B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered a man to pay $1,821 in damages for an engine block heating system on another man’s sailboat.
Brendan L’Heureux said he paid Umberto Ragni to install an engine block heating system on the boat.
However, L’Heureux claimed the system never worked, and that coolant leaked from hoses Ragni installed.
L’Heureux claimed Ragni breached their contract by failing to install a working coolant heating system, as agreed.
L’Heureux also said Ragni received an accidental overpayment of $398 due to a banking problem, tribunal vice-chair Kate Campbell said in her Nov. 7 decision.
L’Heureux requested an order that the respondent pay them $1,821.25, made up of $1,122 that the applicant paid the respondent, $179.65 that the applicant paid another mechanic to assess the problem with the new system, and $519.60 lost on the subsequent sale of the boat due to the non-functioning heater.
Ragni, however, said he ran the heating system for about 20 minutes on the day he installed it, and it worked well. He said L’Heureux called twice and said coolant was leaking and that the system did not work.
Ragni said he was too busy to visit the sailboat for repairs, and instead gave L’Heureux instructions about how to fix it.
He said he changed his cellphone number later that week, and did not hear from L’Heureux until the complaint was filed.
Ragni admitted receiving a duplicate payment but said L’Heureux agreed it could be used to cover labour costs.
Campbell said Ragni did not say the installed system works; rather, Ragni admitted he hadn’t “been the most reliable technician with Mr. L’Heureux,” and that L’Heureux should have hired someone else.
She said Ragni acknowledged that L’Heureux complained about the work, reported that it did not function, and requested that Ragni fix the problem.
The ruling noted Ragni told L’Heureux he would install heavier duty hose clamps and reprime the coolant system, but did not do so.
"'I didn’t properly follow up with Mr. L’Heureux because I was overwhelmed,'" Campbell quoted Ragni as saying.
"Based on these admissions, and the evidence before me, I agree that (Ragni) breached the parties’ contract," Campbell ruled.
She awarded $1,821.25 in damages.
