Justin Caldwell v Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd (Civil Dispute)
[2009] ACAT 36
•28 September 2009
ACT CIVIL & ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
JUSTIN CALDWELL v BRADDON CAR STEREO PTY LTD (Civil Dispute) [2009] ACAT 36
XD 485 of 2009
Catchwords: CIVIL DISPUTE – DAMAGES - liability for faulty work – damages – finding of fact – no issue of principle
Tribunal: Ms. Jann Lennard, Senior Member
Date of Orders: 28 September 2009
Date of Reasons for Decision: 28 September 2009
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY )
CIVIL & ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ) XD 485 of 2009
BETWEEN:
JUSTIN CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL
Applicant
AND:
BRADDON CAR STEREO PTY LTD
Respondent
TRIBUNAL: Ms. Jann Lennard
DATE: 28 September 2009
ORDER
1.The respondent, Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd is to pay an amount of $1,646.70 to the applicant, Justin Caldwell within 7 days of the date of this order.
…………………………………
Jann Lennard
Senior Member
REASONS FOR DECISION
Mr Caldwell purchased a dash mounted DVD player for his car, a 2006 Mitsubishi 380. The existing CD player was removed by Mr Caldwell. He was unable to install the DVD player because the plug on the DVD player was not compatible to the plug under the dash.
On 16 April 2009 Mr Caldwell engaged Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd to wire in the DVD harness. This was completed that day and Mr Caldwell paid $132.
Mr Caldwell noticed later on that day that the speedometer was not working and returned to Braddon Car Stereo. Mr Darrell Minion, one of the proprietors of Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd denied that any work done by his technician caused the problem and referred Mr Caldwell to National Capital Motors, a Mitsubishi dealer.
National Capital Motors, unable to identify the cause of the problem, transferred the car to Lonsdale Auto Electrical. Lonsdale Auto Electrical repaired the vehicle and returned it to National Capital Motors. National Capital Motors undertook further and unrelated repairs to the vehicle. Lonsdale Auto Electrical identified the cause of the problem as the connection of the speed pulse wire to the electrical aerial of the stereo. There is no dispute that this wiring was incorrect, this had caused a surge of power to the control unit, which was damaged and that this was the cause of the speedometer not working.
Mr Caldwell alleges that Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd negligently and in breach of contract wired the speed pulse wire to the aerial. Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd denies this, and claims:
a.The engine check light was on when on the morning of 16 April the car was driven by Mr Minion into their workshop.
b.The damage to the speedometer could have been caused by removing the original CD player and then driving the car.
c.Other people who worked on the car after it left Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd could have caused the damage.
Evidence before the tribunal
Mr Caldwell and Braddon Car Stereo Pty Ltd made extensive written submissions and ACAT heard from Mr Caldwell, Mr Minion and Mrs Minion during the hearing on 2 September 2009. ACAT also had letters from Lonsdale Auto Electrical and National Capital Motors. There were some discrepancies in the evidence as to the sequence of events, however the issues are clear:
a.When was the damage to the control unit done?
b.What caused the damage to the control unit and resulted in the speedometer not working?
ACAT attempted to contact by phone Gordon Cameron, proprietor of Lonsdale Auto Electrical during the hearing, but he was unavailable. ACAT indicated to the parties that further attempts would be made to contact Mr Cameron and he would be asked to supply information relating to issues before the parties. ACAT contacted Mr Cameron and National Capital Motors on 15 September.
Mr Caldwell gave evidence that he first noticed that the speedometer was not working at 6 o’clock on the night of the 16 April. He stated in evidence that he had not noticed that it was not working on the short drive between Braddon Car Stereo’s premises and his home. He returned to Braddon Car Stereo the next day and complained that the speedometer was not working.
Mr Minion claims that the car’s engine check light was on when he received the car on 16 April. In his submission he states: the engine check light does not come on unless something electrical has been seriously disturbed in a vehicle. He postulates that Mr Caldwell had damaged the control unit by removing the original stereo, and this was the cause of the engine check light being on.
10.Both Mr Cameron and National Capital Motors indicated that it was possible, but unlikely that removing the stereo and then driving the car could cause damage to the car’s electrical system. National Capital Motors indicated that if such damage had occurred this would result in the engine warning light coming on. However this would be rectified by resetting the car’s computer codes and it was extremely unlikely that any damage to the control unit of the car would be caused.
