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Who is at fault for a broken window? The customer or me?

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Sgt. York said:
Some of you seem to be overlooking the fact that the driver told the OP it was OK. That puts all liability and responsibility on her.

If she sued the OP in small claims court, as soon as the judge heard she said it was OK he/she/it would toss the case out of court.
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Unless she claimed she said no such thing....which has happened!!
 
Sgt. York said:
If she sued the OP in small claims court, as soon as the judge heard she said it was OK he/she/it would toss the case out of court
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How exactly would you go about proving this if she doesn't admit to it?

Without a written/signed legal damage-waiver its a problem ... and unfortunately I speak from real life experience.
 
Captante said:
How exactly would you go about proving this if she doesn't admit to it?

Without a written/signed legal damage-waiver its a problem ... and unfortunately I speak from real life experience.
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I'd think that once it was in her vehicle, it's her problem.

I could be wrong.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I did expect this thread to turn out 50/50 as far as how everyone thought and that is about right.

So I called our insurance agent today and explained the situation. He called me back after talking with the head of claims at Country INS. He said about 99% of the time when something like this happens it's turned over to insurance and an adjuster is sent out to inspect the damage. In almost all cases the adjuster denies the claim because it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure the load is secured properly.

After calling around to several auto glass places the cost to repair the window sits right around $300. I will extend an olive branch to her and offer to cover half of it. If she gets irate I will just turn it over to insurance and let Country deal with the situation.
 
bbhaag said:
Thanks for all the responses. I did expect this thread to turn out 50/50 as far as how everyone thought and that is about right.

So I called our insurance agent today and explained the situation. He called me back after talking with the head of claims at Country INS. He said about 99% of the time when something like this happens it's turned over to insurance and an adjuster is sent out to inspect the damage. In almost all cases the adjuster denies the claim because it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure the load is secured properly.

After calling around to several auto glass places the cost to repair the window sits right around $300. I will extend an olive branch to her and offer to cover half of it. If she gets irate I will just turn it over to insurance and let Country deal with the situation.
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That sounds like a more than reasonable way to handle it.
 
SKORPI0 said:
We need pics of large concrete statue Dalmatian that is sold where you work OP.. 😛
In retail 'the customer is always right", NOT!!! 🙄

A Global View Of 'The Customer Is Always Right'
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Here is a pic of it but the natural concrete color. The one she purchased was painted by the caster to match a Dalmatians true colors. I own a small greenhouse/garden center in Illinois. Check us out at www.washingtongreenhouse.com or visit us on Facebook@ Washington Greenhouse
19-0682_lg.jpg
 
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Sgt. York said:
Some of you seem to be overlooking the fact that the driver told the OP it was OK. That puts all liability and responsibility on her.

If she sued the OP in small claims court, as soon as the judge heard she said it was OK he/she/it would toss the case out of court.
Click to expand...

judge will look for documentation, not word of mouth between two parties in dispute.
 
She's why you can't get anyone to help you load anymore. :\

The * right * thing to do would be tell her to pound sand and take responsibility for herself. Of course the best course is what you did.
 
Good move on OPs part, even though I think it's still the customer's responsibility to secure a load after purchase. Half price is fair, and if she wasn't a return customer, she most likely will be now.
 
I thought I should post one more time in this thread to add some closure to it and update everyone as to how talking with the customer went. After telling her I would share half the cost up to $150 on replacing the window in her Jeep she got really quiet. I just kept on talking and I recommended a place I found that would come to her at no extra charge and was the cheapest while still having good reviews.

After about 15 minutes on the phone it finally dawned on her that she should call her own insurance company and see what they had to say. I told her that is a great idea and to keep us updated on how it goes and that my offer still stands if her insurance company was unwilling to work with her. About 15 minutes later she called me back to let me know her insurance would cover the cost of the window with a $0 deductible. She seemed satisfied with this and then proceeded to ask me to set back a fireman statue that we have and that she would be in Friday to pick it up and pay for it.

So I guess it worked out in the end for both of us. She gets the window replaced by her insurance at no charge to her and I get to save $150.
 
Now her insurance is going to go up. That window is going to cost her way more than $300. 😛 And if she never had to do a claim before she just wasted her freebie on something that should have been easy enough to pay for. Her loss though, at least at the end you didn't end up paying anything.
 
Glad it worked out for both of you. In the end running a small business is common sense, and you have to know how to deal with people and their differing personalities. One of the tricks is knowing which battles to pick and fight or not, word of mouth is still a powerful thing even if the customer is wrong.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Now her insurance is going to go up. That window is going to cost her way more than $300. 😛 And if she never had to do a claim before she just wasted her freebie on something that should have been easy enough to pay for. Her loss though, at least at the end you didn't end up paying anything.
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I've used no-deductible glass several times and my rates have never increased as a result.
 
nOOky said:
Glad it worked out for both of you. In the end running a small business is common sense, and you have to know how to deal with people and their differing personalities. One of the tricks is knowing which battles to pick and fight or not, word of mouth is still a powerful thing even if the customer is wrong.
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The thing is, the customer is automatically a piece of shit for even contacting the store owner to begin with. It's like calling to say "Hey, I bought some flowers but they died yesterday because I didn't give them water"... Okay? And? Cool story bro? Try some personal responsibility next time?

OP sounds like they are doing the right thing, it's just fucking sad that that is what we have come to as a society. The fact that OP has to literally pay money for other people's mistakes just to avoid drama, yelp reviews, and bitchy annoying customers.
 
Do you have a sign up that says the customer is responsible for securing their load? Every lumber yard I've ever been in has that sign up.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
The thing is, the customer is automatically a piece of shit for even contacting the store owner to begin with. It's like calling to say "Hey, I bought some flowers but they died yesterday because I didn't give them water"... Okay? And? Cool story bro? Try some personal responsibility next time?

OP sounds like they are doing the right thing, it's just fucking sad that that is what we have come to as a society. The fact that OP has to literally pay money for other people's mistakes just to avoid drama, yelp reviews, and bitchy annoying customers.
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Dude you have no idea how many times a year I have to go through this routine with customers. They always come in with a chip on their shoulder and claim the flowers I sold them must have some type of disease. After 15 years it's easy to tell it was just a lack of water but every damn time the customer digs in and refuses to admit they just didn't water their plants....sigh....it gets really tiring.

It's actually an interesting study in generational sociology. Boomers are by far the worst. They always storm in and demand a refund or replacement but when told there is not a warranty or replacement for the plants they killed 99% of the time they ALWAYS make a scene are rude and storm out and most of the time leave a negative review online.

Gen Xers and Millennial's are a little different. They either call or ask through social media but rarely come in person. When told that there is no warranty or replacement on the plant they killed they generally tend to be more understanding and leave it be. Occasionally they leave a poor or negative review online but not very often.

Anyway, just an interesting observation I've had over the past 15 years of being a business owner/horticulturalist. There are many other observations too. One that always makes me chuckle is how differently most men and women perceive plants. Men are always about vegetables, turf(grass/lawn), and foliage plants such as Coleus and women are all about the blooming flowers like petunias, geraniums, and impatiens. There is always some overlap but mostly it follows along those lines.
 
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