Darin Smith, dba Boatec Marine, did $27,000 worth of work on our boat, including installing a new 4-stroke 225 HP engine. He installed it too low, causing water to get where it shouldn't, resulting in the new engine malfunctioning.
He wouldn't acknowledge any responsibility, so we took him to Small Claims court. He appeared and we each told the judge our story, and the judge awarded us the maximum allowed in Small Claims ($5,000) (Santa Ana Small Claims, case #05CS003473). About a week later, a unrelated client of Darin Smith, dba Boatec, also got a $5,000 against him (Santa Ana Small Claims, case #05SS01630).
Darin has refused to pay and, as of the date of this being written over a year later, he's dodged enforced collection efforts on our claim.
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