I too have had decent service from Ross in the past and I hope this all
gets straightened out amicably, but past good service doesn't excuse
unethical behavior. A vendor may do 99% of his customers right, but that
doesn't excuse screwing the other 1%. I'm glad Greg shared, and Greg
should be able to use the pressure of public disclosure to other
roadsterites as long as he has his facts straight. Caviat Emptor, yes, but
info is a key component. We're talking about $1,200-1,400 worth of stuff,
which ain't chump change.
Second point, if the seats and labor were paid for, and Ross hadn't told
Jason or whoever that there was a monthly storage fee for keeping the seats
past a certain date, then Ross had ZERO legal right to sell the seats.
Remember, Jason had purchased the seats/tracks/etc and labor for
reupholstery for Ross to do these seats, so he automatically had some right
to have the seats in the shop and to expect that Ross would hold the seats
in safe keeping until they were picked up. Now, if they had not been paid
for, Ross could do whatever he wanted with the seats, but that's clearly
not the case. The seats were OWNED by someone other than Ross and placed
in his care for work that was paid for. He therefore has a total legal
obligation to keep the seats safe for the owner.
If the seats had been left for an unreasonable amount of time, Ross then
had a legal obligation to notify Jason that the seats needed to picked up
by X date or there would be X storage fee, etc. Not communicating with the
owner and then hawking the seats, if that's what happened, is theft. Ross
would lose in small claims court.
At the very least, Ross should have to explain why he didn't contact Jason
about the seats if there was $ due. I certainly want to know before I buy
from him again, but I'm still open to hearing Ross's side of the story. So
far, I'll I've seen is Ross ducking the issue.
There may be one last legal loophole for Ross, I think (can any lawyers on
the list chime in here). If Ross has on his service contracts, etc that
"Items left past 60 days from date of completion of work, blah blah blah"
or something to that effect, then Ross might be able to weasil out of his
legal obligation to keep the seats safe until back in the owners hands, but
I doubt it. Besides, if that's the case, that would still be unethical in
my book. Again, why didn't he communicate with the owner of the seats?
Ross, some of us are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but to
retain my trust you have to explain this.
Greg, I support you.
Alex in VA
'69 2000 (of course it's red!)
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