[SIZE=4]I’ve had something dragging out since mid May. The details aren’t important to my question. My question is this.
When the home owner pays the bill does that mean that they are saying any issues that happened and they are aware of are all resolved? So there is no way they can come back and say well it cost us X amount to replace this or that.
The lady was saying things like,“Well I sure hope you have business insurance because they were fine when they left today.”
Details are; I washed some real old blinds and a turn mechanism broke because the plastic was very brittle. I tried to swap it out for another that wasn’t used that much and that one broke too. These are Hunter Douglas Riviera blinds that haven’t been made for 10 to 15 years and replacement parts are not made anymore and are unavailable.
On the estimate that I give them the small print reads the following.
Any item(s) being cleaned or serviced by Best View Serivices that has a preexisting condition, prior to the cleaning or service, such as being weathered, sun damaged, chipped, cracked, or any other condition that could result in damage after the service, shall be the owners responsibility. Owners will not hold any agent of Best View Services liable for damage that is from a preexisting condition.[/SIZE]
I wouldn’t imagine that paying a bill waives liability of the service provider, no. With something like this, I wouldn’t worry so much about liability… it’s pretty unlikely any kind of lawsuit or anything like that would come of this and neither of you can prove anything anyway. It IS extremely likely that a bad review (Google, Angie’s List, etc) and bad word of mouth will come out though, and that’s what you should worry about. She may very well be full of it and have known it was broken before hand, but that doesn’t really matter at this point.
You have two options in these situations:
Pay up. Eat the cost of the blind, replace the whole thing if needed, and hopefully she calms down…she might even end up [I]happy.[/I] You don’t necessarily have to admit fault either, just tell her the truth – you don’t want her unhappy, so you’re going to cover it for her.
Tell her it was broken beforehand (or was in such poor condition), and leave it at that. Reply to any reviews she has left in detail, and shoot down her story. Any company with at least a handful of good reviews can handle one bad. This is sort of a get out of jail free card though, and if you end up having a similar customer later it won’t be as easy for potential clients to ignore. Not to mention the friends and family she may really rant about you to.
Personally, I’d probably just eat it and move on but I don’t know all the details or have a vibe to go off of. I wouldn’t worry too much about the true liability part, though.
The details that you say are not important must mean she wants you to fix or replace the blinds? She can claim anything she wants. Proving you damaged them is another story. Can you prove they were brittle? Are any of the parts still around? If it comes down to it, it’s kinda he said she said. With out proof you might be liable. Either through an insurance or small claims court. It’s good you have the hold harmless on your receipt. How old are the blinds?
We have found the short term loss is a much better long term gain. What does that mean…Your company, you, is a service provider. A good service provider can and does deal with foreseen and the unforeseen. If a company came into your home and broke a couple of things and said that really you should take better care of your stuff you would feel they really weren’t a very professional company. At least this is a strong possibility. So, we say on any damage, send us a copy of the bill and we will cut a check for you. By taking responsibility, even if it may not be totally your fault, you have dealt with integrity as a service provider. There is a good chance she will hire you again and talk well of your services. Things happen all the time. Question is how to handle those issues. We try not to look at it in a legal way but rather for the benefit of the customer. Which translates into a long term win for us. That’s how I would frame it. Your disclaimer and payment doesn’t really resolve the more fundamental issue of how you view future problems. They will occur.
I have to agree and say pay-up and move on! not worth the possible bad reviews and by doing so will probably benifit your company in the long term. JMO though. Good luck
She can’t have you replace all the blinds in her house if you only broke 2 I would replace the two even if they don’t match for customer service reasons. Than if they want to make them all match they can do the upgrade for their whole house. Sounds like it might be time if they are brittle and breaking.
I learned from a blind company owner on how to repair blinds. I have some spare parts and lots of string. I go out about once a year to repair a blind that a part gave way during a cleaning. As for your problem, it is going to be hard to convince the customer that the parts were old and brittle. If you want to keep the customer, pay for the blind. If you don’t care, don’t pay.
I learned from a blind company owner on how to repair blinds. I have some spare parts and lots of string. I go out about once a year to repair a blind that a part gave way during a cleaning. As for your problem, it is going to be hard to convince the customer that the parts were old and brittle. If you want to keep the customer, pay for the blind. If you don’t care, don’t pay.
