since she was advised of the pick up date and did not ask "what about the call" or "number of slides". It would be better practice to have an Order Form or Agreement you have people sign which states the price and terms of the transaction. If so, you could have written "scan all slides for 1.50" with no agreement to call. Regardless, some kind of agreement should be used for clients to avoid issues like this. If you don't have a contract and would like one drafted for your business, please let us know.
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