District Court awards $650 over two signs missing from shop opening order

The District Court ordered Caleb Mercer to pay Elena Brooks $650 after two signs were not delivered for her shop opening. Brooks had sought $950: $800 for the missing signs and $150 for temporary replacements.

Presiding Judge Sam found Mercer responsible for the late signs and replacement cost. The judgment, signed on October 29, 2026, directed Mercer to pay Brooks directly within 24 hours and to admit fault and take accountability for the failure to deliver.

Judge Sam awarded $500 for the undelivered signs rather than the $800 Brooks requested. The judge said the phone call about delivery was confusing and could be interpreted either way, and based the amount on the cost stated in Mercer’s pricing sheet.

Mercer told the court that his worksheet valued the two signs at $500 together. He also said Brooks had not signed the worksheet and that the contract did not assign separate prices to individual signs.

The judgment awarded the additional $150 for replacement signs. It did not explain further how the disputed phone call affected responsibility for the late delivery.

Brooks said she paid $2,400 for six signs due on June 14. She said Mercer delivered four that day, that she did not agree to wait for the other two, and that she spent $150 on temporary replacements.

Mercer said Brooks requested a wording change and agreed by phone to later delivery of the remaining signs, before canceling that work. He also said the four delivered signs were larger and more costly than the two outstanding signs.

The written agreement listed June 14 as the delivery date. Brooks kept and used the four signs Mercer delivered that day.

The dispute turned in part on what the parties understood from their phone call and how to value the two signs that did not arrive. The judgment resolved the payment claim without making a definitive finding about which interpretation of the call was correct.