Getting sued and going to court

[simso]

The only downside with doing repairs for general public and manufacturers, is you have to on an occassional basis deal with some odd people.

My latest odd one, lady bought her guitar from a music store and gave it to her daughter, 3 months later she returned it to the store with a broken headstock - face plant style - split down the back of the neck.

She demanded they replace the guitar as it was defective, not that it could have possibly broken in the hands of her daughter.

The store palmed her off to me being the warranty repairer for this brand.

I explained sorry its been damaged, two weeks later she collects guitar and it comes to me again from another music store the following week.

This time she wants insurance quote done, for 2 months back an forth between insurance companies and stores and finally she gives me the go ahead to do minimal repair as she wants the paint work to be done as well, but billed to her insurance company.

So glued up / smoothed up, fret levelled, and away she goes, 7 weeks later I get a letter of demand saying my work is sub-standard, I get a phone call from the ACCC, then I get court papers, so of to court we go next week, apparently my repair has devalued her guitar, not the fact her daughter has likely broken it.

The joys of repairing, we get to deal with the truly odd ones.

Steve

[kiwigeo]

A bit like me buying a brand new car.....driving it into a brick wall and claiming the resultant damage on the vehicle warranty.

[kiwigeo]

apparently my repair has devalued her guitar, not the fact her daughter has likely broken it.

Surely the guitar is worth even less with a busted neck????

I hope the judge is a guitar player...

[simso]

Its just stupid, the person who believes no way an instrument can be damaged in there childs care is a special kind of stupid person, to then adamantly try to sue a music store accordingly and finally when that fails decides to then sue the person who made it functional again is a special kind of odd ball.

The instrument was repaired and made functional but not painted due to time restraints, they needed it 1 week later, it was to come back in february for paint work, after they had failed at getting compensation for damaging there own instrument they then turned there attention to me the repairer, who repaired the instrument 14 weeks earlier.

I basically told her to get lost as she did not want paint work she wanted to be re-imbursed the value of the guitar that had been broken by her child.

After they rang around perth asking for someone to type them up a letter saying the work was poor, and most other repairers and stores turned them away, they found a guy who runs a small guitar shop vee facebook on a commission basis and he gave her a letter ""apparently"".

[rocket]

Just count yourself fortunate that you're not married to the stupid b@!"h, unfortunately the planet has too large a percentage of brainless mofo's of this ilk and sadly you had to find yourself dealing with one All the best to you, and common sense must prevail on the day I'm sure you'll walk away the victor!!!
Cheers

Rod

[kiwigeo]

After they rang around perth asking for someone to type them up a letter saying the work was poor, and most other repairers and stores turned them away, they found a guy who runs a small guitar shop vee facebook on a commission basis and he gave her a letter ""apparently"".

Obviously she didn't tell him the whole story.

[kiwigeo]

Once it's all over you need to incorporate the whole sorry saga in your "how to" posts.

[routout]

My guess is suing and court are a dangerous mix she will have to pay your court costs /wages i have no doubt .

[simso]

I really am hoping, such a frivolous waste of my time and the courts.

If a person cannot accept that the instrument was broken whilst in their child's care, then nothing you can say will sway them.

Steve

[curly]

I'm sorry to hear of that Steve , your quite obviously a busy man and make use of whatever free time you find sharing it generously with this community .
It's an unfortunate truth that some small percentage of the broader community have a completely different idea of what is reasonable . I operate in business by always trying to stay on the generous side of fair . It makes those who play by a different set of ethics pretty obvious .
Good luck with this one , hope it doesn't take too much time or mental space .
Pete
Curly timbers

[simso]

Once it's all over you need to incorporate the whole sorry saga in your "how to" posts.

I like it, you know I almost might just for the fun of it and the reality side as well.

Steve

[johnparchem]

In the states this level of claim would be handled in a small claims court without lawyers and a level of common sense not dependent on the nuances of the legal system.

What a hassle to have to deal with a claim of this sort.

[lamanoditrento]

That sucks Steve,

I assume it is in a self-represented jurisdiction in WA, minor civil case in the Mags Court? Unfortunately access to "justice" without lawyers also means any one who can fill out a form can waste the courts and a traders time.

