In the courtroom of Judge Judy, some cases start with a spark and end in a full-blown blaze. For Margaret Hayne and her son Jason, that wasn’t a metaphor—it was their living room.
The Haynes walked into court seeking $3,421.95 from Jeffrey Bloom’s heating business. Their story was a harrowing one: they had purchased a pellet stove for the winter, only to have it nearly burn their entire house down due to what they claimed was a series of negligent installations and defective parts.
The “Missing” Motor
The drama began before the first fire was ever lit. Margaret testified that when the technicians finally arrived in December—weeks past the promised date—they realized the stove wouldn’t start. The reason? It was a showroom display model, and a former employee had allegedly stripped the blower motor out of it to use elsewhere.
Judge Judy was stunned by the lack of professionalism. “You sell your displays, but you don’t inspect them to see if the motor is missing?” she asked the manager. His “snoody” attitude, as the judge described it, didn’t help his case.
A Cold Night and a Hot Minute
The situation turned life-threatening on the night of January 14th. Jason recounted the terrifying moment smoke began pouring into the upstairs bedrooms. He had to grab his young son, wrap him in a blanket, and flee the house in a “hot minute.”
The fire department arrived and found an obstructed chimney flu. While the defense tried to argue that Margaret must have “pushed the stove around” to cause the blockage, Judge Judy wasn’t buying it. “Were you playing kickball with the stove?” she quipped, pointing out that an industrial heating unit vented into a wall isn’t exactly something a homeowner nudges by accident.
The “Man’s Stove” Defense
Jeffrey Bloom’s defense took a controversial turn in his pre-trial statement, where he claimed he tried to talk Margaret into a “user-friendly” model, implying that this particular stove was a “man’s stove” and too technical for her.
However, the technical evidence told a different story. A second opinion from an independent company, Clayton Richards, revealed a list of code violations:
Dangerous Clearances: The stove was installed 1 inch from the wall when code required 3 inches.
Wrong Materials: Standard clear silicone was used on the joints instead of high-temperature sealant.
The Verdict: No Reworking the Deal
The defendant tried to fight back with a $1,600 counterclaim for “service calls” he had previously provided for free. Judge Judy shut this down immediately, explaining a core legal principle: you cannot turn a “gift” (a free service) into a “debt” just because you got sued.
Ultimately, the Judge ruled that while Margaret wasn’t entitled to have her original heating bills paid, she was absolutely entitled to the cost of fixing the mess the defendant left behind.
The Final Judgment:
For the Plaintiff: $517 (the cost of the professional repiping).
Counterclaim: Dismissed.
As the Haynes left the court, they were simply happy to have won. For Jeffrey Bloom, who was kicked out of the courtroom early for constant interruptions, it was a cold ending to a very heated dispute.
