BC man’s widow victorious in court against angry customer

wutzkohphoto/Shutterstock

A situation over a mirror took a drastic turn when a customer decided to take a man to court, even though he passed away before the work could be completed.

Verna Cope hired Pieter Rutgers to build custom furniture for her, including two dressers and a mirror stand. Cope paid a $2,300 deposit for the work, which was estimated to cost $6,770 once completed.

According to the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal, the work for the mirror was originally quoted at $500 for Rutgers to source a mirror and build its frame. However, Cope found a secondhand mirror for the frame to be constructed around instead and was given a $200 credit for providing the mirror.

When Cope dropped off the thrifted mirror at Rutgers’ shop, she rented a van for the delivery as it would not fit in her small car.

Rutgers passed away before he could complete building the furniture. As such, his spouse, Catherine Brown, returned both the mirror and the $2,300 deposit.

That’s when things became messy.

You might also like:

Cope tried to claim $198.91 for the cost of the rental van and the fuel she paid for delivery. She also tried to claim $694.39 from Rutgers for the mirror, telling the court it was damaged.

Acting as the executor of Rutgers’ estate, Brown told the court they did not owe any money.

The court sided with Rutgers and Brown, finding that there was no agreement that Rutgers was responsible for the mirror’s delivery costs.

Cope tried to argue to the court that the mirror was of no value to her since it was removed from the frame and that she wanted the money for a full replacement. However, Brown shared that the frame was still in the shop and that Cope did not want it anymore.

The court found that Cope was still interested in having the frame built by someone else and that Rutgers actually helped build the future frame by removing the original frame.

Ultimately, Cope’s claim was dismissed, and no money was awarded to her.