This man builds, moves and sell sheds.
I first delt with him back in the late 80's, as he was bulldoze-ing
land for a pond. Insted of burning the wood, he sold me some (a
few
small pick-up truck loads)
Anyway, I had some sheds that needed to be moved because of some
landscaping needs and slight irragation problem, so
I called him... this was in March.
He dropped-off a trail for me to use.... I'm not sure of the
demintions.... maybe,
20 foot long by 10 foot wide, and 8 foot tall.... I then moved my
shed contentent into his trailer.
I had two single-axle dump-truck loads of dirt hauled in and
leveled.
This wasn't enough dirt, so I ordered a third truck-load of dirt.
This
was in April... and it' has rained evey weekend since.
We (central Va) have had over 24+ inches of rain so far this
summer.
I can only afford neighbors to help me move this dirt and that is
usually only on weekends.
FRUSTRATED with the weather, I called him to see if he could move
the
dirt for me ... They said he was on vacation, and wouldn't be back
until the the end of August.
When I called back, he stated that he didn't want my bill to get
excessive. ... Excessive? I said...
Yeah, we're charging you $89.00 per month for the use of the
trailer.
I'm an old country boy... fair is fair with me! A $600 shot-out-of
the-blue can be expected with-in life, but if I had known
BEFORE-HAND,
I would have hired a landscaper and paid the 200-300 bucks to kick
the
dirt around.
I know it's been 5 months
I know he has his business
I know he should have told me of the charge, and I should have
asked.
I think I'm gonna offer him HALF of his price of trailer
usage($300),
since we didn't discuss the price before-hand.
Good plan. If it work, it's a great plan. If it doesn't work, then
you owe $89 per month from the time you were told the price until you
give back the trailer, plus the reasonable value (which I think will
mean fair market value) of the rental for the earlier period, from the
time it was delivered until the time the price was set. $89 seems
reasonable to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if a small claims judge
enters a judgment for the owner equal to $89 for the full term. It's
your problem you can do the dirt work only on weekends, and your fault
you didn't get the price in advance. Don't expect a judge to feel
outraged about $89 per month. And don't be surprised if the owner
testifies that you were told the price on day one.
Plan A: Offer $300 and if it is accepted, pay fast and get the trailer
returned ASAP.
Plan B: If the offer is not accepted, pay the bill and get the trailer
returned ASAP.
Plan C: Keep the trailer until your work is done and then pay the full
charge at $89 per month. Get something in writing so the price
doesn't turn out to be higher the next time you call.
I would use Plan C, myself.
McGyver