I have a quite a bit of commercial/trader advocacy experience in eastern self-represented jurisdictions (VCAT, CTTT, QCAT). Let me know if you would like any help. The proceedings are normally straight forward but even a second set of eyes are handy sometimes.

[simso]

All good thanks folks,

It's just the inconvenience of going to court, have to catch a train into the city, sit in a court room all day until we are called up and then have to discuss reason against a odd person.

Hopefully it will be one visit and it done, not multiple visits.

Steve

[lamanoditrento]

Steve,
Normally there is a compulsory mediation or pre-trial conference first, the aim of which is to try and get the parties to negotiate a settlement with the aid of a mediator and if that fails the matter is then set down for a second date for adjudication. The problem is sometimes if you do not show up, the applicant is awarded a default judgment so you have to show up even you know there is no chance of an agreed settlement being reached. So unfortunately there may well be a couple of visits to court.

For trial, it is always helpful to have as much documentation to support you case with you in printed form (in triplicate, so you can give a copy to the applicant and the adjudicated and everyone can look at the same documents at the same time). Given that you know she has a dodgy valuation letter, you may like ask if some of the with some of the eminent luthiers on this forum and get a couple of letter of your own. (just a thought).

[Ormsby Guitars]

Knowing Steves work, and knowing who wrote the letter supporting this clown's claims, I'm quite happy to continually mention to anyone and everyone about their involvement in this.

It's not the first 'negative vibe' I've seen discussed, and I really dislike their entire business.

[kiwigeo]

Not wanting to rain on the parade but in the interests of Steve winning his case I think we need to be careful about what comments we post in this forum. Just a thought.

[simso]

Yep, its all good, I just had to vent.

I have no issues with comfirming my skill set, I have letters from each of the stores involved endorsing my work and one from the manufacturer of that guitar as well.

Not even slightly concerned re the out come just the inconvenience of it all.

But all is good

Steve

[Crafty Fox]

I suppose since you are the endorsed repairer you can't follow any gut feeling and just avoid the job?

I'm totally self-employed and so can dodge anyone I think may cause me grief.
I had a guy call me last year with what could have been a risky job that had my "intruder alert" going off.
He said he had a carpenter line his Mt Lawley verandah ceiling with cedar and said he couldn't get him back to finish the job off. Well, I've been around long enough to smell a rat so I asked if it was all kosher, were there any issues with the original carpenter, etc?
He assured me all was good and so I took him at his word. It all turned out good; the original guy was happy for me to take over.....the customer is a Senior Council barrister and is even a guitar fanatic with a tasty collection of old Gibbos etc. (Hey, maybe you'd like the barrister's number Steve. Probably around 8 grand a day! )
I hope it all goes well for you and that she gets a rap from the magistrate.

[demonx]

Some people are just so ...

Good luck and hopefully it blows over without any backlash or lost time.

[DarwinStrings]

It's been said before but I will say it again

god.jpg (13.92 KiB) Viewed 25948 times

[simso]

Yep, this Thursday is court day, it's almost comical, the events surrounding this one

Steve

[kiwigeo]

Yep, this Thursday is court day, it's almost comical, the events surrounding this one

Steve

Best of luck.....hope it all goes well for you and not for the plaintiff.

[simso]

So learnt some new stuff today.

For those that are interested, if someone saids your work is sub standard or not good enough, they are not allowed to have it repaired else where, they must have the item inspected by an independent party who is willing to testify in court to said claim, this party cannot be involved with either side, they must be neutral to be a valid court witness.

The independent party must be recognisable by the court as an expert in the field.

After it has been assessed they can then have it repaired and attempt to collect the money back from you via court proceedings

Steve

[kiwigeo]

So learnt some new stuff today.

For those that are interested, if someone saids your work is sub standard or not good enough, they are not allowed to have it repaired else where, they must have the item inspected by an independent party who is willing to testify in court to said claim, this party cannot be involved with either side, they must be neutral to be a valid court witness.

The independent party must be recognisable by the court as an expert in the field.

After it has been assessed they can then have it repaired and attempt to collect the money back from you via court proceedings

Steve

So the case is on-going??