One of his movers dropped the couch.
"My company didn't drop or damage anything."
That's what you signed under oath when you knew that that was false.
- Why'd you do that? - I didn't do nothing.
Why did he write that?
Oh, you're throwing him under the bus!
We did not break his sofa.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Panama City, Florida.
Your Honor, this is case number 2006 on the calendar
in the matter of Taylor and Taylor versus Bendion.
Parties have been sworn in.
Sir, you can have a seat.
- There you go. - Thank you, Byrd.
You're welcome, Judge.
- Mr. and Mrs. Taylor... - [Omar] Yeah.
- ... you are husband and wife... - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] ... you hired the defendant's moving company.
- Mr. Bendion, is that you, sir? - Yes, ma'am.
And it's your moving company
and it's called Bendion Best Movers,
- correct? - Correct, Your Honor.
[Judge DiMango] And you were hired by the plaintiffs
to pack and to load their moving truck.
You said that in the course of doing this, they damaged your property.
He promised to make good then he reneged on that promise,
and basically, you want him to put his money where his mouth is
and pay up that 5,000 that it cost you to remedy the damages he caused.
What you say, sir, is "We didn't damage their property,
we are a fully licensed, fully bonded national moving company,"
and that when the property got to the location,
another company unwrapped it.
So it could've been anybody basically, but not you.
Correct, Your Honor.
All right. Show us why it wasn't anybody else but him.
Well, we first met, uh, Q, uh, when my wife was moving
from Birmingham to Panama City to start school.
Just to clear the record, your name is Quinton
and they're calling you Q, that's what you go by?
- Correct. - I'm sorry.
And in that first move,
me and a couple of relatives loaded the truck
and we had Quinton to unload the truck in Panama City.
Had a great experience with him, no problems at all.
Sir, is it true that everybody went away happy,
- correct? - Correct. Yes.
They reached out to you again
- about a year later... - Correct.
... 'cause your schooling and job requires
that you pretty much have to keep moving around.
This time, what was your responsibility?
This time, our responsibility was to just bring it down,
simply wrap it, put it in the truck.
- That was it. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
- And one of those items is your couch. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] So I believe
- that you've submitted a video. - [Omar] Yes, ma'am.
So we have a video of the reclining and semi-reclining couch
- at this point. - [Omar] Yes, ma'am.
The couch is not working on the right side.
- As you can see, she can lift let it out. - [Judge DiMango] That works.
- And she's gonna move... - I feel like I'm watching a commercial.
[Omar] ... to the side that don't work.
She's pressing the button and it won't come out.
In moving, him--uh, Quinton
and one of his movers dropped the couch.
They were trying to lift it up,
didn't have a good grip on it, and it dropped.
Were you helping with that particular move, sir?
Yes, Your Honor, I was.
[Judge DiMango] Did that sofa drop?
Oh, it dropped. It dropped.
- Can I say? I was [indistinct]. - Come on. When you do that with the,
"Oh, let me just say"--how much of this
- am I going to admit to? - Three times, Your Honor.
I have a lot of energy. Can I show you a little bit right here
how, um--so he picks up the couch
and my man is like, "Oh, oh, it's slipping."
He's right here looking, this is-- they're both right here, boom.
And I--as the owner, I'm getting embarrassed,
I'm like, "Come on, this is embarrassing."
So he gets it again.
And you should--ought to see the way we dropped it down,
we dropped it on its fours.
[Judge DiMango] I got it. You dropped it.
Let's talk the washer and dryer.
What happened with the washer-dryer?
Okay. So my wife was washing the linens that were pulled off the bed to be moved
'cause she didn't wanna carry
- any dirty... - Who washes their clothes
- and their linens... - Washed the linens.
... while there's a moving company moving your property?
I mean, that made no sense to me at all and almost didn't sound credible.
Almost made it sound like you were telling us that
so that you could have some evidence that it worked.
- [Omar] Uh, no, no, no. - [Kenyatta] No, ma'am.
I was moving to a different location
and I just didn't wanna take any dirty clothes with us.
I didn't know how long it was gonna take me to unpack
once I got to my new location.
And so I wanna say he made a comment about it as well
- but... - So was the washer-dryer working?
Were they washing their sheets? No?
- Okay. They were being washed. - I don't...
- Got that one too. - Uh, I...
- All right. Is that... - They was--no. No, no, no.
