if she sues...

1. she has to prove she is right, a picture of a bride smiling is not proof of a negative issue.
2. if she is running a small in home business where she can't afford to have future business affected, she is running the risk of having her name run through the mud should the other party decide to go on a website like kijiji and run her name through the mud saying her work is shoddy and now she is suing them for it. She may be in the right but it is easy to spin things to make her look to be the bad guy. So she may win the battle so to speak but the potential of losing future customers is there. And this all for $400.
3. if she uses a parallegal, then all the costs are not necessarily recoverable so more money down the tube,
4. potential cost of her time if she is busy, might not be recoverable
5. even if she gets judgement, it's only a peice of paper. she has to find a way to recover the funds then get a writ of sale and seizure (i believe) which equals more money.

and there are other possible issues involved. It is better to just get the cheq for the half fixed up and cut her losses. By the time all is done, it may end up costing her a hell of a lot more than $400 in future business.Some times you have to pick your battles and this is not one of them. She will not be able to control the actions of the other party and that other party's actions may influence her future business.

Did you bill her properly? IE... was there proper specs made of the dress... what was expected etc?

I would take her to small claims court. That's the best way.. You need to protect your receivables... and the whole process would be educational for you... IE.... you would learn how to better handle the situation if it came up again...
And.. you would learn how to avoid the same mistake in the future.

Small Claims is the best way to go. Especially if you lived up to your side of the bargain... make sure you claim all of your expenses along the way.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=alberta+law+courts

Honestly, in my opinion, what I think you should do is get in touch with the mother and tell her she made an honest mistake in the name on the cheque and ask her to replace it with another one. You could take her to small claims court and you start putting out money to cover the costs involved. Then even if you get judgement you still have to try to find out how to get the judgement satisfied. And through all of this you are completely open to this woman printing stuff about your business that may affect future business for you. Should you decide to use a parallegal, the cost involved might not be 100 % recoverable which means more cost to you.

I am looking for legal advice .Stop payment check for services .

I have a registered alteration home business in Edmonton,Canada. I altered a wedding dress for a customer and her mother made the payment for the service with a $845.00 cheque. I deposited the cheque at the bank. After a few days the cheque was cancelled by the customer. Soon after I received an injurious letter from her, informing me that the dress hasn’t been done properly so that’s why she cancelled the cheque. She was informing me also that she is willing to pay half of the amount we agreed on , when she took the wedding dress.

So along with the injurious letter I received a new checque,$400.00, but I couldn’t cash it because she used a different name than my business, even though she used the correct one on the mailing letter (on the mailed envelop the name of my business and all the information were correct, not on the cheque though ).

I have done some investigation on the internet and I found pictures from the wedding and the bride looks impeccable in the dress that I have altered and she seemed very happy and satisfied.

I am very upset with all this predicament and I don’t know what I can do about it.
Should I take legal action? Can my husband represent me or do I need a lawyer? Should I go for the Small Claim Court? Where can I find information about similar cases?

Any information will be really appreciated.