He's got the car.
He wouldn't allow me to just, uh, to get my car back
What, 112 days?
[Kelly] Sitting outside my shop, right outside my building.
She said, "fix my brakes." I did what she asked.
She didn't pay you and as a consequence you said, "it's now my car."
[Narrator] Today on Tribunal Justice...
[opening theme music]
[opening theme music fades]
...This case was filed in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
[Byrd] Your honor, this is case #1018 on the calendar in the matter
of Parker versus Kelly.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
[DiMango] Thank you, Officer Byrd.
All right. Ms. Parker, you found out about the defendant through a friend.
You brought you 2012 Ford Focus
to the defendant, a mechanic, to repair.
When you first went in you needed a battery
and he had to fix some codes that were coming up.
Apparently, he charged you $150, he changed the battery
and when you went to get the car you said, you know what,
I think I want you to do some other work on the vehicle.
And he did that as well for you.
He changed the oil and he fixed your brakes.
And then he came and he charged you an additional $750.
And you said to him, "You can't do that. You had to discuss this with me.
You should've told me this is what you were gonna charge me."
He apologized. Said you were correct.
Because he really should've had this conversation with you.
But then, everything went back to the way it was when you first brought it.
All the codes came up, the lights were on.
And you had a problem with your transmission now, according to him.
Apparently at that time, you said that, you were not going to do that
because he really didn't fix the car in the first place.
-You left the car at his shop... -Mm-hm.
you're refusing to pay.
and you're suing here for everything,
obviously, that you were paying him in the first place.
Sir, what you're saying is that,
she left the car there, she should've picked it up.
You have a sign that says that, "Cars left after 30 days,
there is a storage fee."
And now you're counterclaiming her and you're saying that,
she owes you $3,345
for unpaid mechanic work and for the storage fees
that you say were not paid. The car is still with you.
-Is that correct, sir? -Correct.
All right. So, let me start with you.
Did he have a good reputation when you first brought the vehicle to him?
When I first went to him to get a car worked on, it was my mom's car.
And I spoke with him, but somebody else
actually fixed my mom's window. Like, the motor had went out.
-[DiMango] But you wanted to go back to... -[Parker] Because they got the job done.
[DiMango] Okay. So, you had this Ford Focus
that you bought, what, a year before that, right?
-Yes. -You had it about a year.
And when the lights went on saying that there were problems
with different things, is that it?
It had glitched and it wouldn't register what gear it was in.
Okay. So now you have this issue, you bring it to him.
Now sir, what you say is, she needs a new battery.
And then when you go to get the car a few days later
you say that, the brakes weren't working right.
So apparently, you were driving the car.
You can look at our text messages.
He text me and told me that the car was ready for me to pick it up,
-and he told me that I only owed him $50. -Okay.
And I decided to test drive the car.
When I drove it around the corner or whatever, none of the lights...
none of them came on. I took the car right back up there
because the--like, the brakes was going down
and I know I hadn't got an oil change in a while.
So I asked him to change the brakes and change the oil.
-So, what about the lights? -They wasn't on at that time.
-[DiMango] Okay. So pause. -Okay.
She comes, she gets the car.
Apparently, you did what you claimed you did.
And then she has an issue with the brakes and the oil change,
and she's lets you do this. Apparently, she's satisfied
-with what you've done so far. -Yes.
[DiMango] Do you give her a price at that point?
That's where I made my mistake
and I'll be honest about it, I told her in a text
that she needed some rear calipers and some other miscellaneous things.
I thought to remedy that situation,
I would remove the labor charges
-and just charge her for the parts. -[DiMango] So you basically
corrected your mistake in not informing her
-of what it was going to be. -[Kelly] Correct. Correct.
And you went along with the fact that he was going to change the calipers,
-is that how you say it? -Correct.
-And this was for all four tires? -[Kelly] Three calipers,
two rotors in the rear, front rotor was turned.
And then the pads were changed all the way around.
You could've said that in French to me. I don't know what you're talking about.
But the bottom line is, I know that there was work you did,
-apparently. -Correct.