- No, you took too long. - No. They...
- Come on. No, no, no, no, no. - [Quinton] They--she's definitely lying.
- You know why I'm saying no? - [Quinton] She's lying.
She's lying because water would be all on our hands
and if I called all my guys here,
nobody remember her-- I cannot remember her washing.
I would remember water dripping on us...
- [Judge DiMango] But Let me stop you... - ... from carrying it down the steps.
... from this--it took you too long to remember the water on you,
which you just said you would remember if in fact that's the deal.
I'm just pointing it out, you don't have to go any further.
- I just make some points and leave it. - Yes, ma'am.
My question to you is, you say in the course of moving
that the washing machine fell down the steps, correct?
- Yes. Right. - It says here,
"We are staying on the second floor
and it bounced down 15 steps."
[Omar] Okay. So to clarify that,
they had the washer and dryer on a dolly that we rented from U-Haul,
but in bringing it down the steps,
every step is a bump 15 times...
- [Judge DiMango] What... - ... down that step.
But you didn't take a picture of any dents or anything,
- did you? - [Omar] No, ma'am.
And that's the washing machine, but what about the dryer?
- The dryer was good, right? - [Kenyatta] The dryer was...
- [Kenyatta] Yes, ma'am. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
Because you submitted a bill for a washer and a dryer,
- correct? - Yes, ma'am.
So now, you get everything packed up.
You two drive this U-Haul to Florida, right?
I did, yes.
How long did that take?
- About five hours. - [Judge DiMango] Five hours?
And then when you get to your location, who removes the property?
Uh, my father-in-law had a different company
- that he contacted on our behalf. - [Judge DiMango] Another company?
- Yes, to unload. - And they removed...
- [Omar] Everything. - ... everything from the truck
- and brought it into the home? - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] I have a question for you.
'Cause you say that you are bonded, licensed, and insured,
and in support of that position, you submitted this document.
This is a certificate of liability insurance.
Their move was what date?
- August 1st, 2022. - [Judge DiMango] What--
this insurance liability policy says
that this was in effect
from May 11th, '23
until May 11th, '24.
Their move was August 1st, '22.
[Quinton] I think we gave y'all the wrong one.
I had--I can provide... I...
- We--we've--we... - Can I answer that for him?
- [Judge DiMango] Step up. Sure. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] Just out of curiosity, who are you, sir?
I'm John Mitchell, I'm his, uh, general manager.
- You're the general manager? Okay. - Yes, ma'am.
Our insurance renews annually.
It's the same insurance company.
[Judge DiMango] I'd love to take your word for it.
- Might have to pull it up from somewhere. - [Quinton] Can we pull that up?
[Judge DiMango] You might, but not at this moment.
I just wanna continue with my questioning.
'Cause this was--meant to me that you were not insured
because you were jerking them around.
You were. Every time they'd say, "What are you gonna do?"
You'd say, "Oh, yeah, don't worry about it.
We've put in a claim for our insurance company.
It's all gonna be taken care of."
- Right? Am I right? Did you say that? - Your Honor, can I explain that, please?
All I told her is, "We will take care of that if we damaged it. Yes, I will."
And it got outrageous. It went to her washer and dryer.
And then it went to pay her for the fees that--she's like,
- "I'm washing my clothes every day." - Yes.
When he found out about that, he's like,
"You are not going to tell customers
that we're paying for something
- we did not damage." - [Omar] Q, you owe [indistinct] money.
Your Honor, I've told Q from the beginning,
we didn't--we weren't really necessarily expecting the dryer at that time.
Well, you shouldn't be expecting the dryer
- because he didn't damage it. - Correct.
- Well, he's saying... - So why would you submit a bill
for something they didn't do
and then expect them to be all nice and fuzzy with you?
- Judge Levy. - [Kenyatta] Oh, it was a set.
That's why it's submitted together.
[Judge Levy] It--I understand that. I got that.
I got a question for you, Mr. Bendion.
What you just said to Judge DiMango a moment ago was,
"I told her, we will pay for it if we damaged it."
- Correct, sir, Your Honor. - [Judge Levy] Here's the problem.
You can stand up, Mr. Mitchell, I'm gonna ask you some questions in a minute
but I'm not done with Mr. Bendion yet.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
[Judge Acker] Did you give them any money?
Yup. 'Cause she called me over there and asked me to do some free service,
but I'm this bad guy all of a sudden.
