Question about damages caused by service technicians

[Brian H]

The question encompasses the area of Auto Accidents but addresses the more general case. I wasn't sure where to post this, please move it if it belongs in another forum. This question applies to both American and Canadian jurisdictions, as I am frequently in both countries.

The General Case: You give an item (a vehicle, furniture, mechanical equipment etc.) to a service technician to have some sort of work performed on it. Upon receiving your item back, you notice that some sort of damage (scratched paint, a broken mechanical component etc.) has been inflicted on it by (presumably) the service technician. Not surprisingly, protecting their own interests, the technician denies any and all damage they caused to your item during the time it was in their care. Normally this results in a he said/ she said situation in the courts, which would ultimately go nowhere and leave the customer paying for the damages.

The Question(s): How do you (the customer) proactively defend against this situation beforehand (before the item is handed over), so that you have sufficient evidence to mount a legal case against the technician? Taking pictures of the item beforehand wouldn't work because it could always be claimed that you damaged the item after the photos were taken. As impractical as it may sound, would filming the item for your entire trip over to the service shop be acceptable evidence? Would having a person of reputable character (I have no idea what criteria courts use to determine such a trait) check your item before and after it is handed over so that they may vouch for you be effective?

[Curt581]

A little perspective... If I were a manager/owner of an auto repair garage and saw a customer videotaping their car prior to bringing it in, for the purposes of suing me or my business 'just in case my technicians were to cause any damage', I would tell that customer to leave immediately, I don't want their business, and to take their car elsewhere.

No business wants customers like that.

Want a ironclad guarantee that no repair technician ever causes any damage to your car/appliance/whatever?

Do all your own repairs.

[ecmst12]

Best way to protect yourself: Have good insurance coverage.

[Brian H]

Originally Posted by Curt581

A little perspective... If I were a manager/owner of an auto repair garage and saw a customer videotaping their car prior to bringing it in, for the purposes of suing me or my business 'just in case my technicians were to cause any damage', I would tell that customer to leave immediately, I don't want their business, and to take their car elsewhere.

I thought it was apparent that this would have to be done in a way so that the tech would be oblivious to the fact that anything was actually filmed. Not to mention that this would HAVE to be the case, given that filming on private property is illegal without permission.

Originally Posted by Curt581

Want a ironclad guarantee that no repair technician ever causes any damage to your car/appliance/whatever?

Do all your own repairs.

I never said I wanted an ironclad defense. I just wanted proven, effective methods of generating admissible evidence, so that a relatively strong case could be mounted. Secondly, "Do your own repairs" is an obvious and trivial solution and hardly counts as legal advice.

I have decided that designing agreement to be signed by the tech that lists the areas of the item that were inspected and describes their working and/or aesthetic condition, prior to starting work is the best option.Rental places do the exact same thing to their customers when renting out their items, so I dont see why its so unreasonble to do the same thing when the shoe is on the other foot. Sure, I could be told to take my buisness elsewere but would I really care? I mean, if the tech finds signing such a document so objectionable then they must feel that their is a sizeable chance that they could encour damage to the item, and why would I go ahead with the job if that is the case?

So, with all that said, at this point, I was wondering if someone could provide me with instructions on how to find specific cases where the plaintiff in this scenario was ruled in favor of? Failing that, could somebody direct me to another website where I could possibly be provided with this information? Thanks.

[las365]

So, with all that said, at this point, I was wondering if someone could provide me with instructions on how to find specific cases where the plaintiff in this scenario was ruled in favor of? Failing that, could somebody direct me to another website where I could possibly be provided with this information? Thanks.

I think you should do your own homework.

[ecmst12]

Most body and repair shops are small, independently owned businesses. They depend on repeat business to stay afloat. The majority of shop owners provide good customer service and are honest, and if one of their guys were to damage your car, they would take responsibility for it.

So the OTHER best way to protect yourself, besides having good insurance coverage, is to foster a good relationship with your mechanic, and only take your car to shops you trust.