Okay. So now, you say,
okay, I will pay you the reduced price that you're giving me, correct?
It was never a reduced price discussed. He told me it was $750.
When I asked him why didn't he tell me that it was gonna be $750--
'cause he just told me that it needed-- It had to be done.
You said, he never reduces that price from $750.
-No. -[DiMango] Did you say you reduced
-the price from $750? -[Kelly] Yes, I did.
What did you bring it down to?
-$545, I believe that's about what it was. -[DiMango] Okay. So, $545.
You're saying, that's not true. But that's what he would charge you now.
So that's what he's stuck with at this point.
Now you tell me that there's a problem with the transmission.
-Why are you blaming him for that? -[Parker] It's the--When he
fixed the car the first time, he just hooked it up to the machine.
And if you go and look at the text messages,
in the beginning he said something about all the codes that's on the car.
Right, he said something about the codes.
So then, when I go up there to pick up the car
of course, I talked to him about it being $750.
But I needed my car, so I was gonna pay him.
He got to start up the car and then, the battery is dead.
-You just put a new battery on. And... -[DiMango] Why was the battery dead?
No, she had other codes on the car
and I reset the transmission, and it'd been sitting there.
She hadn't come to pick it up.
But why was the battery not working? I mean, you put a new battery in.
She drove it.
-Around the block. -[Kelly] I mean, I didn't get paid.
[DiMango] Did you ever take the car from his shop and get it home?
-No. No. -You never took the car out of his shop?
-It was always there being fixed? -[Parker] Just waiting for--Yup.
-And I was just trying to be patient. -He's got the car.
You're blaming him that you lost your job
because you didn't have your car. I mean, that's ridiculous.
Because I couldn't get from point A to point B.
My mom was helping me out with a ride.
[DiMango] What about public transportation?
What about car services?
And with regard to where the car is, and how it's sitting and taking up space
for I think, what, 112 days? We have a video, I'm told.
This is evidence as I understand it, Mr. Kelly, that you've provided
for us to see the vehicle sitting there. Because as I understand it,
for $545, you're letting this car sit in his shop.
[Parker] No, ma'am. We never discussed him taking anything off.
Let's see the video.
[Kelly] All right. Here's a picture of the Ford Focus.
The 2012, sitting outside my shop.
Right outside my building...
where the mechanic work goes on.
Back of the Ford Focus.
Why didn't he start it up to show you that it was fixed?
'Cause it's not fixed.
He showed that it was there.
[Narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
My question to you is, if you were trying to be a good guy,
and if you were looking to give her a break
as a result of the mistake that you acknowledge, you made,
why did you charge her for retail when you didn't even pay retail?
See? Don't do that.
Don't try to portray yourself as something that you're not.
[Narrator] Ebony Parker is suing auto mechanic, Willie Kelly
for the cost of a car and lost wages.
Willie is counter suing for repair services and storage fees.
Okay. You have asked for $6,000 for that vehicle.
-Um... -Where did you get $6,000 from?
[Parker] KBB.
No, I don't think so. I think you looked it up wrong.
-[Parker] I put in the mileage... -2012... and you lost $4,000 in wages?
The wages that I'm suing for is from a factory job that I had.
[DiMango] They sent you a letter saying that, "we're releasing you."
And they listed numerous reasons why they were not keeping you.
Not because you weren't showing up. That was one of your reasons.
But you can't tell me that there's no way
you couldn't have gotten to work for six months.
-Judge Levy. -[Levy] Thank you.
So my understanding is that you recognized that you failed to get her authorization
to fix the calipers, the rotors on the vehicle.
And that's why you agreed to reduce the $755 to $545
-by taking off your labor, is that fair? -No.
[Levy] Okay, explain to me where I'm wrong.
In order to put rear brakes on your car you have to turn the calipers back.
But she came in a moment ago-- And I know that Judge DiMango,
although she knows a lot about a lot of things,
calipers may not be one of them. I had a vehicle that had terrible calipers
and they used to dig into the rotors all the time.
So I know how that works.
When the plaintiff came in and asked you for brakes, those are brake pads.
That's what you knew that she was referring to,
not a full brake job.
