I own a cleaning service. On Monday, a women called to get a price quote for 2 people to go to her house to help unpack boxes and clean the belongings in the boxes. I quoted $30 per hour per person, so $60 per hour for 2 maids. She did the math and said "So, that will be around $600 if they stay 8 hours, right?" Yes. She booked the appointment. She called the night before to verify that we will be there at the scheduled time and to double check on the price. She said, "It will be $540 if they stay for 3 hours, right?" Yes ma'am.. The girls did show up and did the work. But, they did not do the work that we had agreed to. When the maids showed up, she informed them that they would be doing different tasks then what she told me over the phone. As a matter of fact, they spent hours doing lawn work and power washing which is NOT a service we provide and could have gotten in huge trouble had one of the maids hurt themselves. Anyways, the 8 hours is over and I go to collect the money. She hands me a check in the amount of $540. She is pleased with her service and walks me around the house showing me all that the girls did. The next morning, I receive a message from her stating that she has put a stop payment on the check at 9:00 a.m. that mornign because she wrote down the wrong amount on the check. According to her, I only quoted $30 per hour, not $30 per hour per person. She stated in the message that one of my girls had told her their hourly wage and that I did not deserve that much money from her. She also stated (in a voice mail message) that if I did not come by to pick up her new check in the amount of $270 by Tuesday morning, the "whole thing is off" and I will not get paid by her. I called her to correct the situation and re-explain the price $60 per hour for 2 maids and she said that I never once quoted her that amount. (Yet she knew to write the amount in her check! URRR). I went to her bank and cashed the check. The stop payment had not yet gone into effect. So my question is, can I now get in trouble for cashing this check? Can she send me to small claims and on what bases? This is the first time that anything like this has happened to me and I'm loosing sleep over it, lol! Thanks in advance for any help. Maria P.S. There is no written estimate given to her and I have not yet given her a receipt of her charges...I will mail that off to her on Monday.
She stated in the message that one of my girls had told her their hourly wage and that I did not deserve that much money from her You have done no wrong, you provided a service, she agreed to the rate, but decided to change her mind afterwards. If she tries to claim, remind her that she is going to have to lie under oath on the stand (use those exact words). Because she knows as well as you that the rate quoted was the amount she wrote the cheque for.
Alright, thank you so very much. I know that I can prove that she broke our verbal contract as I already have written statements from my workers. Oh, I also have a nice little message from her asking me for a receipt that includes what the girls did and lawn work is not on this at all... But I still wanted to be sure I wouldn't get in trouble for cashing the check.. Thanks! Maria
Maria, one thing you must understand in business is contract law. For a contract to be in force, there has to be the following Offer Acceptance Consideration The offer was made by you. The aceptance was made by her The consideration is the payment (which she made. This is where the twist comes though. She paid you by cheque. Now this is a WRITTEN CONTRACT. she has offered to pay you, you have accepted the payment , and the consideration in this case is the cheque itself. By cancelling a cheque she is in breach of the written contract and agreement to pay . This is of course UK law, so I am not sure how US law works, but I would imagine contractual law is fairly universal.
Why are you so bad at math though? Under no circumstances is 8 x 60 equivelent to 540, nor is it 600. It is 480. So at the very least you owe her a refund of $60.00 I would send her a check of $60 as a refund for overpayment and be done with it.
"Why are you so bad at math though? Under no circumstances is 8 x 60 equivelent to 540, nor is it 600. It is 480. So at the very least you owe her a refund of $60.00 I would send her a check of $60 as a refund for overpayment and be done with it." You're good...and full on right! I'm sitting down doing the math and lo and behold..eight times 30 is 240, not 270...DUH!!! Yes, I indeed owe her a refund of $60. I feel like a dumb a-- now, lol! I will mail that to her tomorrow first thing... Thank you and YIKES!! The really sad thing is she wrote me a check for the SAME amount that I had come up with. Oh, brother... Maria
If she has already put a stop payment on the check, you will not be able to cash it. If you deposit it, your bank will probably charge you a service fee when it is returned. You should call HER bank to verify funds to see if she did indeed place a stop payment on the check (not all banks will verify). It's actually illegal to stop payment on a check in all but a couple of circumstances. You will probably need to take her to small claims court if she refuses to pay. She won't have a valid argument because she wrote the check. You can also tell her you will report her to the district attorney for fraud for placing a stop payment on the check (it is supposed to be the same as cash). Some counties have a program will they will actually go after her and make it a condition that the person pays or they can face criminal charges. They usually add a service fee to cover their costs - which is to be paid by the person who wrote the check. If she has placed a stop payment, it cannot be removed. She will need to pay you again. Of course I would suggest cash, or a cashier's check.
Radar, I actually did cash this check-I found out a stop payment was put on it the next morning when the cashier at her and my bank (we happen to bank in the same bank) told me that she looked at the woman's account and the stop payment had gone through (posted) not 15 min. after the check was cashed. But I did receive the funds. My county is one where if the check bounced, I totally could have gone and placed a theft of serive and had her butt placed in jail.