That is so not responsive
- of my question. - And so--it's so--it's so frustrating.
- They're lying on me, ma'am. - I know. It's so frustrating
- when you don't answer my question. - [Quinton] Okay.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Omar and Kenyatta Taylor claim Quinton Bendion's moving company
broke their washer and couch.
But Quinton denies breaking anything.
[Judge Levy] I got a question for you, Mr. Bendion.
What you just said to Judge DiMango a moment ago was,
"I told her, we will pay for it if we damaged it."
- Correct, sir, Your Honor. - [Judge Levy] Here's the problem.
You can stand up, Mr. Mitchell, I'm gonna ask you some questions in a minute
but I'm not done with Mr. Bendion yet.
'Cause Mr. Bendion, you went through the whole thing
about how you saw the whole thing, right?
Correct, Your Honor.
[Judge Levy] And when you came in here today,
you put down in writing what you claim happened, right?
- Yes, sir, Your Honor. - [Judge Levy] Great.
Here's your answer with respect to whether or not
your company did any damage
during the move on August 1st.
"My company didn't drop or damage anything."
That's what you signed under oath when you knew that that was false.
Why'd you do that?
Honestly, I didn't do nothing.
Why did he write that? I over--like, what I did, I own...
- Oh, you're throwing him under the bus! - [Quinton] No.
I own--I own this company. He works for me.
So it's like, what I did was messed up by not checking this
- but I am not agreeing... - [Judge Levy] All right. All right.
- No, because this is serious to me. - Mr. Bendion, I got that.
- I'm not gonna agree--if I put... - Mr. Bendion, I...
If I put--if I lied to y'all, I'm gonna step up
- and be a big boy, and say I lied. - Mr. Bendion,
I'm not asking whether you lied...
- But no, I didn't do this. - [Judge Levy] Mr. Bendion...
We did not break his sofa.
- Did we drop it? Yes, sir, we did. - [Judge Levy] How about this?
There were also some emails, an August 24th, 2022 email
from Quinton Bendion,
subject, damages and cashier's check.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Taylor, this is John,"
- Mr. Mitchell... - [Omar] John. Yes.
[Judge Levy] ... "Mr. Bendion has authorized the check
and it is being sent from Wells Fargo in Panama City."
- That's what you wrote, right? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] Were you lying to them in that email?
- No, sir. - No,
because Mr. Bendion in fact told you, as you indicated,
that he was gonna cut that check, right?
- [John] Yes, sir. - [Quinton] Yes, sir, Your Honor.
After I got it through, you know, the right way, took it through him,
let him get it to the insurance people,
- but I did agree after once this... - Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Did you just say that you sent this through the insurance people?
I spoke with our insurance agent and...
[Judge Levy] I'm not interested in what people say,
I'm interested in what documents show.
So did you submit any evidence, documents, incident reports
to your insurance company in August of 2022
- regarding this claim? - No, sir.
- [Judge Levy] Okay. I got that. - According to our contract,
if anything that is damaged in transit, it's not our responsibility.
That's the agreement that they signed with us
because we just provided the labor.
[Judge Levy] Okay. August 4th, 2022.
- This is Mrs. Taylor. - [Kenyatta] Yes.
[Judge Levy] "Omar had to call an appliance man
to fix our washing machine.
The drum is out of balance.
The washer was functioning before the move."
And this is then what Mr. Bendion replied,
"Even if you have to have a new washer,
it will be taken care of.
Give me a call. Thank you."
So why don't you tell me then, Mr. Bendion,
as the owner of this business,
why you would be offering to pay for a brand new washing machine
for damage that neither you nor your guys did?
- I don't know, Your Honor. - [Judge Levy] Got nothing further.
Thank you. Judge Acker.
I know why.
Because you two were inflating the damage.
We already established with Judge DiMango
that it was the washing machine that was broken, not the dryer.
And then you start sending him receipts for a new dryer
and I want you to pay for the time I had to go to the Laundromat
and this and that.
I mean, to me, I think it's really dishonest
to try to get someone to pay for something when they didn't break it.
- [Omar] Your Honor... - No, I never told him
he had to pay for the dryer.
I told Q from the beginning, "I want a matching set."
We only submitted him the receipt
because that's the way it was purchased, was together.
We didn't find--couldn't find a watcher--
washer exactly match what I already had previously.
I'm with you. I like things to look good.
