Repair scam... help needed

A

atlcruiser

Part Yeti
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HI all,
Apologies for the looooong post to follow!

I dropped my M4-P with VL 35mm on it whIle In Big Bend National Part about 6 weeks ago. The advance lever was wonky, rangefinder out of alignment, shutter speed knob wonky and the VL was knocked out of adjustment. Still took good pIctures....I learned to compensate :)


First week of April took it to my local "good" repair guy. He loves LeIcas an told me that he could fix In no problem. 3 weeks later he called with an estimate of $250 for the body and $100 for the lens telling me that new parts were needed and It would take a few weeks longer to get It back to me. The estimate seemed high but I want to support my local film shop so I told him to go for It.


I see this guy at least once a week...I use the darkroom at his shop and buy lots of small Items from him. I would call myself a good customer. I asked him about the body/lens a few times and he told me they were taken apart In his home repair shop and would be done "eventually."


He called last Thurs telling me it was done. I asked If It was perfect; more of a joke as he loves LeIcas almost as much as I. He assured me It was.


Stopped by Sat afternoon to grab It. I looked a the InvoIce...$350 listed. I took It out of the wrapper....thIngs went downhill! I ran the advance lever and It still felt bad. I compared to my M6 In my bag and no way Is the M4 Right Right. He said the new parts would need to "break In." I then noticed the RF was still out of adjustment then noticed the shutter speed dial was just as bad as before. I put the VL 35 on my M6 and found It was still off! He was calm and told me "he" would repair It again. I asked why It was so bad after 6 weeks of waItIng..he would only say that "he" would repair It again.


I was so pissed I had to take a walk. I returned and he then told me he does not do the repair but sends it out to some guy he knows that usually does good work. He said he would take it back to the guy in a week or so and have him look it over again. He also told me that it was obvious that no work had been done to the camera/lens. I asked him when I would get my camera back and help told me it takes time and he would call me.


Again I started seeing red. I left to collect my thoughts. I returned and told him no worries about anything but I need my camera and want it back. I have paid him no money and he did no work. I do not trust either him or the repair guy. I hired him to do the work; not farm it out to some unknown. I asked for my camera. He refuses to give it to me. He now says that since he paid the repair guy it is up to the repair guy to either fix it or to refund the money the shop owner paid when it was delivered not fixed.


I told him that I wanted my property back immediately. I told him that I do not authorize nor will I pay for any repairs to any of my equipment in his shop.

I have drafted a demand letter for return of my property and will deliver it to him certified tomorrow AM with Wed 6pm as the return deadline. If I do not get It back then I guess I will sue and file for a criminal warrant. We can do that here. I say what he did, the sheriff reviews it then files a quick court date and hopefully a warrant for his arrest will be he result. He has a court date within a few days and the judge either puts him In jail or I get my stuff back. I believe this is theft by conversion.


My fear Is that he will give the camera to this 3rd party and I will never see It again.


What can I do? Any other suggestions?
David
 
Dear David,

You may be overreacting, but equally, you may not. It should certainly get his attention.

Theft by conversion is unlikely -- I really believe you WILL get your camera back, because it's less hassle for him that way -- so the likeliest thing is that he's going to have to eat the ripoff 'repair', which will make him think twice next time. Oh: and lose a customer. Bigger fool he, as we say in Cornwall.

Cheers,

R.
 
I sat back and thought about this to see if I was overreacting. He lied to me and then tried to have me pay for a repair that was not done.

I just need my stuff back!

I own a small business and have a hard time believing he would lose a customer over this...I think fo the stuff we eat here. If i hire a sub it is my issue between me and the sub not the customer and me....I am pissed but also worried.

thanks for the calm :)
 
Dear David,

Well, he can't easily get away, and if you put the fear of God (or David) into him, as I think you have probably done, then it'll turn out as I suggested. How could it easily go otherwise, without his doing a runner?

Not knowing the local jurisdiction, I don't know what other action you could have taken, hence my original post. Put it this way, you haven't underreacted, like the unfortunate fellow whose new M8 disappeared for repair.

Try to look at it as an outsider: what would you say was likely to happen if (a) it weren't your camera and (b) you weren't (understandably) furious?

Cheers,

R.
 
I hope it works out fine for you. You are clearly in the right and your repair person has reacted incorrectly to this situation.

Good luck!
 
I agree roger. I will get it back eventually...but...I ant it fixed and I want to use it. I shoot a bunch; being down a body sucks!
 
