Stolen gear, who is liable????

[OutOnaLimb]

As most of you know I had about $1500 worth of gear get swiped when the guy I am sub contracting for had his truck stolen out of his driveway while he was at church about a month ago. Since then I have been replacing my kit piece by piece out of my own pocket, When I talked to him the other day he was wanting me to file a claim under MY renters insurance in order to get the money for the gear. I am trying to be civil with this guy, but I really dont think that I should pay for my gear that was stolen along with his truck that was parked 15 ft from his house while he was gone. Since this has happened his truck has been recovered, it was left abandoned in a parking lot on the other side of town. However every thing in it was pretty much gone, the thieves even stole the reciever hitch. I trusted this guy with everything that I own to make a living with, and he said that my kit would be safe at his place. Since this has happened he has told me that it is not his fault that the truck got stolen, however an ex-climber of his who is a conviced felon with a drug problem still had a key to the truck, and I think it is odd that even my loopie, and whoopie slings that were behind the seat, and my bull ropes are among the things that are missing. The police are still working on leads to the theft, but I am almost convinced beyond a shadow of a doupt that his ex- climber is responsible. Come on who would leave the truck in tact but steal a pair of by pass hand shears out of the glove box? I really dont want to take this guy to court, but its looking like that is going to be my only course of action.


Kenn

 

[MasterBlaster]

The guy has mange. Treat him likewise.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I really kinda feel sorry for him. He is not the sharpest saw in the tool box. If I just up and quit then he is stuck high and dry with no way to support his family. I dunno, I have never been much for moral or ethical delimas.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'd be more worried about my gear than his family. After all, their HIS family. $crew him.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I may try to come off as the badass type, but I really do have a heart. Call it good Karma, but once I am doing my own thing full time he is gonna be lost.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'm really a nice guy, also.

:angel:

 

[SilverBlue]

Hold on Kenn, why did you trust this guy with your equipment in his truck over the weekend in the first place? If he was using it fine he should pay to replace it. Otherwise it’s your equipment and your insurance if you were just using his truck for storage. Even if you paid to have your stuff stored commercially they won’t accept liability. But I guess you will think twice from now on.

 

[okietreedude1]

As a measure of good faith, he should replace it. Try to convince him it is also in HIS best interest you have the gear as you are making him money too. His ins. should cover it, but he may be worried of premium increases or even being dropped.

If my gear was stolen from work and the guy I work for didn't replace it, I'd be outta there. Although, I think I know him well enough that he'd replace.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

For the most part I just kept all of my stuff in the truck for convience. I live in an apartment and the little storage locker that comes with my apartment wouldnt hold all of my gear plus the other household items that are packed inside of there. It was much easier to just have every thing locked up inside of the crew cab of his truck over the weekends instead of lugging 2 gear bags and several rope bags and other stuff up to my place over the weekend. Plus the fact that I would have to lug all of that stuff down on Monday morning. Maybe I was nieve to trust some one with everything I own to make a living, but, the fact remains, that if I cant climb for this guy, he cant make a living since I am the only one that is bringing any money in for him. With that being said he still refuses to accept any responsibility for what has happened. But on the same token, last week our groundie blew a tire in his other truck and he is with holding the groundies wages to pay for the tire and rim that he says the groundie was responsible for destroying because he was the one driving the truck. Am I the only one seeing some hypocrocity here?

 

[SilverBlue]

In that case I would advise him that I could no longer afford to work for him unless the equipment was recovered. But look for alternative work to cover yourself.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Thanks for the advice Blue, I pretty much have got my own biz up and running even though I am new to the area. Quality work and expertise speaks for itself. I just need rigging gear to do removals. Oh well, such is life. As my Grandma says, "this to shall pass"

:Monkey:

 

[MasterBlaster]

The guy is a dog.

Kick em to the curb!

 

[BlackSmith]

"our groundie blew a tire in his other truck and he is with holding the groundies wages to pay for the tire"

what kind of rat outfit is that...don't you folks have a labor relations board in your state..?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

If it happened in his drive, shouldn't his homeowners insurance cover it? I don't think yours would but you should check.
What about his auto insurance?
If no insurance covers it, then I'm not so sure he is responsible. You left the stuff in his truck, you had to know there was some risk involved. He locked your stuff in his truck and you both thought it was reasonably safe, why is he more responsible than you?
Perhaps you could talk about it and come up with a compromise, maybe split the cost.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

You had an oral contract with the guy that your gear would be safe in his truck.

Like the saying goes, oral contracts are worth the paper they are writen on.

I would make it a term of the contract that he help replace the gear over time if he wants you to keep working with him.

It sounds like you know he is a bottom feeder, but kinda like him anyways. I'm all for helping my fellow man in need, but it looks like he's taking you down a one way street.

BTW, what did the groundie do to blow the tire? Something stupid or normal operations SNAFU?

If the groundie is near minimum wage then the fellla is getting what he paid for anyways.

 

[B.Secord]

Outona limb,

Just two points:

1. In this situation, who needs who. If you lose your equipment he makes no money. This is a lose/lose situation. Even though you left your stuff in his locked truck, under his control, and you are an employee of his, I would have to think his insurance should cover it's replacement!!!

2. It sounds like this guy has little or no respect for you or anyone else, and you should make his name available to everyone else, so they don't get burned.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I would bet that the former climber had issues with this guy and left, being owed money. This fella (employer) is using everyone to his advantage, or he would learn to climb himself... Time to go it on your own...

I feel for yor loss, and hope you can get to a fair conclusion
Brent

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It is site policey that names in disputes not be used in any postings.

 

[B.Secord]

JPS

Sorry that I didn't make myself clear. I didn't expect him to state the guys name on this site, however a dropped name at the coffee shop or the climbing supply store would suffice to let the other climbers in the area know.

Like the old saying goes,"$crew me once shame on you, $crew me twice, shame on me"

Brent

 

[murphy4trees]

Did he put in a claim on his stuff that was stolen???
Hoem owners or commercial???
If he did then adding your stuff to the list will not effect him...
Maybe he did nad he is pocketting the cash....
I'd call some other tree outfits and find out who the alleged thief used to work for... you might find your gear in that guys truck...
In any case.... I would recommend not taking any vindictive action.. its not worth carrying any negative charge around.... And take all your energy and move forward... sounds like you are looking at big changes...

 

[jmchristopher]

It soundsd like you have two main questions working:
#1. Who stole your stuff? and
#2. Who's responsible?
In my opinion, unless you can tag the druggie low life with your stuff, you are wasting energy and building bad karma. You sound like you're about 90% there in letting it go. Good luck with the rest. My old boss was one of those guys who could never let ANYTHING go and I watched it eat him up from inside. Save yourself from that if you can.
#2's a little tougher. It sounds like the truck owner isn't telling you everything, or you haven't gotten to ask him the right questions. Can you tell him that you feel like you're getting the shaft in this deal? Is he filing for any loss, like Mr. Murphy4 asked? It sounds like you'd have absolutely nothing to lose to
try to get him to talk to you about the business aspects of the event. Try to paint it as a mutual, objective problem, that needs a good airing. If he's absolutely blocking the whole issue, that tells you who/what you're dealing with. The next step is to either check with a lawyer or walk away from the deal. A lawyer might be able to tell you the fine points of legal responsibility and whose insurance is in play. Then there's small claims...