What to do?

[Ageorge]

So a kind of funny thing happened today...we purchased our shop in July and there were several pieces of leftover furniture in here. The previous owner attempted to contact the people who owned the furniture and we thought everything had been accounted for. There was a chair that was a simple and quick redo- a real old wooden chair with fancy lines that had some blue velvet on before. We replaced it with a real modern fabric and were going to sell or donate it. Turns out, it does belong to someone and they have 5 other matching chairs that they were going to have the previous owner redo in the blue velvet (which we have since thrown away). What would you do in this situation?? It is quite funny but the chair has been here for almost two years now and with us since July when we took over.

[mike802]

Tough spot to be in, I don't think your are legally obligated to honor the past owners commitment, but you may want to do something to build a good reputation in the area.

[Mojo]

Mike has a very good point. You do not want to start your business with a cloud over your head. But in regards to liability, you purchased their assets and NOT their liabilities. Therefore your not legally responsible and can wash your hands of the matter right now.

There is one problem in regards to offering to fix the chair. At that point they could prove you accepted responsibility and in a court of law you would have a battle on your hands. I have seen this scenario played out before in other matters ( not upholstery ) and the judge ruled that the business admitted to their responsibility when they agreed to refund a portion of a particular sale.

Slippery slope my friend.

Chris

[sofadoc]

I think that when you bought the business, you also bought his inventory. This inventory included previously abandoned furniture. I don't think you are responsible.

However, Mike makes a good point in regards to reputation. Even if you are within your rights, it doesn't stop the customer from believing whatever they want to believe. And they will tell everyone THEIR version.

Any chance of offering them a settlement in the form of "store credit"?

[ibstitchen]

A situation like this might fall under the Bailment laws which differs from state to state.  You can read about it here...
http://contracts.lawyers.com/contracts/Bailment.html

[kodydog]

IB that lawyer talk had my head spinning after about three paragraphs. But if I was in Ageorges' situation I'd read it top to bottom.

Mojo makes an excellent point in if you offer any kind of settlement or discount you take responsibility for lost goods.

I'd be nice to get the job of recovering the six chairs but you don't want to get stuck paying for the fabric. I think I'd have to get the last owner involved.

So after two years they just now decide to make contact? Common sense says after that much time you have no liability. But nothing makes sense when lawyers are involved. The thing is how many yards are we talking about. I'm thinking 12 yards at $18 a yard your cost. I don't think anyone is going to sue you over $226. But of course I've been wrong before.

[ibstitchen]

Kody...I don't think I made it past the third paragraph myself!!  I agree with you, the previous owner should step up and help resolve the problem.  I got into a situation once where a friend of a friend dropped off an old chair with a broken arm.  The owners father had passed away and this rocker was his favorite chair.  I was told one of the daughters wanted it reupholstered and after I repaired/replaced the arm she would pick out fabric.  I didn't know this lady and had no phone number to call her but I knew one of her sisters that lived down the street from me.  I couldn't find a replacement arm or anyone who would make me one.   So I called the sister that I knew and told her what they needed to do was pick up the chair and see if they could find someone to do the repair then bring it back.  Two days later she called back and told me to just throw the chair away so I did.  Big mistake.  Her sister called me about two weeks later wanting to know what I did with the chair.  I wont repeat here what she said when I told her I threw the chair away!

[sofadoc]

OK, how about this one?

Several years ago, another upholsterer in town was dying of AIDS. He sold some drugs to help pay for his AZT treatments. He got busted. He promised to do his lawyer's furniture in exchange for legal defense. He got too sick to finish the job, so he brought it to me. By the time I finished, he was already dead.

I called his lawyer and told him that I had taken over the completion of the job, and now he owed ME for it. Needless to say, he wasn't happy.
This guy wasn't your average "ambulance chasing" lawyer either. Some of his cases gained nationwide attention. One was featured on "60 Minutes".

I wasn't too keen about taking this guy on. But I did. And I got paid!

[ibstitchen]

You were very fortunate.  Guess he didn't want to ruin his good name.

[TheHogRing]

You're dealing with an odd ball customer here. If the chair really mattered to him/her, it wouldn't have been left at the shop for nearly 2 years. The person is lucky no one threw it in the trash (which is what I would have done). After all, you're not a storage facility.

Because the customer has the nerve to come back after two years and demand the chair, you know you're dealing with someone who's a bit off - maybe someone who will take to the internet to bad mouth you any chance he/she gets.

In this case, I'd return the chair (without the blue fabric - because that, I assume, was the messed up part of the chair anyway). I'd also hang up a sign that reads "Any furniture left for 2 weeks after the completion of a job is given to The Salvation Army".

Good luck.