This isn't a purely technical question but it has to do with psychological and legal strategy so I thought it might be fun to examine on here.
I own a mobile auto detailing company and we detailed a vehicle on a new white concrete driveway. The detailing process left some dirt splotch marks on the driveway that didn't readily come off. (Wheel cleaner dissolved brake dust).
The customer asked us to come back out and power wash it, which we did. The result is that the marks are almost completely gone, but not 100%.
Now he is demanding that we pay $2400 to have the driveway re-surfaced or he'll sue us. This seems extreme to me but I'm not sure how things like this are resolved from a legal basis. My best guess is that some metric would be use to calculate "accelerated wear". So we would pay for a percentage of the cost of the driveway that represents the amount of wear we put on it above normal wear and tear.
We do have business insurgence, so I could just tell him we'll refer this to our insurance who will likely not pay him anything since the wear is very minor. But I'm not sure what the repercussions of this could be. Will my insurance possibly decide to pay and then raise my rates? Or will they not pay and raise my rates anyway? I've never referred anything to insurance before in the 10 years we've been in business so I don't know what I'm getting myself into with that.
Anyone have any insight into this??
If he was concerned about that he should have moved his car to a place on his property where this could not occur.
If he did not tell you that was a concern before you started, and especially if he parked the car there and told you to clean it there, I don't see how he has a case.
I would check to see if he's done this kind of thing before (and I'd be surprised if he hasn't) because that is evidence that he purposely set you up. If he has bring those records to court with you there's a good chance a judge would toss his case.