RE: Please advise on PT equipment issue

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I have not had to deal with this particular situation but have had similar

situations where legal advice was the first thing we thought of so here is

some advice based on our experiences:

1. First check the warranty language yourself or have a legal expert check

it for you to see for what is covered and what is not.

2. One solution is to take legal action which becomes a " he said, she said

situation " . Without physical proof that the item was not damaged, you'd

probably have to rely on testimony of yourself or staff. In the same way

the equipment company could testify that it was broken when it was opened

and FedEx could testify that no insurance was requested on the shipment.

After all that, a judge could rule in your favor -that's where at least

consulting a lawyer would help you to determine if you have a case under

California legal statutes. I am not a lawyer so I can't advise you other

than to at least get a lawyer to examine the details of the case and advise

you on your legal rights.

BUT.

You will have to decide as a company whether or not the cost of a lawyer

outweighs the $435 it will take to fix it. I would doubt that it would cost

you less than that even for a legal review of your case. You can add lost

business from not having the machine into the mix and sue adding that amount

to the case but it still comes down to is it worth more than the $435 in

this case?

As practice owners we do face a number of situations that leave bad tastes

in our mouths, are no fault of ours and leave us faced with doing something

we don't really want to do. From a business standpoint, however, we are

faced with having to do such things because in the long run it is better for

our business and our customers. You cannot use this piece of equipment to

benefit customers as long as it is unrepaired and cannot make the revenue it

would generate. Taking the legal route would tie it up longer (until the

dispute was settled). If the warranty truly will not cover this damage,

then return the good faith of the company that has agreed to drop its repair

cost, pay the $435 and get your machine back as quickly as possible. And

while it was definitely their responsibility to have insurance on the

delivery the first time, make sure someone gets insurance on the delivery

this time!

PS If you do get legal advice, I would certainly find out your legal rights

in the event that this company's products and services turn out to be

substandard and what to do if you keep having problems with the machine once

it is returned as a just in case scenario.

Tom Howell, P.T., M.P.T.

Howell Physical Therapy

Eagle, ID

thowell@...

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_____

From: PTManager [mailto:PTManager ] On Behalf

Of Clara Chung

Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 1:22 PM

To: PTManager

Subject: Re: Please advise on PT equipment issue

Hi Tom,

The machine is paid in full. It is still under warranty but they are saying

physical damage is not covered by warranty.

Thank you.

On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 12:12 PM, M. Howell, PT, MPT <

thowell@... <mailto:thowell%40fiberpipe.net> > wrote:

>

>

> Hi,

>

> Please give some additional information to help the advice along

>

> Is the machine paid in full or are you making payments on it?

>

> Did the machine come with a warranty?

>

> Thanks!

>

> Tom Howell, P.T., M.P.T.

>

> Howell Physical Therapy

>

> Eagle, ID

>

> thowell@... <mailto:thowell%40fiberpipe.net>

>

> This email and any files transmitted with it may contain PRIVILEGED or

> CONFIDENTIAL information and may be read or used only by the intended

> recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or any of

its

> attachments, please be advised that you have received this email in error

> and that any use, dissemination, distribution, forwarding, printing or

> copying of this email or any attached files is strictly prohibited. If you

> have received this email in error, please immediately purge it and all

> attachments and notify the sender by reply email.

>

> _____

>

> From: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com>

[mailto:PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com> ] On

> Behalf

> Of goodrehabla

> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 10:39 AM

> To: PTManager <mailto:PTManager%40yahoogroups.com>

> Subject: Please advise on PT equipment issue

>

>

> Dear group,

>

> A word of advice or two would be greatly appreciated by anyone who went

> through similar situations.

>

> We are a private PT clinic in Los Angeles, and we

> were having some issues with a very expensive machince we

> purchased from a medical manufacturing company last year.

> The company's only office in the US is in South Carolina.

>

> The issue was that the machine was shutting down by itself at least

> once a day. The company asked us to send the unit back so they can upgrade

> software on it.

> They had no one in or near the California area who was certified to work

on

> these machines.

> We were weary about shipping such expensive equipment, but since it was

the

> only way to fix it, we shipped with a FEDex return label they provided,

> with

> original protective shipping device with Fragile written on the box as

> well.

>

> We shipped it 2/18.

> They were in reciept of the machine on 2/25.

> On 3/2 when I called to check on the status, they asked me what was wrong

> with the machine. Explained it was shutting down by itself.

> On 3/7, I called again to check status, and this is when they stated the

> screen was cracked and broken when they first opened the box and stated

> they

> had already informed me of this on 3/2. I clearly remember the

conversation

> held on 3/2, but I was not informed.

>

> The machine was definitely not broken when we sent it.

> They said they have no way of knowing whether we had sent out a damaged

> machine and said they normally charge $1200-1700 to fix broken screens,

but

> will sacrifice and fix it for $435.

> It turns out they did not declare the value of the machine to FedEx, so

the

> label they sent wasn't even insured.

> So we can't claim FedEx for the damage either.

>

> This company won't budge at all even after numerous calls.

> The service manager is always out of town.

> They still have the machine.

> Did anyone have similar experiences? How were they resolved?

> Please advise!!

>

> Hailey Jahng

> Clinic Manager

> Good Rehab Physical Therapy, Inc

> 2727 W Olympic Blvd #207

> Los Angeles, CA 90006

>

> goodrehab@... <mailto:goodrehab%40gmail.com>

<mailto:goodrehab%40gmail.com>

>

>