Manufacturer vs Fitter vs Customer Fault

[BC.]

I am a friend of the OP...he contacted me regarding this issue with the boot fitter since I have used this shop many times over the years. My most recent experience had to do with skis, not boots. This shop re-mounted bindings for me due to new ski boots that I purchased and had fitted there as well. (this shop did the original binding mounting 2 years prior)
The re-mounted bindings involved drilling a new set of holes for the rear part of the binding to be remounted to accomodate the slightly different size new boots. Unknown to me, the shop overlapped the new holes with the old holes causing structural instability. This caused the rear binding to shear off my ski unexpectedly while I was skiing. The resulting injury involved emergency surgery, a plate and 7 screws to put my leg back together. The ski shop insisted they remounted my bindings following 'industry standards' and they had no liability.

What ski is that?....it looks like a 2x4/2x6.

I am sharing this info because it seems this shop has a tendancy to do poor or shoddy work, in my opinion. View attachment 185218

Your recourse is to take your business to a different shop....if there are no shops in your area/ then learn to do it yourself.......it's really not that hard.

 

[Roundturns]

Unfortunately, I never got in front of a judge. The defense (ski shop) submitted a request to dismiss based on the waiver.....request was granted....never made it to my actual court date.
I did have the opportunity to appeal the ruling/dismissal, however that would have involved a major outlay of cash on my part...and my appelate attorney advised that it was still likely that the case would be dismissed again. So that's where it ended.

It’s unbelievable that you experienced serious injury and a “boiler plate waiver document” held up.

 

[Tony S]

what ski is that?....it looks like a 2x4/2x6

I was wondering but decided not to go there.

 

[rcdebeau]

How on earth did your friend end up at a shop that did THAT to you and your skis? I would have thought your injury and experience with that shop would have been known to all friends, fellow patrollers, family, etc...

Good question.... My only answer is that this shop is well established and been around for a long time. Not necessarily the only game in town....but not a lot of options locally either. Beyond that....

 

[LiquidFeet]

Unfortunately, I never got in front of a judge. The defense (ski shop) submitted a request to dismiss based on the waiver.....request was granted....never made it to my actual court date.
I did have the opportunity to appeal the ruling/dismissal, however that would have involved a major outlay of cash on my part...and my appelate attorney advised that it was still likely that the case would be dismissed again. So that's where it ended.

This is sad. Our justice system failed to provide justice. Was it one person (one judge making the decision on his/her own?) who made the decision to dismiss?

 

[rcdebeau]

I was wondering but decided not to go there.

Ha!! It's a Shaggy brand ski...they are made in northern Michigan. This model had graphics on it that look like natural wood.

 

[rcdebeau]

This is sad. Our justice system failed to provide justice. Was it one person (one judge making the decision on his/her own?) who made the decision to dismiss?

It was one judge that viewed the case/petition to dismiss. I would imagine this judge is someone who doesn't ski or is not familiar with how this could happen even after viewing the pictures (multiple, not just the one pic I shared)....Yes, I could have pursued this further via an appeal...but at the cost of thousands of dollars (possibly tens of thousands in legal fees) with a good chance that it would have gotten dumped again....

 

[Lorenzzo]

Unfortunately, I never got in front of a judge. The defense (ski shop) submitted a request to dismiss based on the waiver.....request was granted....never made it to my actual court date.
I did have the opportunity to appeal the ruling/dismissal, however that would have involved a major outlay of cash on my part...and my appelate attorney advised that it was still likely that the case would be dismissed again. So that's where it ended.

That is unfortunate. Claims based on negligence can be waived but those based on gross negligence cannot. So your situation turned on whether the negligence was gross or not. It’s a high bar but I would think you had a pretty good shot.

 

[KingGrump]

One shop town?

There is always another town.

 

[dovski]

Circling back to the original post, I have found that many shops with great boot fitters offer a boot fit guarantee. In other words if you listen to the boot fitter on which boot to buy and go through their custom fitting process they will guarantee the fit. The place I go to offers this, and they mean it. My wife got fitted for a pair of Fischer Vacuum boots and they just never felt good, after two years of trying to fit them properly, the shop actually offered to swap them for a better fitting boot free of charge ... needless to say we buy all our boots from them and have done so for years. We have become friends with several of their boot fitters and get amazing service. Bottom line everyone makes mistakes so cannot fault someone for that as long as they own their mistake and make things right. Sounds like the shop the OP is working with has some issues in that category :-(