What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
I hired a landscaping company to do some projects, the cost of everything was going to be $400, he asked for $200 up front I thought this was normal practice. He showed up the next morning 4 hours late knowing we were leaving to go out of town that day and we wanted it done before we left, when we left he left shortly after leaving all of his things in our yard along with trash (like empty water bottles) and never came back to clean it up. About an hour after we left he texted me asking to have someone come give him the rest of the money. We refused to do that and told him that he would need to finish when we got back into town, when we got back he said he would come back but then got ugly with his messages so we told him he needed to refund the money that we had given him. At first he agreed that he would refund the $200 then back stepped and said that he would return the materials he had bought with the money and any left over cash, we told him that he could do that as long as he had an itemized receipt. He said he would be by around 12 on Saturday (June 8th) Saturday came and went with no contact. We googled his lawyers info that he gave us prior, when we told him we wanted a refund we told him that if he didn't we would be going to small claims court so he sent lawyers info. Turns out his mom is a paralegal there. So I emailed his mom and she said she would have him return the materials, receipts, and cash. A few days has gone by and we've emailed a few times since then. I have had NO contact with her son since I started talking with her.
She emailed me this morning a few emails (just from today) I'll summarize them below
Email 1: She emails me out of the blue telling me that he firm has taken over the case and I am to no longer contact who I hired (her son)
My response: I emailed her back asking it this means he will not be returning what we have asked for
Email 2: She responded and said that my assumption was incorrect he would return the materials and $60 left over cash and that she will let me know when they will be returned. She also stated that any negative social media posts will be considered harassment and hopes that I will refrain from doing so as he denies all of my allegations.
My response: I followed up asking her if he had an itemized receipt that had been requested also.
Email 3: She said that he will bring all that he has and asked me not to send any more emails today, she said she would email me with a date and time.
So my questions are
1. Am I not allowed to post a negative review on Facebook or Yelp about this company? It seems I should be able to voice my opinion of his services.
2. Am I not allowed to respond to her email? We want an itemized receipt so that we know that the $140 he spent on materials is really what he spent (we had another service come out and finish his job they spent $20 on materials for the entire job!) and I need to tell her that the date and time they pick will need to fit our schedule too as we both work full time jobs.
3. I haven't been in contact with her son, but seeing as a case hasn't been filed if I need to for any reason can I contact him, even though her firm has taken over the 'case'?
I sure hope she's proud of the son she has raised and is defending.
I hired a landscaping company to do some projects, the cost of everything was going to be $400, he asked for $200 up front I thought this was normal practice. He showed up the next morning 4 hours late knowing we were leaving to go out of town that day and we wanted it done before we left, when we left he left shortly after leaving all of his things in our yard along with trash (like empty water bottles) and never came back to clean it up. About an hour after we left he texted me asking to have someone come give him the rest of the money. We refused to do that and told him that he would need to finish when we got back into town, when we got back he said he would come back but then got ugly with his messages so we told him he needed to refund the money that we had given him. At first he agreed that he would refund the $200 then back stepped and said that he would return the materials he had bought with the money and any left over cash, we told him that he could do that as long as he had an itemized receipt. He said he would be by around 12 on Saturday (June 8th) Saturday came and went with no contact. We googled his lawyers info that he gave us prior, when we told him we wanted a refund we told him that if he didn't we would be going to small claims court so he sent lawyers info. Turns out his mom is a paralegal there. So I emailed his mom and she said she would have him return the materials, receipts, and cash. A few days has gone by and we've emailed a few times since then. I have had NO contact with her son since I started talking with her.
She emailed me this morning a few emails (just from today) I'll summarize them below
Email 1: She emails me out of the blue telling me that he firm has taken over the case and I am to no longer contact who I hired (her son)
My response: I emailed her back asking it this means he will not be returning what we have asked for
Email 2: She responded and said that my assumption was incorrect he would return the materials and $60 left over cash and that she will let me know when they will be returned. She also stated that any negative social media posts will be considered harassment and hopes that I will refrain from doing so as he denies all of my allegations.
My response: I followed up asking her if he had an itemized receipt that had been requested also.
Email 3: She said that he will bring all that he has and asked me not to send any more emails today, she said she would email me with a date and time.
So my questions are
1. Am I not allowed to post a negative review on Facebook or Yelp about this company? It seems I should be able to voice my opinion of his services.
2. Am I not allowed to respond to her email? We want an itemized receipt so that we know that the $140 he spent on materials is really what he spent (we had another service come out and finish his job they spent $20 on materials for the entire job!) and I need to tell her that the date and time they pick will need to fit our schedule too as we both work full time jobs.
3. I haven't been in contact with her son, but seeing as a case hasn't been filed if I need to for any reason can I contact him, even though her firm has taken over the 'case'?
I sure hope she's proud of the son she has raised and is defending.