Do try to get your camera back as soon as possible by whatever (legal) means. I had a similar problem many years ago and I finally got my camera back over a year later in pieces. The repairman was named Ivan and had a shop off Kearny in San Francisco.
 
David
The issue wiii probably resolve itself. I know that you realise it isn't the end of the world although for a couple of moments I guess you thought it was worse than that. However I think you probably need another 'discussion' with your camera guy before you 'serve' anything on him. But a 'discusion' with a witness of you choice and who knows the story. If you have a BIG friend who will come with you so much the better. They don't have to say anything, just stand a pace behind you. The worse case is that its your camera man's word against yours that he has your camera, and that is why I think you need a bit of back up. A witness to hear what he says. Have you a receipt listing your camera and its number? Sorry to put a negative spin on this but ....
Take a bit more time. One or two more days isn't going to make a great deal of difference.
I really feel for you - you haven't your camera, and worse a guy you trusted and tried to support let you down big time.
jesse
 
It is so shortsighted of the shop owner to act this way. It seems to me that if you are an endangered species (small, independent camera shop), you should be making every reasonable effort to keep customers happy and coming through your door.
 
jesse1dog said:
David
The issue wiii probably resolve itself. I know that you realise it isn't the end of the world although for a couple of moments I guess you thought it was worse than that. However I think you probably need another 'discussion' with your camera guy before you 'serve' anything on him. But a 'discusion' with a witness of you choice and who knows the story. If you have a BIG friend who will come with you so much the better. They don't have to say anything, just stand a pace behind you. The worse case is that its your camera man's word against yours that he has your camera, and that is why I think you need a bit of back up. A witness to hear what he says. Have you a receipt listing your camera and its number? Sorry to put a negative spin on this but ....
Take a bit more time. One or two more days isn't going to make a great deal of difference.
I really feel for you - you haven't your camera, and worse a guy you trusted and tried to support let you down big time.
jesse
Click to expand...

Ah, yes: the old "Me and my friend get nervous" ploy. Good idea. A witness is an excellent idea; a BIG witness merely acts as a reminder that he's there.

Cheers,

R.
 
I think your asking for a lot of trouble if you get the Sheriff involved. His response " that since he paid the repair guy it is up to the repair guy to either fix it or to refund the money" is totally valid. I've had items repaired that were not up to snuff (my M7 is back to Solms for the 3rd time in 6 months) and fix it was always the only option. Never had any money refunded. I also think $350 for the repair sounds cheap and 6 weeks is not an undue wait.

You get the Sheriff involved and the finding won't be favorable to you. So all you'll accomplish is to P'O the repair shop who will probably put it on the back burner for 6 months.
 
Beemermark said:
I think your asking for a lot of trouble if you get the Sheriff involved. His response " that since he paid the repair guy it is up to the repair guy to either fix it or to refund the money" is totally valid. I've had items repaired that were not up to snuff (my M7 is back to Solms for the 3rd time in 6 months) and fix it was always the only option. Never had any money refunded. I also think $350 for the repair sounds cheap and 6 weeks is not an undue wait.

You get the Sheriff involved and the finding won't be favorable to you. So all you'll accomplish is to P'O the repair shop who will probably put it on the back burner for 6 months.
Click to expand...


I am with you on most of the above. But........I did not contract with any other repair shop to do any repairs; only with him. He chose to lie to me about who was fixing the camera. He chose to lie to me about my camera being fixed. I have paid no money and expect nothing back but my broken property.

The business between him and his repir guy has nothing to do with me or my property.

I did have a witness for all of the exchanges detailed above; thank god!

I am having a demand letter written up today and will fed ex it to him overnight.

I also am willing to pay him his actual invoice amount to the repair guy just to get my stuff back. I searched reviews about this guy and i am not the first this has happened to.

The application for a criminal warrent is where i go to the sheriff and sign an affidavit of what happened and that i beleive a criminal act has occured. The sheriff serves my application to both the other party and to the magistrate court. A date is set within 2-3 days where he must appear and a judge then decides if a warrent should be issued based on testomoney of both parties. At the elast it will get his attention.

I think I have a valid fear I will get my property back any time soon.

Also, a very good friend of mine is a local DA in another county. The course of action I am on was suggessted by him as a quick way to see a result.

