Unpaid services

[ck1]

My mom does a bit of singing /. karaoke work in pubs and bars etc, recently performed in a pub which went very well and all monies were paid. There was a birthday function booked for the evening with a disco which cancelled at the last minute. My mom was aked to stay for the remainder of the evening to supply the music and again had a very good evening. At the end of the night the landlady refused to pay her. It is progressing through the small claims court now and the landlady has refuted the claim based on poor quality of service, suggesting that if it is progressed she will pursue a claim for harassment. Had this have been a genuine reason there would have been plenty of opportunity throughout the night to make her stop. What's the best way to respond to these untrue and unfair claims?

[Stu Dent]

Carry on with the small claims action and forget any nonsense about a counter claim for harassment. As you rightly say, if the landlady wasn't happy she could have stopped your mother before the end of the second gig.

[Reverandfunk]

Mum: landlady didn't pay me

Landlady: She knew she was singing for free

End of story. Got more chance of winning the lottery than getting a result in the small claims court.

I DJ every week and the majority of the time there are written contracts involved i.e. start and end times, type of music, how payment is to be made etc etc.

[Stu Dent]

Just as landlady's are not in the habit of giving their beer away for free, neither do plumbers, electricians, singers, or dee-jay's, provide their services without charge. Perhaps they may occasionally, most likely for friends or charitable organisations, but ordinarily, they charge for their services.

Small claims are decided on the balance of probability. In other words, whose story, on balance, is likely to be the most truthful? I'm not daft, you're not daft, and neither is the Sheriff or Judge/Magistrate.

It could be that the karaoke was provided free of charge, but common sense and objectivity tells us that it is more likely it would have been chargeable. Especially in view of the known facts that another entertainer had cancelled at short notice, and that the singer had been paid for a performance within the same premises. The circumstances made it unreasonable to expect the contracting parties to formalise the agreement in writing, which in any case, is not necessary, though is preferable for evidential purposes.

In those minority of occasions when you don't formalise your agreements, Reverand, do you not think you'd be able to win a small claims hearing if the client failed to pay what you had verbally agreed to?