 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Carla
Date: 2002-08-10 23:17
Hi everyone! I'm new to the board. This is a wonderful place for advice, so I'm hoping to get some from you all concerning my situation.
I am a "non-traditional" student returning to college this semester to earn a music degree. Since high school graduation, I've occasionally played clarinet in the community band. I own a LeBlanc Vito VSP clarinet, approximately 6 years old, which was in near perfect condition. Because I will be playing in college, I decided to have a repairman check it over. He recommended changing all the pads and corks. The work was done, and I am totally disappointed. Not only does the horn play terribly now, but the workmanship looks like it was done by a 6th grader. I returned to the Music Store and the owner returned the $150.00 that I paid. Today, I received a phone call from the repairman himself. He gave me this story about how he arrived in town two hours too early and spent them in the hamburger joint, which may have contributed to glue melting and being on my keys. I told him that didn't excuse the shoddy work on the cork pads. He wanted a chance to look at it again, and I thanked him, told him that I already made plans for someone else to do the work, and said goodbye! Another phone call came with threats to sue.
1)The owner of the shop informed me when he returned my money
that he had intentions of no longer using this guy and this
was a good reason to terminate him.
2)His work was so shoddy to begin with, why would I want to
allow him to touch my instrument again?
3)Am I liable to be sued as I dealt with the store primarily?
4)Should I expect more damage in the future with this horn
because of the "extreme" heat while it was in his car? This
is northern California where the outside temp. has been over
100degrees!
5)HELP! What would you do in my situation?
People's Court is sounding very tempting right about now.
Thanks in advance for any advice. In addition, it looks like I'll be joining the Buffet Marfia really soon.
Appreciate you all,
Carla
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-08-10 23:45
Sued for what? He has no grounds as far as I can tell. You didn't terminate him ...
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Author: Carla
Date: 2002-08-11 00:17
I guess he thinks I owe him the $150.00 because he did the work. Lousy as it was, it was work!
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Author: Marina
Date: 2002-08-11 00:47
You had no contract with the repairman, only the store. He has no grounds. I am not a lawyer, but do have a degree in law.
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Author: Carla
Date: 2002-08-11 00:59
Thanks Marina. That is what I thought. Now, since he admitted to leaving my clarinet in his car for hours, if I can substantiate damage, do you think I have grounds for legal recourse?
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-08-11 01:03
Carla wrote:
>
> Thanks Marina. That is what I thought. Now, since he
> admitted to leaving my clarinet in his car for hours, if I can
> substantiate damage, do you think I have grounds for legal
> recourse?
I am not a lawyer, however, from being in small claims court in both Washington State and Michigan ...
If irrepairable harm was done as a direct result of his work - yes.
If irrepairable harm was not done - maybe but not worth the effort.
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Author: dennis
Date: 2002-08-11 01:23
Carla......REEEEEEEEEELAX.
Mark is correct.
Take your deserved refunded $ and find a reputable CLARINET repairman (although unethical to recommend one/any, there are many listed in the SNEEZY Sponsor section).
Although the basic definition of a contract is wherein performance and payment occur, your 'contract' was with the store owner, not the repairman. Further, payment for goods/service implies a given/aceptable level of quality for the payment. From a business and ethical viewpoint, the store owner had every right to exercise the option of refunding your $. The repairman's 'contract' was with the store owner, not with you.
Further, a suit is out of the question. First, no attorney will represent him in a $150 lawsuit, etc, etc. Secondly, his only recourse would be the local Small Claims Court. His initial 'interview' with the Clerical staff would go no further.
Go have your clarinet repaired properly and to your satisfaction , and then enjoy playing it !!!!!!!!!
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Author: David Dow
Date: 2002-08-11 01:35
Stay away from lawyers and simply get a repair job done by a credited or reputable repairman. then enjoy making music.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-08-11 01:49
Hi, Carla
I feel the guy doesn't know when he's well off. Clarinets do not do well when subjected to extreme heat. Inside the car, heat could easily rise to 140[degrees F.] or more - not a good environment. Shoddy work, mistreatment of your property, directly threating you... sounds like a real jerk.
People's Court? I doubt it would be worth your time or trouble. You got your money back :| However, you might wish to consider a restraining order if he bothers you after you've told him to leave you alone.
I live in Sacramento. A while back I had a similar experience to yours - it prompted me to service all my own instruments and then some :] I didn't get my money back but in that way it was a blessing in disguise. However, at the time it was no fun.
- ron b -
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-08-11 20:45
Yessiree... Judge Judy'd be happy to clean his plow :]
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Author: Sandra F. H.
