We have a nice sized covered concrete patio with this metal frame/skeleton that is affixed permanently and remains while a fabric (canvas??) awning goes up every May/June and comes down in September/October. It's a pretty old fashioned setup but it's nice to have in the summer.

We inherited this from the 92 year old man that owned the house previously and he had the awning company come and take it down each fall and put it up each spring, which we continued.

This past fall I realized they took it down and instead of leaving it like the year before for me to store in the basement, they took it with them.

I assumed it was to clean it as it was getting a bit grubby with all the rain we had in 2018. I called them recently (they never pick up, it's always voicemail tag) and asked that they put it up for the season. So they did (and it's NOT cleaned BTW) and then a few days later we get a bill for the $70 to put it up (which is expected and the normal price) PLUS $300 for "re-sewing" it which they appeared to have done on several of the seams. It's pretty large, about 40 feet wide.

We did NOT authorize anyone to make any repairs on this awning as we were talking about replacing it someday with a new one in a different color and since the old one seemed to be getting grubby looking. My wife is furious and refusing to pay for it and I'm not sure how we go about handling this?

The company is very old school, they don't have a website, the guy I deal with in the few times I get him on the phone sounds like he's about 95 years old himself.

Would you pay this? Call them and ask why they did repairs without checking with us? They know we are new owners and not the previous guy who may have had an arrangement.

I'd like to get rid of this anyway now and get something like a Sunsetter or something that I can put up as needed, does anyone know about those?

Call them and ask.

Repair may be customary and ordinary in the course of installation.

I’d ask them nicely.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
Repair may be customary and ordinary in the course of installation.

I’d ask them nicely.

This ^^^^^

Never hurts to start out nicely, assuming the best of intentions on the part of the other party, unless you have reasonable cause to believe otherwise.

to me 'old school' would indicate a higher level of truth & reality based services, maybe included in their prior agreement with the original owner.

Certainly 'nice inquiry' is appropriate.
And compare whether the $300 repair vs immediate replacement at potentially higher cost might be a proper 'old school' service decision.

In any case, opportunity to establish YOUR new relationship with a vendor. Good luck.

I agree, if they are old school and rely much on honesty, the work was probably done correctly. I would try and make an estimate of the time needed to do the repairs, just to make sure they truly are honest.

Look into your states consumer protection laws or a customer 'bill of rights'. There is usually some kind of protection in there for unauthorized repairs. Usually see them at dealerships and car repair places. You have a right to a written estimate, all repairs must be authorized etc. This keeps the shop from holding your car hostage over thousands in unauthorized repairs.

I bet if you asked nicely they would credit the repair amount toward new canvas. If I were the business owner, that is what I would offer you, anyway.

As to the Sunsetter, we bought a house with one of those damn things. It constantly opened itself up in windy/stormy weather and either

1. Got ripped to shreds.
2. Tore up the part of the house it was mounted to.
3. Or both.

It was a piece of shit.

The awning folks should have asked you what your preference was before making the repair. It could have been a miscommunication among their personnel. I favor the “nice approach” initially, there aren’t many of those mom-n-pop businesses around anymore and I think that’s a shame. I’d probably pay for the work they did but mention that you have been considering replacing the awning with a new one. It’s possible they’d discount the replacement to offset the cost of repairs to your current one.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
Repair may be customary and ordinary in the course of installation.

I’d ask them nicely.

OP, you might consider reviewing the original owner’s contract with the company which you assumed.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

OP, you might consider reviewing the original owner’s contract with the company which you assumed.

What contract? We were given nothing or told anything at closing about this awning company except a name and a number and that they'd come and put it up and take it down for $70 each time. Nothing more.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:


...The awning folks should have asked you what your preference was before making the repair. It could have been a miscommunication among their personnel. I favor the “nice approach” initially, there aren’t many of those mom-n-pop businesses around anymore and I think that’s a shame. I’d probably pay for the work they did but mention that you have been considering replacing the awning with a new one. It’s possible they’d discount the replacement to offset the cost of repairs to your current one.

+1

When I wanted to put an awning on my deck, I looked into Sunsetter. Very bad reputation: low cost, but cheaply made. The awning I had installed from a local company cost me multiples of what the Sunsetter would have been, but it is well made, sturdy, good looking, reliable-- everything that the Sunsetter is not. It's the old "you get what you pay for."

"Hey Jim, thanks for sending your guys over to install our awning. They did a good job, as always. But listen, I've got a question about this $300 charge on our invoice. I appreciate you being proactive with sewing up the fabric, and under ordinary circumstances I wouldn't complain--would hate to pay you to put up the shade and pay you again to take it down to do repairs after it's already been put it--but I was actually hoping to buy a new shade this year and the $300 you guys charged sorta puts a dent into my plan. Can you help me out with a refund on the repairs since I didn't ask for them?"

The other way to look at it is that they did you a favor by letting you get another season out of the shade. What if you spent the $70 to put it up, and the seams came apart while it was up?

Lacking some kind of agreement ahead of time for repairs I would expect a call/email before the repair was done to obtain permission.

"PASig When we removed you shape we found some rips that need repairing before next season. We estimate the cost to be xxx. Would you like us to go ahead and make the repairs"

Did the repair guy know you now own the house? Perhaps he has been doing this sort of repairs with an understanding for the old owner. Maybe he forgot, maybe he is in his 90’s, etc.

Personally, I’d very nicely and warmly talk to the guy. He may offer to not charge you at all, but since a benefit was received, I’d write him a check for $150 in a flash, as a halfway gesture, or just pay the old fart the $300 if it was a well done repair.

Best wishes to you.

quote:

Originally posted by bcereuss:
I bet if you asked nicely they would credit the repair amount toward new canvas. If I were the business owner, that is what I would offer you, anyway.

^^^this^^^

I like what aeteocles said. We had a very sweet old man who serviced the industrial vacuum at our downtown office and he charged five dollars a belt. The vacuum got old, we needed to get more and more belts, I started working remotely and didn’t get always get bills turned over to me promptly. I missed one payment. I didn’t realize it. The next time I received an invoice it noted the amount still due, and cash up front payments in the future. I called them up and apologized, but agreed that we would definitely do cash up front in the future. I still feel bad about that- five dollars was nothing to our business, but it was a lot to him.

Things have changed a lot in the business world, but the old timers worked on trust. I’d believe it was an honest mistake, and talk to him about it. If he doesn’t work with you, I’d just pay the bill. If he’s that old, I’d suspect you’re going to need a new service or awning soon regardless.
Best of luck.