However, in order to turn the calipers back on her car,
you have to turn them back,
-not push them back. -Okay.
So in order to turn them back, it would give you room
-to put the new pads on. -[Levy] Right.
If they're stuck out a certain distance you don't have enough room
-to get new pads in there. -[Levy] Right.
So I wouldn't be able to put the brake pads on there.
[Levy] And there were text messages that you exchanged, correct?
It was April 14th, in which you said,
"FYI
I tried to turn the rear calipers back
-and neither are going back." -[Kelly] Correct.
"I will get the pricing for you tomorrow."
And then there's no text on the 15th.
-That's why I admit I dropped the ball. -[Levy] Right.
And I appreciate the honesty, and it was the right thing to do.
It was the right gesture and I appreciate that.
A lot of people wouldn't have done that. However, when you agreed
to reduce the bill from $755 to $545,
you agreed to remove your labor and just charge for the parts.
I'm just gonna hold this one up. It says, list price: $16.08
Cost: $8.09.
So the cost of $8.09 is because you are a mechanic.
-Correct. -You didn't pay $16.08.
-You paid $8.09 cost, right? -That is correct.
-There're a whole slew of items purchased, -Correct.
likewise, they all have list prices. One is for $4.65.
-But it only cost you $2.17. -[Kelly] Correct.
[Levy] And that, without going through all of them
-that's the same thing? -Correct.
So, my question to you is, if you were trying to be a good guy,
and you were looking to give her a break
as a result of the mistake that you acknowledge, you made,
and only charge her for parts.
why did you charger her...
According to the receipt that you gave her
...and you charged her for retail when you didn't even pay retail?
Because I had to expend my money. I--she didn't pay for anything--
any of those. I used my money.
[Levy] But you didn't spend retail, what you claimed you spent
-and what you told her. That's dishonest. -I didn't say what I spent.
I told her what the cost was.
Nobody in this business gives anybody the price it--
You know who would? You know who would? A good guy, such as yourself,
who wants to do the right thing 'cause he acknowledged he made a mistake.
See? Don't do that.
Don't try to portray yourself as something that you're not.
You want to be a good guy? Then what you say is,
my bad. My mistake,
and I'm only gonna charge you for parts. And as a matter of fact,
I'm only gonna charge you for what I get charged
and not for what the actual expense is.
You could've done that. You chose not to do that, right?
-There are other expenses-- -I'm not asking about any other expenses.
What I focus on is dishonesty. Nothing prevented you
from telling this lady right here that you get a discount for all of the parts.
-Correct? -Correct.
You didn't lie to her, right?
-You didn't lie to her. -Absolutely not.
You just chose not to tell her that you were getting
a discount on the prices and that you were charging her
-the retail price. -Those parts weren't delivered.
-I had to go get those parts. -[Levy] I--Sir...
There's no way you're going to win this.
And the reason, I'm going to tell you that is this...
You could've said to her, listen, it's my mistake.
I'm very sorry for not getting your approval and your authorization.
So what I'm gonna do is, I'm not going to charge you for labor.
I'm only gonna charge you for the wholesale of what I get charged,
but I'm going to charge you a little more
'cause I have to go get them, is that okay?
You could've done that, but you didn't!
-And with that, Judge Acker. -Thank you, Judge.
[Acker] I don't understand your lawsuit, Ms. Parker.
I don't understand a lawsuit for $10,000.
I mean, it almost seems to me like, you're like, the car didn't work
it still doesn't work. You just take it and buy me a new car.
No, that's not it at all.
How much money have you paid Mr. Kelly?
Like $190.
-So you paid him $190. -Mm-hm.
-He didn't fix your car. -Mm-hm.
[Acker] Why don't you just pick up your car--
-He wouldn't let me. I'm sorry. -Let me finish...
Why did you not just simply pick up the car?
He didn't fix it. So, if he didn't fix it, at best,
you could say, give me my money back.
He wouldn't allow me to get my car back because he did the brake work
without even asking me about the brake work.
