Australia, June 2 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 2:

1. Mr Christopher Vrontas, the plaintiff, owns what started out life as a 2015 Audi S3 sedan. He bought the car in December 2018.

2. Mr Trenten Demos, the first defendant (Mr Demos), is a director of the second defendant, Etuners Group Pty Ltd (Etuners).

3. Mr Vrontas sues both defendants for damages for breach of contract and for loss or damage pursuant to section 236 of the Australian Consumer Law allegedly because of the defendants' misleading or deceptive conduct, unconscionability and breach of consumer guarantees.

A. THE PARTIES AND THEIR DEALINGS WITH ONE ANOTHER IN OUTLINE

First contact and work done - March 2019

4. In March 2019 Mr Vrontas contacted Etuners about installing an ethanol injection kit on his car. He spoke to Mr Demos on the phone. They had not met or spoken to one another before.

5. Shortly after their call Mr Vrontas sent Mr Demos a text message with his own details and some details about his car. Mr Demos replied by text message. Amongst other things, he said he would send Mr Vrontas an invoice and asked that Mr Vrontas send him a screenshot of the payment once it was made. The same day, Mr Demos sent Mr Vrontas an invoice with a description of the work to be done and calling for the payment of a 50% deposit. The invoice was dated 1 March 2019 and had a due date of 4 March 2019. Mr Vrontas paid the invoice by electronic funds transfer on 4 March 2019 and sent Mr Demos a screenshot of his receipt for the payment.

6. Sometime later, Etuners undertook the work. As described in the invoice, it was to supply and install a water ethanol injection kit with block off valve and carry out a Custom Dyno ECU and DSG calibration.

7. Mr Demos gave evidence, which was unchallenged and I accept, that when he first spoke to Mr Vrontas on the phone he said to Mr Vrontas: "The way we operate our business, is to issue an invoice to cover the cost of the parts and the tuning expenses before we do anything. You can appreciate our company can't afford to make a large outlay for parts on behalf of our customers. When we receive payment for the parts, we will order them from the supplier and as soon as the parts arrive from the supplier, we will book your car in at the first available appointment for the installation and tuning. If you're happy with this arrangement I will need your details so that I can issue you with an invoice for the parts.".

Mr Vrontas and Mr Demos stay in contact

8. After this initial contact and Etuners having done the work, Mr Vrontas and Mr Demos communicated with each other regularly either face-to-face or by telephone or by text message.

Mr Vrontas seeks advice from Mr Demos - June/July 2019

9. In late June and early July 2019 Mr Vrontas and Mr Demos exchanged some text messages whilst Mr Vrontas was in the United States. Mr Vrontas told Mr Demos that he had purchased a CTS turbo kit for his car. Mr Demos advised Mr Vrontas that it was not a good kit and Etuners did not tune them. On Mr Demos' recommendation, Mr Vrontas returned the kit to the supplier and obtained a full refund.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/196848ad958e5db6d12dca5e)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.