A LEADING restaurant owner who refused to pay for what she considered was unacceptable service has been told by a judge to pay €10,000 owed for a custom-designed carpet.
Rhona Teehan, owner of the Trocadero, decided in July 2007 to have Se Quirk Contract Carpets supply and fit a bespoke wine and gold floor covering in the restaurant in Andrew’s Street, Dublin.
Barrister Robert Beatty told the Circuit Civil Court the €22,000 charge included triple-time Sunday work, when the restaurant was closed, and when weekday fitting was eventually agreed the price was reduced.
Mr Beatty said an eight-day delay by manufacturers Munster Carpets led to the price being further reduced and when fitting dates in August 2007 had not been met the price was just over €18,000. Brian Quirk, managing director of Se Quirk Contract Carpets, said the deal had been handled by his marketing assistant Kay Brannelly and Ms Teehan’s architect, Luke Wiojtaskiewicz.
The front half of the restaurant was fitted and paid for by Ms Teehan without further incident but when fitters went days later to the Trocadero to fit the rear section they had been turned away.
Ms Teehan claimed they had turned up a day late and she had cancelled the contract.
Ms Brannelly said when the contract had been cancelled Se Quirk Carpets were left with a specially designed carpet it could not sell as it belonged to Ms Teehan and had already been cut to order for the restaurant.
Ms Teehan told the Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Matthew Deery, that she was at the end of her tether when she cancelled the contract.
There had already been three work postponements and she had paid four men for four hours to move out furniture in preparation for the fitters who had turned up a day late.
They arrived when the furniture had been reinstated and the restaurant had been due to open that evening at five o’clock.
Judge Deery said Se Quirk Contract Carpets, Ravens Rock Road, Sandyford, Dublin, had been ready to complete the contract on the day their fitters had been turned away. A delay of one more day would not have been critical or constitute a right to breach the agreement.
He directed Ms Teehan to pay the outstanding debt of just over €10,000 due to Se Quirk Carpets along with legal costs.