Not Getting It Right

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00][music] >> This is the plaintiff, Yakov Stern. He says he hired the defendant to fix his steel door, which wouldn't close properly. The door worked for about a [music] week, then started rubbing and not closing again. Same old problems.

[00:00:15]The defendant's not honoring his work, so he's suing for the $150 he's owed.

[00:00:26]This is the defendant, Clinton Forrester. [music] He says he does indeed honor his work when he starts from scratch and replaces something old with something new. The plaintiff, however, was too cheap to get a new door, so he did [music] the best he could by replacing the hinges.

[00:00:41]Plaintiff's problem is the frame. It's all rotted and he needs to replace it in order for the door to work properly. And that's that. He's accused of not getting it right.

[00:00:57]Thank you, Douglas. Okay, Mr. Stern, you are suing Forrester Iron Works, represented by Clinton Forrester. You're the owner? Yes, ma'am. For $150, the amount that you paid him to repair a steel What is it made out of? It's Yeah, steel door.

[00:01:15]>> An iron uh Steel door. Door um that you feel he needs to return to you because it didn't The repair didn't last. Okay, talk to me and tell me what happened.

[00:01:27]Yes, we have this steel entrance door on the street level.

[00:01:32]It's an entrance door to our house, the first floor apartment. And the door was not closing. So, I called Mr. Forrester's company and he came and he said he's going to change the hinges on the door and that should solve the problem.

[00:01:49]He changed the hinges. I paid him $150.

[00:01:52]>> When was that? In March [clears throat] of this year.

[00:01:55]>> Do you have a receipt? I do.

[00:01:57]And his repair lasted approximately a week.

[00:02:02]After that, it started rubbing against the door jamb.

[00:02:07]And you know, in time it just went went back to the way it was. What do you mean in Okay, did you not call him back? If the repair lasted a week, why didn't you call him back after a week? Okay, I didn't have the receipt handy. It took me I I'm a busy person and it took me some time till I finally found it. How How much time did it take you? I called him back in September. Okay.

[00:02:31]That's 6 months later. If it lasts a week one would expect you to call him after a week. Right.

[00:02:38]>> And your answer to me is because you're a busy guy? That you didn't remember who you called to do the repair? How'd you pay him? I paid him with a check.

[00:02:46]>> Well, then were you too busy looking at your checkbook and seeing the name of the company? No, I probably paid it I paid him in cash.

[00:02:53]Why'd you say you paid him with a check?

[00:02:54]I mean, it's 9 months ago.

[00:02:57]It was cash. Yeah, but I just asked you 9 seconds ago.

[00:03:00]>> [laughter] >> But you're asking Okay, so what we do know is that it's now 6 months later and you call him and you say to him what? I showed him the door.

[00:03:09]He says, "Why didn't you paint the door?

[00:03:11]Prevent the rust from coming." I said, "Well, once it started that uh scraping, the the paint would have been just removed."

[00:03:19]>> Where is it scraping?

[00:03:21]The door is scraping? The door is scraping the jamb where where the two meet.

[00:03:26]>> Cuz do you have a picture? I do. Okay, let me see it. Tell me your version and I'll be I'll come right back to you, Mr. Stern. Go ahead. Good morning. Good morning. Uh in March about the 25th of March, he called me to do a job at his house.

[00:03:40]I went over on the 28th.

[00:03:42]I charged him $150. It was the hinges on the door. And did you change the hinges?

[00:03:47]>> Yes, ma'am. Completely? Yes, the hinges the hinges are left side of the door.

[00:03:51]What material is this door made of?

[00:03:53]>> Uh wrought iron steel.

[00:03:55]>> Okay. Go on. I put a new hinges, welded the gate, make sure everything is okay.

[00:04:00]Call him, let him inspect it, make sure that everything was fine. He paid me. If it wasn't done right, he would not have paid me. Okay. Everything was done right. I give him a copy of the receipt which I have the duplicate. Okay.

[00:04:12]And >> Did you ever hear from him a week later telling complaining that it wasn't working?

[00:04:15]>> No, Yona. When I when he I heard from him, he said, "You know, I need you to come over and take a look at the gate.

[00:04:20]The gate is not closing." I went over there. When I look at it, the whole frame on the right side is rotted out.

[00:04:26]It has nothing to do with what I previously did for him. I have pictures of the hinges that I welded for him Okay. showing that the pictures the door is in good condition. Okay.

[00:04:39]Oy.

[00:04:41]So Showing that the door was what?