I also cannot spell..sorry :D
 
jesse1dog said:
David
The issue wiii probably resolve itself. I know that you realise it isn't the end of the world although for a couple of moments I guess you thought it was worse than that. However I think you probably need another 'discussion' with your camera guy before you 'serve' anything on him. But a 'discusion' with a witness of you choice and who knows the story. If you have a BIG friend who will come with you so much the better. They don't have to say anything, just stand a pace behind you. The worse case is that its your camera man's word against yours that he has your camera, and that is why I think you need a bit of back up. A witness to hear what he says. Have you a receipt listing your camera and its number? Sorry to put a negative spin on this but ....
Take a bit more time. One or two more days isn't going to make a great deal of difference.
I really feel for you - you haven't your camera, and worse a guy you trusted and tried to support let you down big time.
jesse
Click to expand...


I agree. The last thing in the world I want to do is to involve any law or courts. I will have the demand letter in his hand tomorrow AM and he has until Wed at 6pm to give it back to me.

The key under Ga law is to present you demand in writing and give a reasonable amount of time to have the property returned. I will ahve doen so and I do hope it is enough to get my stuff back from him.
 
Beemermark said:
I think your asking for a lot of trouble if you get the Sheriff involved. His response " that since he paid the repair guy it is up to the repair guy to either fix it or to refund the money" is totally valid. (personal story snipped)
You get the Sheriff involved and the finding won't be favorable to you. So all you'll accomplish is to P'O the repair shop who will probably put it on the back burner for 6 months.
Click to expand...

Sorry about your troubles (speaking to the OP, not Beemermark).

I doubt that a Sheriff of any juristiction would get involved since this is a civil, not a criminal, issue. And if you take it to small claims court (which is likely a better option than intimidation using a big burly friend) I suspect Judge Judy would question that you really had a deal (or sufficient evidence to support such a claim) that you actually contracted with the camera shop guy to personally repair the camera.

Subcontracting repairs is a normal part of most small camera shop's business practices, and there isn't anything to "require" the shop owner to tell you that is how he operates. The deal usually is that you contracted with the camera shop to have your camera repaired... period.

The fact that the repair was not to your satisfaction is very unfortunate, but Judge Judy would tell you that you have to give the guy a chance to make good on the contract; that means sit tight and let the repair man make the repairs to the best of his abilities.

But let's face it, a dropped-and-repaired camera is just like a smashed-and-repaired auto... it will never be the same as when it was new so you might as well lower your expectations accordingly.

A very unfortunate situation, I'd say!
 
The shop keeper has no legal reason to return your property. You are required to pay for services you ordered--it can be tough to prove nothing was done. If you walk out of the store with your camera without payment, he can haul you off to court--just as if you drove your car from the repair garage without paying.

You are in a game and you need to play it. The owner is still required to provide the service to you. It is his right to "correct" the "mistake." Let him do that.

I know this sucks. But I would be calm and careful with everything you do during this transaction. Get everything in writing. A paper trail is the only thing of value--what is said is just hearsay.
 
Gumby said:
But let's face it, a dropped-and-repaired camera is just like a smashed-and-repaired auto... it will never be the same as when it was new so you might as well lower your expectations accordingly.
Click to expand...

I have cameras repaired to original condition. It is not the same a a damaged car with nice body work to hid the damage.
 
I don't know about god or this David guy helping you much. Mythical deities have a lousy track record in the real world. But this is made for Small Claims Court if you ask me. I'd start first w/ a certified letter from an attorney and a written complaint to the Better Business Bureau and go from there. But it all depends on what you have written down as far as repair contracts. If it's all verbal I see no reason why you wouldn't get your camera back (you do have proof of purchase on it right?). In the end, you want him to know it's going to be a huge hassle for him, and be prepared to go to court if you need to.
 
Steve M. said:
I don't know about god or this David guy helping you much. Mythical deities have a lousy track record in the real world. But this is made for Small Claims Court if you ask me. I'd start first w/ a certified letter from an attorney and a written complaint to the Better Business Bureau and go from there. But it all depends on what you have written down as far as repair contracts. If it's all verbal I see no reason why you wouldn't get your camera back (you do have proof of purchase on it right?). In the end, you want him to know it's going to be a huge hassle for him, and be prepared to go to court if you need to.
Click to expand...


I have a witness for all of this from drop off to yesterday. The attorney helped with a demand letter that has already been sent.

What i see is that he was hired to fix my camera. He was not hired to farm it out nor was I told that he would farm it out. I did not agree to pay anyone but him for any work done.

I will go to court and small claims is the "correct" venue for this but it will take 6-8 weeks to get to court. My hope is that I can make his life such a nightmare that he will just give it to me.
 
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