...I'm sure I'm right there. It only took me some 2 years to find the legal corner..Yeah I'm a blonde. OK here it is...last summer I was contacted by a gentlemen working for a huge car dealer , he has a lot of pull but, it meant nothing to me since I didn't own a car at the time. Recently I bought a car and had some trouble with it so...naturally I called him and he suggested to bring it in and if he takes care of the problem I was to take care of him... Now he calls me and says I can pick up the car but he want be there...going to lunch with his boss....and I should just go to the cashier and take care of the $1100 dollar owed to fix it. Whaaaaat? I wrote to him saying I will raise hell if my car want be relaesd. Any suggestion how to deal with this? Thanks.

You believe you and this gentlemen had an informal verbal barter agreement in which you both agreed to trade your services for his fixing your car.

I'm sorry to say, but without documentation of this agreement, plus the fact that the in-kind trade item on your part is illegal in most jurisdictions outside Nevada, will make it very difficult to win a judgment against this gentleman.

I am not a lawyer, so you should hire competent counsel if you seriously want to pursue this avenue. I would estimate your chances of success are not high, though.

Perhaps his boss made it impossible, or the bill was so big he could not hide it as a favor to a friend.  BUT did you sign a quote of the work prior to getting it repaired?  If you did not give consent to an estimate prior to repair, you can contest it.  Otherwise if you signed an estimate and consent to do the work, thinking the repair fee would be waived, then you have to pay.  Your guy probably got stuck in a bind and could do nothing.

Thank you so much for responding. Actually wrecking my brain...NO , I did not sign any papers regarding repairs. I did sign a rental agreement. We spoke yesterday and he was a bid afraid I would come and let loose. He said the repair was altogether $2200 wich he cut in half. From the get go it was always $1100 so to make me feel bad he jumped it to $2200.

Reid you approve the work?

When you take you car to a shop... dont they have to give you an estimate and get written authorization (your signature) before they do any work on your car?

suggest to him that if he won't honor the deal, perhaps his boss will be interested?

Very funny...his keeping my car, holding it. Going in to raise hell .

I talked to a shop owner friend... and he says that though its common practice to receive a written signature for approval of working on your car.. a verbal agreement is just as well... so if.. as you handed them your keys.. you gave them verbal permission to work on your car.. well.. you gotta pay....

yes.. you could take it to court.. and hope that a judge will see it your way... but in the meantime... if you refuse to pay... they dont have to give you your car.. and they can start adding storage charges as well...

let it go.. you needed the work done anyways... so your no worse off for the wear..

First, IANAL. Second, much depends on what state you're in as laws vary from state to state. If you are in Calif., they can legally hold your car. Without a contract or an estimate you've signed there isn't much you can do. Rather than retaliate why don't you try to sweet talk him outside work. Keep working on the deal as it was before - try to get him to pay for it in kind. Good luck.

This is what youcan do if you have the time and energy:
1. Call the better business bureau.  Do a search on google.com to find the office nearest to you and then call them.  They should tell you how to handle it through their department and they should give you a watch group that deals directly with auto repair issues.
2. Get information from the automosbile repair watch group on how to file a complaint.  You should actually file it and do it immediately.  
2.  If you are in Southern California then you are especialy lucky.  There are a ton of class action lawsuits being filed against repair shops for all sorts of petty offenses.  I am sure you could find a list of lawyers to sue for you, if you contact a lawyer referral service.
3.  File a small claims lawsuit.  Claim that the repair shop is wrongfully keeping possession of your car.  Tell them that your buddy who works at the shop promised to repair it for free.  Then he charged you without your consent to the estimate.  It takes about a month to get to court.  

You would probably be better off paying the amount and just filing complaints with the other departments.  Sometimes those departments investigate it and will return your money.  Just don't sign anything to get your car released.  Just get a reciept.  Tell them you object to paying them, so you refuse to sign anything.  Tell them you will only pay and take your car.  If they try to hold onto your car tell them you will sue and file complaints with those other departments, unless they just take the money and give you your car.  After you get your car file complaints anyway.

Of course if you signed something, anything, you cannot do any of this.  Make certain there was never an agreement to pay in writing.

-- Modified on 2/2/2003 9:57:45 AM

that you should offer the boss the same deal - only that he might be interested in hearing how his employee behaves. Your 'friend' night want to avoid that.

let it go... move on big deal you got your car fixed and had to pay like an adult...mooove on.. pace yourself

Do you have any emails that prove he made the offer? Also, have you kept your end of the bargin?  If you haven't I wouldn't feel to bad, but still try to put as much fear in him as possible.

An agreement to perform sexual services in exchange for goods or other services is void as a violation of public policy and fits nicely within the definition of Penal Code 647b because the sex for car repair is considered "other consideration."  Therefore, the legal answer is that you are screwed.

Just pay it... anything else you do is going to cost you more time, money and aggravation.  And by the way, what difference does it make if you "take care" of him in exchange for the work, or "take care" of somebody else and use the proceeds to pay for the work.  Either way you "took care" of someone to get your car fixed.

Just my 2 cents...

bravo...

now thats perspective