Date: 2002-08-11 22:39
This man is very unprofessional. It's doubtful that he will follow through with his threats to sue. He seems to be desperate, and he may be venting his frustrations onto you, especially since he was fired. The repair techs that I know don't have time to be too early and spend two hours in a hamburger joint!
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-08-12 00:11
LOL @ Aussie Nick - you'd be better spening your time practising than listening to that sort of crap (Judge Judy that is).
By the way - did you here Sabine's Copland from Melbourne last Friday - it was stunning. I discovered I accidently left my cassette tape on record mode and only discovered this (to my horror) at the end of the broadcast - I'll just have to wipe the tape, I guess?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-08-12 00:24
diz...If you send me the Sabine Meyer tape you accidently recorded, I'll be happy to dispose of it for you and send you a new blank tape as a consoling measure...GBK
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-08-12 00:27
GBK - would gladly do that for you - it'll save me a lot of time erasing the tape - which I always find a challenge.
email me with your address?
:-)
p.s. - the tape has:
Copland - concerto (of course)
Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Wombat and
Debussy - La Mer
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-08-12 02:46
Carla: Judge Judy might sentence that dingbat to Lethal Injection, just for being too bothersome to deserve this world.
What sort of tort could he claim in suing you? Not breach of contract, because you didn't have a contract with him. He can't just sue you without grounds, claiming that he needs money because he damaged your property (?). Filing suit just because you feel like it is frowned upon rather severely by the courts in practically any jurisdiction.
If he calls again, tell him you are recording the call, and ask him to verify that he understands you are recording it. If he agrees to the recording, you do not need to "beep" the 'phone, but really do record it. Some answering machines can do that, or just use a small tape recorder with a microphone next to the telephone receiver. Be sure to get his name and telephone number on the tape. Then tell him you owe him nothing, and if he calls you again on this matter you will report him to the telephone company for making harrassing telephone calls. By all means do exactly that. (Guess what the telephone company does wih people who make harrassing calls.)
I am not a lawyer, so the above should not be considered legal advice. The above is merely my opinion, and it's pretty much what I'd do.
Regards and good luck,
John
Official Law School dropout
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-08-12 04:24
LOL @ JMcA - I'm a dropout of the school of hard knocks!
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Author: RogerD
Date: 2002-08-12 12:15
I am a lawyer.
Anyone can sue anyone anytime.. Whether they prevail or the lawsuit is thrown out by the judge out of hand are other matters.
It would appear that his best cause of action (claim upon which relief could be granted to use Fed R. 10(b)(6) against you would be a defammation action. In such actions truth is a defenses(except as to nonpublic officials in FLA where lack of malice is also required).
Clearly the truth would cutoff his claim.
In short, the repairperson does not have a legal leg to stand on. Ignore him and he will leave you alone.
If he continues calling you he might be gulity of telephone harrassment. Many states have such an offense.
The above being said, just ignore him, get the horn repaired by someone else.
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-08-12 22:05
nahya^^: Some words of suggestion:
Never beg anybody to sue you. He might just do it. As Barrister RogerD says, anyone can file suit against anyone else at any time. Defense of a lawsuit can be expensive and will be at least a big pain in the neck. And if you win, the only satisfaction you get is that you don't owe the guy anything.. As I said, it is my view that in almost any jurisdiction, the courts are not at all delighted by frivolous lawsuits; but that surely does not keep them from happening.
No lawsuit defense is a hand-wringing "Boy, I can't wait to get this guy in court" proposition.
That's my opinion only, so don't bet money on it. I happen to be a firm believer in trying to keep my lawyer on the golf course, not earning even more of my money by defending me against some screwball. But if someone does file suit against me, that lawyer will get my next phone call. And he will get it quickly.
The danger of even a minor suit in Small Claims Court where you defend yourself is that under some circumstances, the inconvenience of showing up might be worth more than the amount of the suit. So you'll wind up losing by default anyway. It happens. Happened to me once and cost me $75, but it was worth more than $75 to me not to spend my morning in Small Claims Court.
And diz, too bad you dropped out of the School of Hard Knocks. I'm still there, working on my second Ph.D.
Once again: I am not a lawyer, hence none of my comments should be taken in any way to be legal advice.
Regards,
John
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Author: Carla
Date: 2002-08-21 14:56
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful responses! I brought my clarinet to a "reputable" repairman. Upon inspection, he found numerous problems with the former repair work. Hopefully, without much expense, he will be able to put it back in playing order. I figure it will make a descent back-up horn now. Live and Learn!
Thanks again,
Carla
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