-[Acker] Is that true? -No, she asked for the cha--
[Acker] No, you said no. I just-- So let me ask, Ms. Parker,
do you have any evidence
that the defendant refused to release the car to you?
[Parker] My voicemail transfers over into text messages.
On page seven, he left a voicemail telling me,
if you're not going to pay me for the car, bring the title on the 24th.
Here we go... So, on Sunday, April 24th...
-is this the message you're referring to? -Mm-hm.
"I'm not sure if you got my message, but I need to get this taken care of
with this bill on this car. If you're not sure about
what you're gonna do about it or you can decide you don't want the car,
you can just drop the title off and we'll call it a day."
You know what I love, Ms. Parker?
I love it when I say, can somebody just give me evidence,
-and you're like, here it is. -[Parker] Yeah.
There it is. You were holding her broken down car hostage,
after you couldn't fix it.
After you did some work that she hadn't specifically authorized.
If that's the case, then your counter suit,
there's a lot of gumption in suing somebody
to pay you to store a car that you won't let them take back.
-I did do the brake work. -Did you get her authorization in advance?
I sent her a text telling-- explaining to her what was wrong.
-[Acker] In advance, did you tell her? -And she said, "okay."
Just like I note when someone is responsive to a question,
I note when someone tries to talk over me and ignore the question that I ask.
So I'm going to ask it again.
Before you did that work, did you give her a written estimate?
-No I did not. -[Acker] So, you had no right
to demand that amount of money from her.
And then secondarily, you then had no right
to hold her car hostage for doing work that she hadn't specifically authorized.
[Narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
I'm simply telling you that there's no way in God's green Earth
you're gonna convince me that this car was worth $6,000.
And you can say, it wasn't broken down. It wasn't working perfectly.
You took it to a mechanic 'cause it did not function properly.
Now, you knew that was a mistake
and you knew that you had to give her an estimate, and you didn't do that.
Well, you said, if you're not gonna pay, it's my car!
So maybe if it's your car, maybe you should be paying her
some money for this car.
It's not $6,000 for your broken down Focus.
It did work. It had glitched.
The sensor in the transmission would glitch.
I'm simply telling you that there's no way in God's green Earth
you're gonna convince me that this car was worth $6,000.
You took it to a mechanic 'cause it did not function properly.
I get what you're saying, but I looked at KBB
-and put the mileage and the car-- -[Acker] Yeah, that number is wrong.
But what I'm also thinking is a little bit wrong
is somebody saying, I'm gonna hold your car hostage
and it's basically my car
unless you pay me this money that you did not authorize in advance.
-I've heard enough. Thank you, sir. -We are going to retire to deliberate.
Thank you very much.
[Byrd] This court is in recess. Parties are excused.
Okay, looking first at the counterclaim, 'cause that might be easier for me,
he says, "just an FYI I tried to turn the rear calipers back
and neither are going back far enough to get the new pads on.
I will get the pricing for you tomorrow. Sorry for the bad news."
And she says, "okay."
Other than that okay, there is no other communication between them.
-He doesn't get her any information. -[Levy] Right.
Okay, I'll wait until you get me the price on the vehicle.
-Right. -So, he never got any okay
-to do the work. -Which is why he "advised" her
that he was gonna be the good guy and he was going to
-remove from the $755 bill, his labor -Right.
-and charge her for the parts. -Exactly.
But I'm gonna tell you that, if we agree that he could charge her
for the parts, I don't have any problem with a car dealer not saying,
listen, I pay $7 but I'm gonna charge you $9
which is what they sell it for at the store.
I think if he buys it and she would've had to go out and get it,
I don't have a problem with charging her the full price.
He doesn't have to be a great, great guy. He just has to say,
I'm giving you a benefit for my not doing it.
You wanna do it, fine. You don't, you don't.
[Levy] I'm gonna tell you why I disagree, if you don't mind, right now.
It's because he knew that by not providing her with the estimate
she could just refuse to pay it completely.
'Cause I did not authorize that. And then he gets nothing.
All I'm saying is that I don't have a problem with
him charging her something for the parts, if the car worked.
If the brakes work. I don't know if they work.