[00:04:42]That's the hinges that I welded. Nothing is wrong with the job that I did before.

[00:04:46]These are the hinges that I welded on.

[00:04:47]Okay. And it's perfect. Nothing is wrong with it. Then so I said to him, "Mr. Stun, you have your door the whole side on the right side the frame is rotted out.

[00:04:58]You should have paint your door. This is from years of me >> Wait. I I'm not getting it. When he called Is it September or November that he calls you? He called me in September.

[00:05:05]>> Okay. And when you go see the door, what is he calling you about? What's wrong?

[00:05:09]>> telling me that the door is not closing.

[00:05:10]So I said it has nothing to do with his First he said to me, "Because of the work you did, you didn't do it right.

[00:05:16]That's why the door is not closing." I said it has nothing >> the door not closing? Now Now tell me how the door is not closing.

[00:05:21]>> Okay. The frame on the right side where the door locks is all rotten and it's rotted out from the support at the bottom.

[00:05:28]So it moved away from the wall. I have pictures showing it.

[00:05:30]>> Yeah, let me see that. All right. The first picture show the rotten part and the second picture show how it moves away from the wall.

[00:05:37]Mhm. Oh my goodness. How old is the door? Yeah.

[00:05:40]We are living in the house about 12 years. I believe it was there before we arrived.

[00:05:45]>> Oh, I believe it was there before both of us were on the earth combined.

[00:05:48][laughter] This door is really old and it's rotted and rusted. So, obviously >> Why should his job last you? Let's assume that, you know, I I I I'm not buying this Oh, I I I noticed it a week later, but I couldn't find it. That I'm just not buying it. I don't know why I'm a little insulted you thought I would, but, you know, what How long do you expect that the repair of the hinge to last you that he should return the money when the first time you surface again is 6 months later on a door that's this old and rotted?

[00:06:19]Guy waited 6 months. Too long? He's out of luck. Yeah. He waited too long. How long do you have I mean, do you have to like immediately complain?

[00:06:28]Yeah. Like if if there's a problem with it, then you're immediately going to notice it. So, you should immediately complain. You have to like boom, immediately complain. Definitely immediately complain. If you waited a week? You're out of luck. Really? You're a harsh person. Going inside the courtroom. It's like you put a band-aid on on a hemorrhage and now you want the surgery for the price of the band-aid.

[00:06:48]The replacement of the hinges was obviously not the correct repair for this door. No, the correct repair is for you to buy a new door, which will cost you thousands of dollars.

[00:06:57]>> Then why didn't he say so?

[00:07:00]Oh, you wanted him to say so.

[00:07:01]>> did he go ahead and DO ALL THAT?

[00:07:03]>> BUCKS YOU WERE able to kick the can down the road for a while.

[00:07:06]Which is worth something to people.

[00:07:09]>> A week? A week.

[00:07:10]>> believed you, that would be fine, but I don't believe you at all on that. At all. It is insulting to me that you are insisting that once again. You knew how to find this place 6 months later, okay?

[00:07:24]And it is insulting to me that under oath you look me in the eye and insist that you knew that this was wrong a week later and said nothing for 6 months. Now I'm starting to get a little hot under the collar that you've said it a third time.

[00:07:38]It's fact.

[00:07:38]>> Verdict for the defendant.

[00:07:40]Thank you, Your Honor.

[00:07:44]Well, something about that testimony just didn't add up. So, come on in here.

[00:07:48]You come out on the losing end of this case.

[00:07:50]And so, turn around a little bit this way, next to him. What's your What's your feeling here coming out of the courtroom after that?

[00:07:56]>> [laughter] >> She didn't believe that it took me 6 months to If you would look at my desk and see all the mess there, you might She might understand why something could be misplaced for 6 months.

[00:08:10]And then, you could understand why she doesn't believe you. That's her prerogative. Okay. All right, right down this way. Can I take this way to me? All right, so come on in here, sir. Is there any way you could have done a better job on his door?

[00:08:19]>> I did the best I can with the situation that was at hand. His door he What he needs to needed to do >> you tell him, "Look, this is just a short little band-aid job. Why don't you get a new door? Why don't you >> No, there were There's nothing wrong with the hinges. The frame If all he had to do was take some paint, take a steel brush, clean up the door, and paint it every year, he wouldn't be in that problem.

[00:08:39]All right, Avi.

[00:08:41]Okay, there are two simple problems in this case. One, the door was beyond repair. And the second is, this dude did not complain promptly. And sitting on your hands is a sure fire way of losing a lawsuit.