Whose Responsible?

[mabynack]

I dropped my RV off at the repair facility for work. While it was at their facility, rodents chewed through the wiring for the brakes and battery. I thought that since it happened while they had custody, they would be responsible for paying for the repairs. They've agreed to knock $100 of the repair bill, leaving me with the balance of $400. I realize that it's hard to prevent this kind of thing, but I figured they would pay for it. I've dropped over $4000 at their place over the last year.

[WNYBob]

"A $100 back on a $500 bill is a good start, offer to be happy if they meet you in the middle and pay half."

Maybe you should offer them $800 towards the $4000 bill or maybe half. Seems fair with the above mentioned logic!

[mich800]

sammytoo wrote:
How do they know you didn't bring the rats in? Maybe you're responsible for their rat problem.

And do we even know it was from rats? Just curious.

***Never mind, the OP said rodents. The rat comment came after.

[Ed-N-Dani]

Absolutely absurd, if they acknowledged it happened under their watch then they should take care of it. I dont care if you spent $4.00 or $4000.00. Customer service should have an expected level of standards no matter what you did or didn't spend with them. I own a high level customer service based business myself and running your business like that will run your customers away one at a time until they cant make payroll. You take the good with the bad and at the end of the year you made what you made but at least then you can put your head down each night knowing you did the right thing.

This type of stuff makes me irate since I'm always bending over backwards for my business.

JMO...Ill step down now.

Ed

[sammytoo]

How do they know you didn't bring the rats in? Maybe you're responsible for their rat problem.

[NYCgrrl]

mabynack wrote:
I dropped my RV off at the repair facility for work. While it was at their facility, rodents chewed through the wiring for the brakes and battery. I thought that since it happened while they had custody, they would be responsible for paying for the repairs. They've agreed to knock $100 of the repair bill, leaving me with the balance of $400. I realize that it's hard to prevent this kind of thing, but I figured they would pay for it. I've dropped over $4000 at their place over the last year.

If you can prove they have a rat problem (check local health dept violations) OR prove the damage didn't exist before you brought it to the shop (Have pre-turning the keys over to them photo?) then they are responsible for the full cost of replacing the wiring IMO. Have you discussed this with your insurance company already?

HTH

[OH48Lt]

Those signs mean squat. The repair place must take reasonable means to protect your property. If they knew that they had a rat problem and didn't abate it, a court would side with you. The problem is reality steps in.... they'll point to their sign and most people will think it means something. Many places will dig in and not do anything for you, then you have to decide if you want to take it to small claims court.

Best way is to explain the situation in a calm and intelligent manner, and you'll find out if the repair place does the right thing or not. Explain how you have dropped over $4k at their place, and will continue to use them in the future. If its apparent that they are not going to give sufficient relief, you can always escalate the situation. Is there a local television station that has a crew that works on investigating stuff like this? In Toledo, we have 2 TV stations who love stuff like this. I used one of them several years ago when Menards tried to keep $300 of mine (long story). When TV-11 called their corporate HQ, the local store was very happy to give me my $300 cash back. Just a thought....

A $100 back on a $500 bill is a good start, offer to be happy if they meet you in the middle and pay half.

[korbe]

Bumpyroad wrote:
were the rats their pets? if not, they are not responsible.
bumpy

Now of course if you could prove that they knew about the problem, and did nothing about it, then, well, maybe they could be found to be responsible.....okay, let's see, that took 5 minutes, so my bill will be $85.60. Thank you

[downtheroad]

I have always thought the, "not responsible," disclaimer is wrong and should not even be legal. But, I'll bet that a sign similar to this was posted somewhere....and I'll bet you signed some fine print when you dropped off your rig...

Again, I hate it.

[Bumpyroad]

were the rats their pets? if not, they are not responsible.
bumpy