11.Mr Minion told ACAT that he did not mention to Mr Caldwell that the engine check light had been on. He was unable to offer a credible explanation for failing to alert his customer to a possible electrical fault, which could be traced or related to the wiring and replacement of the stereo.
12.National Capital Motors in a letter submitted to the tribunal indicated that when they inspected the car on 17 April no warning lights were showing on the dash of the vehicle and no diagnostic trouble codes were stored in the vehicle ECU. Thus the evidence before the tribunal indicates that the engine warning light had not been showing prior to, or after, Braddon Car Stereo had worked on the vehicle.
13.Mr Caldwell stated that after collecting the car from Braddon Car Stereo he had installed an antenna and had partially installed a reversing camera in the boot area of the car. Mr Minion alleged that this work could have caused the damage to the control unit. The evidence before the tribunal is that Mr Caldwell states he did not interfere with the wiring in the area worked upon by Braddon Car Stereo and in a letter tendered to the tribunal by Mr Caldwell Lonsdale Auto Electrical states prior to the car coming to us Mr Caldwell had installed a powered TV antenna and had partially installed reversing camera. He wired these items himself and we did not at any stage touch or need to repair this work as it had nothing to do with causing the problem with his speedometer.
14.The cause of the problem has been identified by Lonsdale Auto Electrical as the joining of the speed pulse wire to the electrical aerial of the stereo; The issue is: who did this. On the evidence before the tribunal there are only two possible answers: the technician at Braddon Car Stereo, or Mr Caldwell. In concluding that the incorrect wiring was more likely than not done by the technician at Braddon Car Stereo the tribunal takes into account the following:
a.Braddon Car Stereo rewired the DVD harness on the morning of 16 April;
b.Apart from a bare assertion that the error was not made by them Braddon Car Stereo brings no evidence from the technician who performed the work, but Mr Minion asserts that he plugged in the DVD unit, checked that the AM radio was working, then unplugged it and placed the unit on the back seat of the car. If the AM radio operated then the wires could not have been wired incorrectly. Mr Minion asserted that this means that another person had to have disconnected the soldered wires and deliberately reconnected the wrong wire, the obvious candidate being Mr Caldwell. Mr Minion could offer no sensible or credible explanation for this assertion.
c.Mr Caldwell gave evidence that he had installed the TV antenna and reversing camera, but this work was in the boot of the car. He stated to the tribunal that he had not done any work at the front of the car, except to plug in the DVD unit and replace the dashboard.
d.The photographs submitted by Mr Caldwell clearly show the incorrect wiring and the state of the wires after the work had been repaired by Lonsdale Auto Electrical. Mr Cameron in a phone conversation with ACAT stated that while he could not say who had connected the speed pulse wire to the electrical aerial of the stereo; it looked like a good join that was competently done.
e.National Capital Motors confirmed in a phone conversation with ACAT that the incorrect wiring was the cause of the problem and that their inspection of the vehicle revealed no other possible cause nor any other computer or electrical fault or damage.
15.The tribunal finds that on the balance of probabilities the damage to the control unit and thus to the speedometer occurred due to a technician from Braddon Car Stereo incorrectly joining the speed pulse wire to the electrical aerial of the stereo.
16.Mr Caldwell provided copies of the repair bill levied by National Capital Motors. This shows that the cost of the repairs to the control unit was a total of $1,646.70.
…………………………………
Jann Lennard
Senior Member
PUBLICATION DETAILS
TO BE PUBLISHED
To be completed by Tribunal Staff
PART A FILE NO: XD 485 of 2009
APPLICANT: JUSTIN CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL
RESPONDENT: BRADDON CAR STEREO PTY LTD
COUNSEL APPEARING: APPLICANT:
RESPONDENT:
SOLICITORS: APPLICANT:
RESPONDENT:
OTHER: APPLICANT: In Person
RESPONDENT: In Person
TRIBUNAL MEMBER/S: Ms Jann Lennard, Senior Member
DATE/S OF HEARING: 2 September 2009 PLACE: CANBERRA
DATE/S OF DECISION: 28 September 2009 PLACE: CANBERRA
PART B
RECOMMENDATION:
FULL REPORT ( ) CASE NOTE ( ) UNREPORTED DECISION ( )
COMMENTS:
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