Customers PC marked their carpet who's liable?

If it's a 15 year old carpet, it's probably quite manky. You're probably only liable to remedy things to the state they were in. Therefore either cleaning or replacement with an equally manky aged carpet. Depending on what carpet it is, it might be bleach cleanable unless it's real wool. If it's oil,.not sure how oil gets on the underneath of a pc but maybe some mechanics hand cleaner will shift it. Obviously, you'd then need to clean the swarfega or similar off. It can't be a very big mark unless the case was full of crude oil!

Always read the label and test in an unnoticeable area first. Just saying so I don't end up liable for a new carpet. ;)
 
RxR said:
Ofc if the customer told the OP to put the old computer on the carpet they've got no claim.
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that is not correct at all.

The customer could absolutely put a claim in and the problem for OP is op would have to prove he hadn’t been reckless in how he had handled or placed the pc. If the customer was to claim it would be a claim of reckless criminal damage under Section 1 of the criminal damage act 1971 as quoted below. It would be difficult for OP to prove innocence as i believe there is no cctv/other witnesses and as such it’s customers word against ops and the customer is the person who can prove his carpet has been damaged.

The section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 states: “1 (1) A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence
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Hence why i keep saying i personally would be looking for an agreeable solution for both parties.
 
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FloppyPoppy said:
that is not correct at all.

The customer could absolutely put a claim in and the problem for OP is op would have to prove he hadn’t been reckless in how he had handled or placed the pc. If the customer was to claim it would be a claim of reckless criminal damage under Section 1 of the criminal damage act 1971 as quoted below. It would be difficult for OP to prove innocence as i believe there is no cctv/other witnesses and as such it’s customers word against ops and the customer is the person who can prove his carpet has been damaged.



Hence why i keep saying i personally would be looking for an agreeable solution for both parties.
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Yay, an amicable solution may be preferrable in that case.
 
The law is well on the side of the OP. Innocent until proven guilty.

Even if they decided on the small claims court, which costs money and usually at least a six month wait, there's nothing they can do anyway. They will have to pay time and time again to move it forward, and in the end they'll probably decide not to bother. There is a huge difference between what you read on the internet and reality.

We're talking about a small dirty stain lol

They can go to the police but they won't give it a second thought.

I'd just forget about it.
 
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I'd contact a professional carpet cleaner and ask them to quote fixing the marks. Once resolved I'd be blocking the customer freeloader for good.

I used to do some PC repair / tuition work on the side to friends and colleagues. Wouldn't do it again. You as much as look at someone's PC and suddenly they think you're responsible for anything that happens to it years later.
 
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Fire_fly said:
It's something that can happen to some plastics. Certain plastics that have a grippy, rubberised, feel are notorious for turning to a gunk over time.
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yes - had a meridian cd who'se feet dissolved over 10years, probably helped by heat from amp beneath .. IPA the trike or xylene , make sure it wont dissolve carpet.
(put bits of cardboard beneath the feet now)


...wasn't it already stuck on the surface you moved it from .... so you could have spotted that, but if he had ok'd move then 50:50
 
TheOracle said:
The law is well on the side of the OP. Innocent until proven guilty.

Even if they decided on the small claims court, which costs money and usually at least a six month wait, there's nothing they can do anyway. They will have to pay time and time again to move it forward, and in the end they'll probably decide not to bother. There is a huge difference between what you read on the internet and reality.

We're talking about a small dirty stain lol

They can go to the police but they won't give it a second thought.

I'd just forget about it.
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The op has already publicly stated upon him putting the pc down the carpet was damaged.

You’re absolutely right about small claims court but there are people around who will drag you through it because they can.

in terms of the law if this was reported it would just go through a crru in which a crime number would be passed and probably some photographs stored for insurance/court needs. Don’t get me wrong detective and csi aren’t going to be turning out. But the police do had dedicated teams and units for dealing with this sort of complaint.

Ignoring it would be a terrible idea for OP if he is trying to run a business

“xxxx company/person damaged my carpet and refuses to even talk to me. To top things off i’m disabled and can’t do things myself *adds photos*”

it really wouldn’t look good for OP.
 
FloppyPoppy said:
The op has already publicly stated upon him putting the pc down the carpet was damaged.

You’re absolutely right about small claims court but there are people around who will drag you through it because they can.

in terms of the law if this was reported it would just go through a crru in which a crime number would be passed and probably some photographs stored for insurance/court needs. Don’t get me wrong detective and csi aren’t going to be turning out. But the police do had dedicated teams and units for dealing with this sort of complaint.

Ignoring it would be a terrible idea for OP if he is trying to run a business

“xxxx company/person damaged my carpet and refuses to even talk to me. To top things off i’m disabled and can’t do things myself *adds photos*”

it really wouldn’t look good for OP.
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Yes, but the difference is in the reality of what will happen. Police won't go out, and google won't post the review.
OP - If it does come to this, please message me with the police station/area and a link to the review.

I speak from someone on the receiving end, but nothing as silly as a stained carpet.
 
FloppyPoppy said:
But the police do had dedicated teams and units for dealing with this sort of complaint.
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This would technically be a civil dispute, as the OP was asked to perform services for somebody, and apparently some damage has occurred, so the police wouldn't be involved at all, as it would be deemed a civil matter, and go through a county court (county courts don't deal with criminal matters)
 
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Stumble Bum said:
If they're being ridiculous enough to want the whole carpet replaced, tell them to get lost.
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Yeah, this.

I kind of feel like they are being chancers and effectively want a whole new carpet because of a few spots. I'd be like sorry no, i'm not replacing your entire 15 year carpet for you. I'll cut out the individual squares and replace them. Done.
 
Screeeech said:
This would technically be a civil dispute, as the OP was asked to perform services for somebody, and apparently some damage has occurred, so the police wouldn't be involved at all, as it would be deemed a civil matter, and go through a county court (county courts don't deal with criminal matters)
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Due to funding cuts, it's amazing how many times the police say something is a civil matter. Sometimes even solicitors are shocked.
 
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