When my son graduated from college, he asked me what I would think if he went to law school. As a scientist who has watched the lawyers dictate environmental law policies in directions not supported by science, my response was " Go ahead, every family needs a black sheep". He went on to explain that he was thinking in terms of getting a law degree as a means of SELF DEFENSE for when he expanded his computer consulting business!

This got me to thinking about the above incident with the empowered @#$%^& woman raptor - excuse me, attorney. Maybe it is time to think defensively. In a time of ZERO personal responsibility, I would hate to see the attorneys get the customers stuck in the middle again. Rather than play hardball with the customer by telling them that everything is mandatory at this time, get an attorney to print up a new clause on the back of the invoice. It would say something to the effect that "recommended work is work that must be done as soon as possible. If the customer elects not to allow this facility to perform the recommended work at this time, consequences of said decision are the sole responsibility and liability of the customer, and by declining the recommended work at this time, the customer agrees to hold harmless this facility and it's employees for any consequences of the customer's decision to ignore professional advice". (My son's words, caveat emptor, purely as a small business proprieter - he hasn't decided on going to law school yet, so this is not a "professional opinion", so he does not need to spell out any "consequences" )

It seems a shame that the shop must take the role of teacher and parent in educating the customer about personal responsibility, but this may be the only way to obtain adequate protection. End of ranting!

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JCE
87 300E, 65k miles
Smoke Silver

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 08-06-2000).]

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 08-06-2000).]