Who Ends Up Paying Here?

[Coco]

I was walking by a photography store and noticed a sign in the window that said "no open drinks allowed". I guess I could understand it, considering someone might spill their .75 Coke all over someone else's $500 portrait.

But, it got me thinking, in most stores, if a customer breaks something accidentally, who pays? Is the customer ever actually asked to pay for the damaged product ever?

______________________

We can't change our past, but we can change the way we look at it - into something more positive

This message was edited by Coco on 1-6-03 @ 1:10 PM

[Patches]

I think it's you break it you buy it.

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[HordeKing1]

It's a good question. I'm not sure what the legal liability would be. Therefore this is an educated guess, but I don't know if it's the law.

One thing is certain: If the customer acted intentionally, he's clearly liable for full restitution.

It seems to me, that a store assumes the risk of accidental breakage when it solicits customers (by ads for example). Therefore the store should bear the burden. HOWEVER, in the example you gave, there is a readily visible sign reading something to the effect of "no liquids in the area." By errecting such sign, the store has alerted the customer that it does not assume the burden for accidents of this type. The responsibility is placed back onto the customer. If he ignores the sign and causes breakage or damage (as a result of the drink), the liability would seem to rest on him.

EDIT: Many stores will assume responsibility even when they don't have the burden b/c it's good business practice.

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This message was edited by HordeKing1 on 1-6-03 @ 5:35 PM

[Death Metal Moe]

You don't pay. Trust me.

I'm always bringing my Bull to the China shop and I've never paid dime ONE!

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[FUNKMAN]

after reading what the HordeKing said it made me think about the McDonald's/Coffee incident...
The Lady was successful in suing McDonald's when she burned herself but now McDonald's made a change and now have a "warning" sign on the cup. Just the addition of that sign or few words seems to put the responsibility on the customer or consumer...

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[TastelessGinny]

The store pays when you break it in the store; the manufacturer pays when you break it at home, box it back up and take it back for an exchange or refund. It's part of the reason why stuff is so expensive.

Back in my 'lean years' (we're talking about 15 years ago) my hubby and I discovered a company that bought damages from stores as scrap. They, in turn, sold those damages, as-is; but you had to buy the entire load.

We bought a large amount of open-box ceiling fans for almost nothing. We went through them. Each ceiling fan had been taken back by people who couldn't install them, had broken it, lost parts etc. We took all of the fans and repackaged them--making sure that each box had all of the parts needed and that it wasn't broken, that each had instructions and a warrantee card, etc. We had a bunch of ceiling fans when we were done, and a small pile of extra parts and broken pieces from the other 15 or so boxes.

Then we went to a flea market and sold those fans as-is for half of what a store would charge, and we made a bundle of cash.

So we went back, and bought broken/returned furniture, and did the same thing.

(so now you know what happens to the broken stuff you return to the store, or break in the store.)


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[HordeKing1]

That's really interesting Ginny. I've never really thought about what happens to these returns.

However, now that the secret is out, I smell a new wave of spam e-mail about a new way to make money on e-bay.

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