I like to walk into my laundry room and I like to see things to match.
However, what's the real harm here? Where does liability end?
I mean, there's a thing called consequential damages.
So that means, "You know what? He broke my washing machine.
He owes you a new washing machine."
Because I couldn't do the washing machine in my house,
I incurred extra costs by having to go to the Laundromat.
- [Kenyatta] Yes. - You might have something there.
But, I then walk into my laundry room and they don't exactly match
and I am damaged from having to look at a nonmatching set of appliances.
Now, I'm with you, Martha Stewart. It is not a good look.
But I'm not sure that there's legal liability there.
And I think that, just as a matter of fact,
when people feel like you're overreaching, then they start to back up.
But we never expected him to pay for the dryer, honestly.
We really didn't. And I told him that.
Um, the repair guy that came back, when he came out,
he said that with the HE washers and stuff,
you have to bolt those down.
He did not do that.
And if you're supposed to be a bonded reputable company,
then you should know
about an HE dryer--washer and dryer, how long have those been out
and that they should be bolted down, but he did not bolt it down.
[Judge Acker] I don't think you're just making up a story.
- [Kenyatta] Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Acker] I think
that there's a credibility contest here, sir.
You came to court saying nothing was dropped
and then your witness still has tire tracks on his back
from the way you were about to throw him under the bus.
I thought you were gonna fire him right here...
- [Quinton] No. Never. - ... just because he told the truth.
Did you ever give them any compensation, whatsoever,
for anything that they accused you of having damaged?
- Did you give them any money? - [Quinton] Yup,
'cause she called me over there one time when her husband was gone.
It was kind of after hours, didn't hit my assistant up,
and asked me to do some free service.
And I came over her house and took heavy weight up there.
And it's like--but I'm this bad guy all of a sudden.
- And she used... - [Judge Acker] Okay. I think you--
- that is so not responsive... - It's so--it's so...
- [Judge Acker] ... of my questions. - ... it's so frustrating in my end.
- I know. You know, it's so frustrating. - It's like they're lying on me, ma'am.
It's so frustrating when you don't answer my question.
Okay. Yes, Your Honor. And I'm sorry.
Did you give them any money?
- No, ma'am. - [Judge Acker] That's all.
I do have a couple of questions.
What did you do with the working dryer that you had?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
So if it was only a drum
and the drum could be replaced for 50 bucks,
you don't get a brand-new one because you got to fix it for 50 bucks.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Quinton Bendion denies
that his moving company broke any of Omar and Kenyatta's property
during a move.
Quinton claims that the Taylors are taking advantage of him
and his company.
What did you do with the working dryer that you had?
- Donated it. - [Judge DiMango] You donated it?
- Yeah. - Yes, ma'am.
How long had you had the washer-dryer
- before this problem? - Um, five years.
- [Judge DiMango] Five years? - Yes, ma'am.
Because there's a thing in the law called amortizing, amortization,
which means that it wasn't new at the point that it was damaged,
so that even if we were to find a responsibility
by the defendants to you,
we might have to amortize the value that you're asking for by the five years.
And though you have said in here
that you might have told them they weren't responsible for the dryer,
there's no text message to that effect.
And in all the papers we have and in your statement to us,
you were clear you wanted the washer-dryer set.
That might have ticked them off in some way as well.
And with that, I don't have any other questions.
[Judge Levy] I have a couple of matters.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, I know how my wife would react,
bringing in a washer-dryer in my home that didn't match.
I know exactly how that would be.
But the law doesn't care about what my wife says.
What the law cares about and what the law says
is that you have a right to be put in the position you were in
before someone else's negligence.
So if it was only a drum
and the drum could be replaced for 50 bucks,
you don't get a brand-new one because you got to fix it for 50 bucks.
But it didn't cost you 50 bucks to fix the drum, did it?
- [Kenyatta] No. - [Omar] No.
He said that the unit is too costly to repair, sir.
You got an estimate of what it was gonna cost to fix the washer,
$1,059.
You provided that to us in your evidence packet,
- right? - [Omar] Yeah. Yes.
Now, in my house, I had the very same problem
with washer, dryer, and a refrigerator.
And what you're telling me is the same exact thing
that my people told me when my stuff was broken too.
- Yes, sir. - [Judge Levy] I'm done.
We're going to retire to deliberate. Thank you guys very much.
Court stands in recess. Parties are excused.
