PDA

View Full Version : Legal Advice



Xorcist
15-01-2003, 08:31 AM
I was recently asked to do a little spring cleaning for a friend of a friend, on his labtop. My friend brought this labtop home during winter break and returned it to his friend a couple weeks later. I did a clean wipe of the system, re-installed Windows 98SE, added back his necessary applications, and installed/setup any included hardware (as requested by the user).

Being a favor I only asked for $60 in return. And mostly because he didn't supply a floppy drive nor a dongle for the PCMCIA Ethernet card (so I had to burn a CD anytime I needed to put something onto it). The job took me round about 4 hours (even though the labtop sat in my house for two weeks), I even installed the free versions of AVG and Zonealarm since he had neither a viruscanner nor a firewall and was using a broadband connection.

Here is my delema. This guy is pissed because he paid me $60 (via a personal check) and now that he has his labtop back, the printer and USB CD-Writer are not working. The reason they are not working is because he gave me niether pieces of hardware and thus I didn't install drivers for either (nor did he specify the models of the hardware). He did however give me Nero to install, which I did. Now he's threatening to take me to court unless I come over and "fix" it. "Fix" meaning setup his printer and cd-writer... and he refuses to download and install the drivers himself (as in his own words he knows nothing about computers).

So why not just go over and setup those devices? Well this guy lives pretty far away, and is way out of my way for the two minutes it would take me to install the drivers. And I'm pretty sure I ain't getting anything extra out of going there. Plus this guy is a raging maniac who verbally assaulted both my brother and myself over the phone when we told him there was little reason for me to drive all the way down to install something any basic computer user should be able to do.


#1 Can this guy even take me to court? He keeps blathering about the check being a legal binding document, and I've already cashed it.

#2 There is no written contract between to two of us (outlining what was to be done with the system), I gave no guaruntees on anything, I'm not running a business, and the machine is working fine otherwise.

#3 $60 is nothing... I know professional tech's that charge $85 an hour to come out to your house and trouble shoot. But seemingly this guy thinks I owe him the world, and is ready to drag my ass to court for "damages", to his everyday work routine I guess, which would obviously exceed the chump change I charged him for my services.

So what legal advice can you give me if any... if indeed this guy does end up dragging me to court. Chances are I'll end up walking someone "smart" enough through the steps to get it working, or drive my ass all that way just to shut him up. But I would very much like to know about the whole check thing, and any other legal stuff that might pertain to this situation (or more importantly future ones). Thanks.

Sly
15-01-2003, 10:01 AM
This is probably the extreme end of the reason that I don't like performing work on a friend's PC. A friend of a friend is even more reason to stay away.

Not being a legal-type person, I've never heard of a cheque (yeah, we spell it differently down under) being a binding contract. The terms were never written down, so nothing would stand up in court.

Personally, I'd go over there and install the drivers just to shut him up. But then, I'm a big softie. :) Or you could take him to Judge Judy, if not only to watch her make a complete fool of him on national TV.

TheLion
15-01-2003, 10:35 AM
I don't think a cheque is a legal binding... A cheque is a way of paying things, not a contract...

About going over to his house, I personally wouldn't do that if the guy lived to far away, especially NOT if he verbally insulted me. You could try to do some remote admin work on his pc... Not sure it's possible on a Win98SE machine though or you can guide him through the phone or over and IRC chat session (I prefer phone).

I installed a few machines at home and there are never any guarantees, nor is it a legal contract. I don't own a company so in short I did it (as we call it) in black. I think $60 for 4 hours work isn't a lot although I mostly ask less, but we both live in different countries where economics are quite different! :)

Another thing is that I don't think you could have installed the drivers at your house if he didn't supply the printer and stuff. A big problem with win98 is that when it doesn't detect the hardware before you install it, it'll keep detecting it for ever until you reinstall the driver, so to do a good install you would need the printer! Then a printer (especially not USB) isn't hard to install, a 4 month old baby could do it if he/she could sit up straight and get to the keys!

I don't think his case will stand in court, but I don't know what the tax-rules are in your country since you don't pay income tax over the money you earned... I would try to solve this problem by telling him I would refund $10 or $20 if does the driver installing himself. There are many ppl who can install a printer in the world, so with that $10 / $20 he can just go find someone else to do that!

It's a though problem I know!

Eriken
15-01-2003, 11:03 AM
hehe, it's always fun to see when we translate directly word by word something from one language to another one. "working black", anyways, the dictionary writes it as "work illegally" or "work cash in hand"..

I don't know anything about the rules in the concerned country. But if it was here I would have told him that going to court after buying a service without the normal taxes and stuff involved is like shooting himself in the foot.

I'd also tell your friend to tell his friend (the maniac) to calm down. Job was done as good as it could get with the software/hardware supplied.

Maybe we should get some Data-lawyers in here, BlueCat, can you make an ad for that? :twisted:
_____
Eriken

Momor
15-01-2003, 11:12 AM
The real problem is that check : if you still havn't put it to your bank, there is no clue that you did something on his computer ...

Otherwise, you could ask him to install PCAnywhere so you can work from far and get rid of this installation. But you'll have to ensure he won't come back again for any purpose (crash, ...).

Xorcist
15-01-2003, 06:01 PM
If the guy can't install a simple set of drivers off the CD that came with the printer/cd-writer I highly doubt he's going to be able to install a complex piece of software like PCAnywhere, let alone get his hands on it (not exactly a cheap product).

Anyways I'm probably going to take the trip just to finish the machine off, and tell this guy in person our business is over, and if he needs any further assistance call someone else.

TheLion
15-01-2003, 08:30 PM
You're right about that ... Installing pc anywhere might be a big problem ...

The question I'm asking myself is... CAN HE HANDLE A COMPUTER AT ALL ???????? :cry:

Eriken
15-01-2003, 08:34 PM
Reminds me of a joke somewhere where the conversation ends something like this:

Support dude: You should pack your PC in the original box it came in..
Clueless guy: Yes, will this fix my problems?
Support dude: yeah, you'll just have to take it back to the store and tell them you're too stupid to own a computer.


Well, it's incredible how many clueless people who's got their hands on a computer today. hehe.. I'm working with a few..
_____
Eriken

Viro
22-01-2003, 11:32 PM
Well, let him take you to court, and see how stupid he looks. Sheesh, some people. A check isn't legally binding. Why? You can't prove anything by a check. If you get a half decent lawyer, you could even argue that he gave you the check to buy yourself a Christmas present because he didn't know what you wanted. :lol: That's a bit extreme, but you could do it, simply because a check alone doesn't say anything apart from the fact that some money was transfered from him to you.

Viro
22-01-2003, 11:32 PM
Well, let him take you to court, and see how stupid he looks. Sheesh, some people. A check isn't legally binding. Why? You can't prove anything by a check. If you get a half decent lawyer, you could even argue that he gave you the check to buy yourself a Christmas present because he didn't know what you wanted. :lol: That's a bit extreme, but you could do it, simply because a check alone doesn't say anything apart from the fact that some money was transfered from him to you.