Tl;dr: Should I sue Angry Plow Guy?
Made a new account for this; hope that is permissible.
The Story: I'm out of state when the blizzard hits New York. My regular snow removal guy leaves me high and dry. He’s overstretched himself this year, his first in business. He has some elderly clients who are snowed in and is just one guy with a shovel/blower, so I’m on the back burner. Okay, fine, but it would have been nice to hear from you, regular guy, rather than from testy neighbors on day 3 of snowmageddon 2021. But, that’s a separate issue.
The real issue begins with a call to a company I've used in the past. I’m hoping for emergency service, but they are booked solid. They give me a name, however, likely a brother or cousin of the owner (same last name), who I’ll call Angry Plow Guy. I ring APG that morning, who agrees to help me out.
APG calls later in the evening to say they've arrived, but the neighbors are getting in his man’s face about something, telling him how to do his job. I’m not sure what the issue is (all I know is that APG has been pretty gruff in all our interactions) but ask him to keep the peace and to please just make sure the sidewalks are passable in order to stop the fines that are surely coming my way. An hour or so later I get a text from APG that the sidewalks and driveway are done. Great.
The next morning, I get a text from neighbors. Seems they were worried about their car during the plowing (we share a very tight driveway), which explains the confrontation. APG was a maniac, according to them. I’m friendly with one half of the couple, so-so with the other (she’s nice, but seems frosty, so I try to keep to myself). I offer to pay for any damages or to have their car dug out, but they explain that there are no issues on their side.
My side, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. The damage to the fence (a four-foot, wooden picket-type barrier) doesn’t look that bad from the pictures. There are a few missing pickets and some gouging of the rails. I can fix the pickets and live with the rail gouging. At least I won’t have to pay APG, I think to myself.
A day later, I get a text from APG requesting $80 by Venmo to be paid to a third individual. I send the picture of the damage, say I can take care of the repairs, and suggest we call it even. APG does not like this idea. He, uh, “explains” that the job was last minute and that there was 2 feet of snow, so he didn’t know where anything was and “it’s not his problem”. My own feeling is that the fence is 4 feet high and definitely visible among the drifts and that APG could have taken the 3 minutes needed to survey the vast expanse of my lot's 45-foot frontage before ramming his plow in (or perhaps, you know,
asked me about potential issues), but I do not tell APG any of this because he also offered to deposit a dump truck's load of snow at the foot of our shared driveway, should I decide that I did not find value in his services. Based on our phone/text conversations so far, I have no reason to doubt him. I’m 2000 miles away and the neighbors are already testy, so I send the $80, daring only to add that I didn’t realize I needed to specifically ask him not to knock down my fence.
What’s Next? Seems obvious to me that he should pay for the fence. Forget the quick DIY job and living with the damage. The fence pickets can probably be salvaged, but the rails should be replaced. I’ll get a quote from a company I used to replace another portion. I’m estimating around $500.
I guess I’m looking at small claims? I know the neighbors would back me up. And I have their texts saying he worked like a maniac and caused the damage. But I had no formal contract with Angry Plow Guy, just some texts where we coordinate the removal and then discuss the damage. I can't find much of an online presence for him, but searching his name and number brings up a home address. And he seems to run or (work for) a local excavating company.
How to proceed? Many sites recommend a “Demand Letter” where I ask for payment before filing suit, but NY doesn’t seems to require it, and I don’t think a demand letter would be well received by APG, and I’d feel (rightly or wrongly) safer by going formal/legal right off the bat. Like physically safer. As I mention, dude seems angry. But also, like, fuck bullies. And also x2, I've never sued anyone before, despite it being my birthright as a US American.
So I am tentatively thinking of:
- Getting quote to fix fence.
- Setting up security cameras.
- Leaving negative Yelp, Facebook, Google feedback for company who referred me to APG.
- Suing APG.
- Having fence fixed when spring arrives.
Questions for the MMM forum: Am I the asshole? Should I just forget about this? Am I going to be on the hook for any fees if I lose the case? Should I leave referring company out of this? Should I send the demand letter because I secretly hope it might bait him into aggravated harassment in the second degree? Does the threat to dump snow constitute said harassment?
Epilogue: To his credit(?), regular guy shows up the night after APG’s attack on my fence and calls me expressing disgust at the hack job that APG did on my sidewalk. Apparently regular guy holds himself to a high standard of workmanship, even if his communication skills are lacking. Regular guy cleans up the sidewalk, which I hope neighbors appreciate.