What about getting a metalurgist to make some kind of educated opinion? Leslie Bartlett M.Mus On Tue, 01 Apr 1997 15:40:21 -0500 (EST) Les Smith <lessmith@buffnet.net> writes: >My sincere condolences to your friend. This is every technicians >night- >mare. You don't say what kind of piano is was; whether it was an >upright >or grand; what it's age was, etc.--this may be important. Also you >didn't >say HOW MUCH you friend was being sued for, and whether this was a >"small >claims" action, or not. > >The first thing yur friend should do is to consulte with an attorney. >Even >if this is a small claims case, he can be represented by lawyer.It >sounds >like he will need one. As far as your testifing as to the condition of >the plate, before it broke, seeing as how you never even SAW the >piano, I >don't think that your testimony would carry a great deal of weight >(sorry >about that!). A somewhat better approach might be to find someone >quali- >fied to testify to the value of the piano before the plate broke. Thus >if >this instrument was an old, neglected, no-name junker, it's value >before >the plate broke might have been minimal at best--say $100, or so. At >the >saame time, the owner by be suing for $5000! You might want to try to >es- >tablish the owner's cost basis for this piano. How much did he pay for >it, >or did he, perhaps, get it for free? Also, in court I would ask him to >produce a service record for the piano, showing what kind of regular >care >and maintenance it has received while he's owned it. Once again, these >are >all things best discussed with a lawyer, and the sooner, the better. >Good >luck to you and your friend! I can imagine how he felt when he heard >the >plate let go. :((((((((((((((((( > >Les Smith >lessmith@buffnet.net > >On Tue, 1 Apr 1997, Marcel Carey wrote: > >> Dear List & All >> >> A friend of mine who doesn't have access to this list is presently >being >> sued for a plate that broke after he attempted to tune a piano. >> As he was checking about the condition of the strings by raising a >few (not >> even to pitch mind you), he broke 3 strings. So he told the owner he >would >> not tune the piano since the strings were too rusty. He replaced the >strings >> and left the piano as it was. He was almost out of the door when he >heard >> "THE NOISE". Now he is asking me to testify as to the plate probably >was >> faulty to begin with. I wasn't there so I have no evidence. I >suspect he is >> wright but I don't know how to go about this. I would like to help >him and >> was wandering if any of you had had that kind of situation before. >If yes, >> what kind of argument did you use in court, and, were they winning >arguments. >> >> Thank's in advance for your input. >> >> Marcel Carey, RPT >> >> > >
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