Service liability [RE-wrenches]

Drake Chamberlin, Quicksilver Electrical solar at eagle-access.net
Fri Feb 9 09:37:25 PST 2001


It is a jungle out there for sure.  You're idea of having customers sign
something to limit liability seems like a great idea.   I like to work with just
a handshake, and when things go well for a while I forget how important it is to
have the proper documentation in place for when things go bad.

The problem that I see is that the contracts that we need  to give people are so
extreme that I'd be loath to sign one myself.  But a recent conversation with a
lawyer showed me how wide open we really are without these documents.

As far as cheap fixes go, people always want them.  But (as a plumber friend
once told me) when they don't last, people will forget they wanted things done
cheaply, but will clearly remember that you were the one who did it.


Phil Undercuffler wrote:

> I'd like to get some feedback from the wrenches:
>
>     In our service area there are numerous old (and some not so old) funky
> systems in various stages of operation or disintegration.  Often we are
> called in to service a system not installed by us, to find a system that for
> numerous reasons cannot be made to work safely or even to a fraction of its
> ability without clearing it out to the bare walls and starting over.
>
>     A few times we've done repairs and gotten burned by clients who either
> expect a miraculous recovery from their abused system after having us out
> for one morning, or conveniently forget that they agreed to enclose the
> batteries or some such.
>
>     When we do a full system installation, we sweat the details and figure
> them into the system quote.  But often a client needing a repair job just
> wants the quick and dirty solution.
>
>     How do you help these clients and make them aware of their role in their
> system's health and well-being?  And how do you CYA for the client that has
> leaned his panels against his trailer for years, but now that you've visited
> the site and worked on his system holds you personally responsible for the
> panel that blew down and broke the week after you came out?
>
>     How many wrenches have liability releases that they ask/require clients
> to sign?  Or sign-off forms for the details the client wants to take care of
> OR just doesn't want to pay us to do but are critical for safety or
> performance?
>
>     Lord knows I didn't get into this job for the paperwork, but it seems
> that sometimes something is necessary to protect against a memory.
>
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To send a message:
 RE-wrenches at topica.com

The archive of previous messages: 
 http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/

To unsubscribe send a message to: 
 RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com

To check out the other RE-Wrench participants:
 www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine: 
 www.homepower.com

For info contact list moderator by email:
 michael.welch at homepower.com

____________________________________________________________
T O P I C A  -- Learn More. Surf Less. 
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose.
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01




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