Legal Question in Business Law in Ohio

Unreasonable Customer

We have a small house painting company (s-corp). We have a customer who complained about the job, specifically the paint durabilty, weeks after completion. The invoice was already paid in full. We want to make our customer happy, but the demands are getting to a point beyond reason. The wife was upset because she cannot wash the walls without leaving a mark. She was warned of this when she picked dark colors in a flat finish paint, but she now denies she had that info. The husband threatened a lawsuit. We came up with a compromise; he is paying us only for our time and materials without his wife's knowledge to repaint rooms at her request. This problem-job has been going on for months now and it is draining our time, hurting our business. What protection does a company have against customers with unreasonable complaints? I should add she has pleasant personality, but has shown signs of being mentally unstable. We are worried the phone calls and complaints will not end, even after we do all the repainting. What can a business do if there is no way of making a customer happy? Does the customer have grounds to sue the company? They have a lot more money than us and we are feeling intimidated by the threat of a lawsuit.


Asked on 3/02/05, 1:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Unreasonable Customer

It's difficult when they are unreasonable. You would think everyone knows that you can't wash flat paint. About the best you can do is try to eliminate claims by pointing out things IN WRITING before you do a job. For this particular job, you could attempt to have them sign a release that for a discounted price for the repaint that they are waiving any further claims about the job. If they did file a lawsuit, they may choose to take it to small claims court which is informal and lets you tell your side of the story to the magistrate. Usually the magistrates are reasonable. At some point you just have to be done with them, tell them you tried to work it out and let them file if they are willing to put their money where their mouth is. More practical advise than legal advice.

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Answered on 3/02/05, 4:19 pm


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