What is the name of your state? California
I work in a piano store as a technician. A certain brand of piano was manufactured in the mid '80's that has an inherent defect in critical parts of the mechanism (called the "action"). In this case, the parts are liable to break, making the piano difficult or impossible to play. The company has discovered the cause, which is that the parts were improperly manufactured, and had been supplying parts for making the repair, with compensation to the installer technician, under a warrantee agreement. Since I am a technician, I am occasionally involved with this warrantee issue.
A customer was referred to me who had discovered that her piano was unplayable, and had repeatedly tried to solve the problem by contacting the manufacturer for repair. She got no response for about a year. Her regular tuner could not solve the problem, so she called our store to seek a solution. She happened to be a personal friend of my boss, so he asked me to take care of her. I made an appointment and discovered that her piano had the defective parts.
I called the parts department, and discovered that there was a new policy regarding the parts. Apparently, there was a change of ownership of the company, and the parts had become unavailable for about a year. Now the policy had changed, and the parts would cost $100.00 unless the customer could prove the piano was under the 12 year warrantee period. Luckily, the customer was able to produce the original receipt, and also the warrantee card. The card actually states that there is a LIFETIME warrantee on action parts, not just 12 years.
I mentioned this situation to a friend of mine who is a salesman at the store, and we discussed the fact that many of these pianos have this potential defect. We discussed how thousands of these pianos have these defective parts, and that people are unaware that their piano is likely to be unplayable at some point in the future. Something didn't seem right. We talked about having a class action lawsuit to force the manufacturer to at least inform the owners of a potential problem, if not recall the pianos outright. My friend said he knew an attorney who specializes in class action suits, and asked me if I thought we should bring him in to see if there was a case. I agreed it might be a good idea.
My friend brought in the attorney, and I showed him the problem with the piano mechanism (called the "action") and the defective parts. We discussed the extent of the problem, and the numbers of pianos involved. I told him that the parts department was requiring a proof of purchase date, and that if it was under the 12 year warrantee period, the parts would be free. Otherwise, the parts would cost $100, and no compensation for installation. I showed him the warrantee agreement, which actually states that there is a LIFETIME warrantee to the original purchaser for action parts. I also showed him documents in which the manufacturer admits the problem with the parts. I gave him the contact information for the former parts manager for the manufacturer, who has kept notes on the manufacturing dates for the pianos in question. The attorney later sent a photographer to take photos of the defective parts.
The attorney agreed that there is indeed a case, which would involve a lot of pianos. I called the customer, and asked if they would like to participate in a class action lawsuit with the attorney, and they agreed. I also informed another customer with the same problem that the class suit was going on, and they also agreed to join. The attorney for the lawsuit is calling for the company to inform all the owners of the defective pianos, and have them repaired with new parts, or at least inspected (I haven't seen the actual documents).
The company has since supplied the parts, and agreed to pay me for installation. They called several times to make sure the customers were satisfied (naturally, since they are part of the suit).
The manufacturer's rep told me that they are looking at this lawsuit as frivolous, and that they intend to find out who is behind it and pursue a case for libel. They are looking at me, because I'm the one who is the technician for the two (so far) claimants on the lawsuit. Since, in fact, I have helped the attorney by providing information, what is my liability in this case? I am not part of the suit, nor am I in line for any compensation as a result of it. But, I did help initiate the suit.
I can't sleep at night, worrying about what they could possibly do to me if they found out the extent of my involvement. The attorney has told me that I am not involved, that I shouldn't worry about this. But, I'm afraid that this company could cause me a lot of problems in the future. So far, I'm playing dumb with the manufacturer.
Thanks for any advice.
PaulWhat is the name of your state?
I work in a piano store as a technician. A certain brand of piano was manufactured in the mid '80's that has an inherent defect in critical parts of the mechanism (called the "action"). In this case, the parts are liable to break, making the piano difficult or impossible to play. The company has discovered the cause, which is that the parts were improperly manufactured, and had been supplying parts for making the repair, with compensation to the installer technician, under a warrantee agreement. Since I am a technician, I am occasionally involved with this warrantee issue.
A customer was referred to me who had discovered that her piano was unplayable, and had repeatedly tried to solve the problem by contacting the manufacturer for repair. She got no response for about a year. Her regular tuner could not solve the problem, so she called our store to seek a solution. She happened to be a personal friend of my boss, so he asked me to take care of her. I made an appointment and discovered that her piano had the defective parts.
I called the parts department, and discovered that there was a new policy regarding the parts. Apparently, there was a change of ownership of the company, and the parts had become unavailable for about a year. Now the policy had changed, and the parts would cost $100.00 unless the customer could prove the piano was under the 12 year warrantee period. Luckily, the customer was able to produce the original receipt, and also the warrantee card. The card actually states that there is a LIFETIME warrantee on action parts, not just 12 years.
I mentioned this situation to a friend of mine who is a salesman at the store, and we discussed the fact that many of these pianos have this potential defect. We discussed how thousands of these pianos have these defective parts, and that people are unaware that their piano is likely to be unplayable at some point in the future. Something didn't seem right. We talked about having a class action lawsuit to force the manufacturer to at least inform the owners of a potential problem, if not recall the pianos outright. My friend said he knew an attorney who specializes in class action suits, and asked me if I thought we should bring him in to see if there was a case. I agreed it might be a good idea.
My friend brought in the attorney, and I showed him the problem with the piano mechanism (called the "action") and the defective parts. We discussed the extent of the problem, and the numbers of pianos involved. I told him that the parts department was requiring a proof of purchase date, and that if it was under the 12 year warrantee period, the parts would be free. Otherwise, the parts would cost $100, and no compensation for installation. I showed him the warrantee agreement, which actually states that there is a LIFETIME warrantee to the original purchaser for action parts. I also showed him documents in which the manufacturer admits the problem with the parts. I gave him the contact information for the former parts manager for the manufacturer, who has kept notes on the manufacturing dates for the pianos in question. The attorney later sent a photographer to take photos of the defective parts.
The attorney agreed that there is indeed a case, which would involve a lot of pianos. I called the customer, and asked if they would like to participate in a class action lawsuit with the attorney, and they agreed. I also informed another customer with the same problem that the class suit was going on, and they also agreed to join. The attorney for the lawsuit is calling for the company to inform all the owners of the defective pianos, and have them repaired with new parts, or at least inspected (I haven't seen the actual documents).
The company has since supplied the parts, and agreed to pay me for installation. They called several times to make sure the customers were satisfied (naturally, since they are part of the suit).
The manufacturer's rep told me that they are looking at this lawsuit as frivolous, and that they intend to find out who is behind it and pursue a case for libel. They are looking at me, because I'm the one who is the technician for the two (so far) claimants on the lawsuit. Since, in fact, I have helped the attorney by providing information, what is my liability in this case? I am not part of the suit, nor am I in line for any compensation as a result of it. But, I did help initiate the suit.
I can't sleep at night, worrying about what they could possibly do to me if they found out the extent of my involvement. The attorney has told me that I am not involved, that I shouldn't worry about this. But, I'm afraid that this company could cause me a lot of problems in the future. So far, I'm playing dumb with the manufacturer.
Thanks for any advice.
PaulWhat is the name of your state?