[dramatic musical sting]
All right. I think whatever award we give, if we give any,
has to be amortized over the five years,
which I'm not quite exactly sure how we would do that
other than maybe divide it by five
and dropping over the course of the years.
I'm not inclined to, uh, give anything for the dryer.
I'm just not.
And then amortize the washer by itself.
And the love seat, which is $3,000.
I don't find the defendants credible
on almost everything that they were talking about.
Interesting that they didn't submit information
regarding their status at the time of the damages.
So we're talking 1,400, 1,600,
probably somewhere around $1,700, if not a little more,
I'm not adding-- I'm just adding it up quickly.
[Judge Levy] If we find that the defendant was negligent
and his workers, which I believe we are,
then the law requires us to put the plaintiff
in the position that he and she were in before,
and that is with a matching washer and dryer.
There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that in my opinion.
They did nothing wrong.
They tried to negotiate in good faith
with the defendant who just strung them along.
And for us to give them anything less than their full amount,
I think is a slap in their face.
And quite frankly, the law does not require us, as it does,
to put them in the same position they were before the negligence,
to amortize.
That washer was working before and it was broken after.
The parts themselves are $1,059.
Do you want to spend $1,059 on parts for a $600 washing machine
or do you wanna get a new one?
I just did that.
So I believe that anything less than $5,000 is just not warranted,
and it's not consistent with justice.
[Judge Acker] I agree with you.
I don't think that we have an obligation to amortize.
I mean, think about it.
Somebody breaks your appliance,
and then you're only given money for the value of your old used appliance.
Does that mean you've got to go out and buy like a used washing machine? I...
No, no, no. No, I think they should have bought a new one.
I--I'm not questioning that at all.
I was considering the amortization,
- which I'm not uncomfortable... - Yeah. I...
[Judge DiMango] ... with being persuaded out of,
but I am--I'm not on board with giving them the dryer.
- I'm sorry. - But--so I think though,
as a practical matter,
they're seeking $1,629 for a new washer and dryer set.
They have submitted evidence
that just the washing machine alone
- to replace would have been 1,500 or so. - Right.
[Judge Acker] You know, I think for that $100
and given the fact that they have been inconvenienced,
- I would give them that. - I'm just gonna give them $800
and $815 for a washing machine.
- I'm gonna give them half the... - Oh, you're gonna just--
- you're gonna split it in half? - I'm gonna split it.
I'm gonna split it, half the set.
And the love seat, if--I don't mind if we don't amortize,
so that would be $3,000.
The cost of going back and forth to the Laundromat
for three months, $285,
and for the repairman, $85.
[Judge Acker] I think I'm with Adam.
I would give them everything they're seeking.
[Judge DiMango] I'm up at $4,100.
- I'm sorry, I can't. - I'm going to join you at 5,000.
- Can't find myself with that. - Okay.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Byrd] Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
- [Judge DiMango] Thank you, Byrd. - [Byrd] Uh-hmm.
I understand, sir, that you were able to find on your phone the insurance
that was in effect at the time of the incident.
- Yes, ma'am. - Would you please hand that
to Officer Byrd, please?
So for my colleagues' benefits, this was in effect from March 9th, '22
to March 9th, '23.
This was the certificate of liability insurance.
- Thank you. - Thank you, sir.
Okay. So, we deliberated and we were kind of not all in agreement.
I'm the dissent here.
Judges Acker and Levy found in favor of you, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor,
that you had proved your case by preponderance of the evidence,
and that you'd be entitled to all $5,000 that you have requested.
And we all agree that the damages here were caused by you and your employee.
However, the difference is I did not think you were also entitled
to the value of the dryer.
- However, Judge Acker and Judge Levy... - Yes, ma'am.
... they said, "Listen, you had a matching set.
You get a matching set back."
And they think that that's what's warranted under the law.
So therefore, you will get the $5,000 that you have requested in your complaint.
- And that is the verdict of the court. - [gavel bangs]
- Thank you, Your Honor. - Thank you all so much.
[Byrd] This case has now concluded. Parties are excused.
You may step out.
[theme music plays]
Sometimes you can still, um, win even when you lose.
Check the reviews.
- Yes, yes, check the reviews. - I will learn.
- Thank you, Tribunal Justice. - Thank you, Tribunal Justice.
Justice has been served.
[announcer] Feel like suing someone?
Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]