With regard to the storage issue, I have a problem with that in that,
I'm not sure at what point she would've taken the car out?
I mean, I'd like to get your opinions on that.
I don't want to give him anything.
-You don't want to give him anything. -I don't want to give him anything.
The work wasn't authorized.
We don't know if the work was even sufficient.
See, that's the problem I'm having. We don't know whether or not it works.
We don't know, and you know, she made the point when he played the video
-that he never turned the car on. -He didn't turn it on.
So I don't know if that work was worth anything.
We all forget that the sign on the door, that most mechanics have
as did the defendant in this case, say that,
if you leave the cars over a certain amount of days
that you're gonna get charged storage fees.
-Right. -But on his...
it says, "after the work that was authorized for the repairs."
-And that--that makes it in my opinion, -Very easy out.
my decision much easier because he's already acknowledged
she never authorized the work to be done.
So based on this, I would dismiss
-the counterclaim in its entirety. -I agree.
With regard to the main complaint, I don't have any evidence
as to what wages she lost, if any?
I'm not willing to give her any money for the $4,000.
She puts the Focus down at $6,000.
That would be in top condition to a private person.
What we have here is a vehicle that's, of course, not in top condition.
She gets back, I would say, probably around $2,000.
[Levy] I think that's a little low. I would think $3,000
would be more--it's a 2012 car with just electrical problems.
The low range is $2,700. So, I would be at $2,700.
-[DiMango] I can live with $2,700. -[Acker] $2,700.
So, she has not asked for the vehicle
but I think that we could give her the option of taking the vehicle back
and say to her, listen...
We've established the value to be around $2,700,
or we can give you the vehicle back. What would you prefer?
He doesn't get a windfall in any way.
He's got a car that he has to fix and if he wants to sell it,
he's gonna be in this range anyways, so...
I'm good with that.
-As am I. -Let's give her the option. Me, too.
Okay. Very good.
Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
-[DiMango] Thank you. -[Byrd] Mm-hm.
With regard to your counterclaim, we were unanimous in dismissing it.
One, because obviously, you did not get any authorization for that,
and I am gonna tell you, 'cause I know you kept saying that she said, okay.
I'm going to read you the portion where this happened
so that it's clearer to you. You write to her...
"...need new calipers in the rear... I will get the pricing for you tomorrow.
Sorry for the bad news."
To which she says, what?
-Okay. -[DiMango] Okay.
[DiMango] And that's where the okay is.
She didn't okay the work. She okayed you getting back to her with the price
So, that being the case,
the sign that you have in your window
with regard to the storage fees, says,
"that you don't pick your car up for work that's authorized."
So, with regard to the $25 a day storage facility,
that is also not a verdict in your favor.
So we are unanimous in dismissing your counterclaim.
With regard to your main complaint...
We see no evidence exactly that you were out $4,000
when you could've minimized your losses. Seems like you just didn't have a car,
and you just didn't go to work.
So with regard to your $4,000 request,
that we are also unanimous in dismissing.
Now with the car.
So, we have a proposition for you.
We are valuing your car at $2,700. Which is the low-end of a trade-in value.
Because we know you're not gonna sell this damaged vehicle
to another person. So it wouldn't be a private party sale.
Which were the numbers you quoted.
So we'd like to know, do you want him to give you the car back?
Or do you want door number two? Which is $2,700?
It's a hard decision when you feel like your car is worth more than that
and he can fix it and sell it to somebody else for so much more.
[DiMango] That's a separate issue. It's up to you.
-I'd just like the $2,700, that's fine. -You are taking door number two.
-You want the $2,700? -Mm-hm.
[DiMango] All right then. Sir, the car is in your possession
to do as you please with it. We will have you turn the title over.
We're awarding you $2,700.
Which we've determined to be the value of your 2012 Ford Focus.
That is the unanimous verdict of the court.
[Byrd] This case is concluded. Parties are excused.
The lesson I've learned, is always get an authorization.
I feel like my car was worth more than $2,700.
I have to spend another $900 just to buy a transmission,
and the parts are unavailable for her car.
So it's really nothing but a paperweight for me.
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