unfinished threads

[bsco]

I have an apology to make here...I noticed that I have some threads that were never finished.....to that I deeply apologize to all those that replied to them.....and to make matters worse, the owners have left that gear here and have never picked it up...so now I am stuck with this stuff.....some of it has been here for quite some time.....I will be going through this stuff as time permits and either repair and sell or just throw it out....it took me almost three years to contact one owner and was finally told to keep it and sell it...but I still have a few things still here....just curious as to how other people here on the forum handle this kind of issue?? I personally know of one tech that had something belonged to a local musician and he always got the reply that "I will be in for that later in the month" or..."when I get paid next week I will drop by", etc, etc...so the tech sold it after two years...then one day the owner showed up to get it.....then of course it went to court...not sure what had happened as the tech has since passed away....

[Leo_Gnardo]

owners have left that gear here and have never picked it up...so now I am stuck with this stuff.....some of it has been here for quite some time.....I will be going through this stuff as time permits and either repair and sell or just throw it out..-- --..just curious as to how other people here on the forum handle this kind of issue?

I don't know the rules in Canada. In USA there's a thing called "mechanic's lien." Rules are different state to state, even county to county. Eventually abandoned property, whether a motor vehicle, transistor radio or anything inbetween, becomes property of the repair shop if it isn't picked up and paid for. The period can be as little as 30 days, or it can be years. Some places the repair shop has to contact the owner. Or at least make a bona fide attempt to contact the owner. Some places not. Might have to file a court action, especially in the case of more valuable items like a car for instance. Wouldn't make much sense to pay say $60 court filing fee for a $20 transistor radio.

I'm sure you're about to get a deluge of advice & examples in this thread, here we go! What matters most to you is the law on abandoned properties in your city/county/province. Perhaps a city clerk could provide relevant information for you, even point out law that's published, readable & printable on the interwebs. Call city hall & ask, worst that can happen is "I dunno, duh!"

[The Dude]

I get a $40 bench fee up front that is applied to the final repair. That helps negate the loss and keep junk out of the shop. If they don't want to spend 40 bucks to fix it, it aint worth my time. It also gives them some incentive to pick up the repair because they already have an investment in it. If they don't pick it up within 90 days of notice that repair is completed, it's for sale.

[bsco]

Yeah..I will have to do something similar for sure....most people are pretty good but there is always somebody who doesn't return calls or emails....after a period of time I end up with a few pieces of broken equipment.......and it just sits there....I have sold a couple of keyboards and a couple of amps over the last few months....especially with the downturn in the economy.......

[Enzo]

I just replied to an email from my friend at Hatt Amps. He just got his first abandoned repair. He'd been trying to get the guy to pick up his repair since february.

We have discussed this several times in the various running the shop threads.

[DrGonz78]

I think right now is a strange time for people that dropped off a piece of equipment prior to Covid hitting. Could be people lost their jobs and the amp sitting in the repair shop is the last thing on their minds. Of course Murphy’s law states that the day you sell the abandoned piece a few days later the customer gives you a call. I use to love going to the field service tech shop and looking at all the amps they were selling at a great discount.

[Mick Bailey]

In the UK the market is flooded with used gear - plenty want to sell, not so many are buying. Some of the stuff has ended up being really cheap and I wonder if the price of some items has dropped below the cost to repair. At one time I used to get quite a few uncollected items and it took a lot of effort to persuade the customer to pay up and collect. Like playing a 50lb fish on a 3lb line. More recently I don't have so many of these.

[bsco]

I think right now is a strange time for people that dropped off a piece of equipment prior to Covid hitting. Could be people lost their jobs and the amp sitting in the repair shop is the last thing on their minds. Of course Murphy’s law states that the day you sell the abandoned piece a few days later the customer gives you a call. I use to love going to the field service tech shop and looking at all the amps they were selling at a great discount.

the stuff that I have here has been here for a couple of years or more....I do have a couple of items here since covid hit....but that is different...

[Mick Bailey]

My oldest uncollected item is three years this month. The guy disappeared and never replied to any calls or emails. Coincidentally I tried him again last week and still no reply.

[bsco]

My oldest uncollected item is three years this month. The guy disappeared and never replied to any calls or emails. Coincidentally I tried him again last week and still no reply.

I have stuff here that is older than that.....as I get time, I am going to go through the items and if they are worth selling I will sell it.....some of the stuff that I have was dropped off to me,and when I called them to give them an estimate, they said they would get back to me and I never heard from them after.....luckily, this stuff does not happen all that often....

[bsco]

Just rummaging down in the basement..came across a Korg LE digital keyboard that was left...it has been here a long time....anyway, I have it dug out now to check it out and if it is worth the trouble, I will repair it and sell it....there is also a Harnam Kardon stereo system that was also left here..that will also be sold...that one must be here now about 5 years..