Re: 80 Failure update + liability question

[Andrei Kogan <abk@phy.duke.edu>]

At 02:15 PM 11/13/98 -0800, you wrote:
>
>
>Andrei,
>Wow! Thanks for the great response.  All I want is for him to pay for a
>used, un-molested gearbox...about $800-$1000 here in Ca. I will install it
>myself. I don't want him touching my project. I think that is reasonable.
>
>I do have a concern. If I take the box to him for a post mortem, what's to
>stop him from concealing the root of the failure. And if I take it to an
>outside source, I'll not only have to pay them, but the orig. shop will
>claim no responsibility because it was already torn down.
>I wonder what my rights would have been if it locked up a minute before it
>did while I was going 70 mph?
>
>I'll let you know how it turns out.


Please do. If you ask me you have a good case, i think, but I am no lawer.
My impression was that the laws in this case are primarily about being
reasonable, and give the customer a fair amount of protection. Now, it
doesn't mean that they cannot be twisted into someone's favor if the lawer
is good enough. However, and luckily for you, as one lawer told me, you
will never find a lawer to represent you in a small claims court and nor
will the shop --- a 1k case doesn't let them make anything. So, it will be
up to the judge, and if you are lucky, maybe he or someone he knows got
screwed by this shop before... Seriously though, I would suggest to discuss
the situation with a lawer before you do anything. Even though he won't
handle your case, for a fee he should be able to explain to you the
intricacies of small claims business, figure out your chances. If he says
the odds are really against you (which I doubt) try to get the guy to fix
the box right, maybe it was the accident and they would actually do it, if
not, bite the bullet and get at least the $500 towards the working tranny.
After what you already invested in this project, in terms of the money and
your effort, I guess you will quickly forget another $500 once the car is
up and running again.  Otherwise, Call the shop and tell them what you
want, and if they refuse, drag their asses to court!

Hope everything works out well for you,
Andrei