Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I loaned my 5 year old Husqvarna 136 chainsaw to one of my area managers at work as he had just moved into town from Michigan, and need to cut down a few trees.  He had the saw for a while and admitted to abusing it a bit, but stated he would pay for the damage he did to it.  I took it to a local dealer in Chardon, Ohio and their quote to fix the saw was $10 less than what it costs new.  My wife feels that this guy owes me the entire amount necessary to fix or replace the saw;  I said that since it's a mechanical object with a certain lifespan, that I would be kind and take the depreciation on it and only ask for around $100 to put towards a new saw.

Am I being too easy on this guy, or should I make him pay for 100% of the repair/replacement cost?  I can see my wife's point, why should I have to pay any money when I started the entire interaction with a completely good chainsaw.

Thanks

  PaulR,

                   I would have him pay 100% of the repair cost, or buy you a new one!!

                                                                                              Fred  

Well, if this guy is over you or a coworker you have to co-exist with, you don't want to loose your job over it or have a terrible working relationship either. Yes, he should pay for it to be fixed to the condition it was in prior to his borrowing it. However, you assume a certain amount of responsibility whenever you loan anything to someone because you understand that it will be used and it's possible it could be damaged. To that extent, if you have a better chance of saving a working relationship with this guy, go ahead and take 100 bucks, get your new saw and be done. Just don't loan anything to that guy again. If he has no problem paying the estimated cost, take it.

i would ask him if he would like to take your saw for repair or pick you up a used one from the want ads. or just tell him he can keep it and go purchase a new one and never loan it out again.

The saw new now is $180. Split it with him, get the dealer to cover the sales tax and throw in some goggles or gloves for a trade in, and walk away with a brand new saw and a lesson for $90.

HI...

Yeah... these can be difficult situations...

Show him what the repair bill is... the cost of a new one...
Then... ask what he thinks is fair...

At the minimum... I'd put a value on the used saw to me... and ask for this amount... and give him the used one...


Who knows if the saw was about to $hit-the-bed anyway...


Dave...

I NEVER loan equipment, NEVER!!!  I learned that lesson years ago. It created more problems.  My family and friends no better than to ask me. If they have a problem I would do it for them before lending to them.   If it were me I would buy you a new one if I borrowed it but I would say to you get what you can to still keep your friendship. I have alot of people who try to barter with me but they usually have nothing to barter with has been my experience. - Good luck - Kris

I agree with Krislu and it always seems to be the chainsaw. I loaned a Poulan to my neighbor and got it back seized.It made for a very uncomfotable situation and from then on I don't loan anything out. I'll do the job when asked but no using my equiptment!!!

Marc

As of recent, i have made a policy that if one of my tools goes, i go with it.  I will never loan to friends, or neighbors(my ryobi charger came back with a cooked resistor and a blown fuse, fortunately i know how to read a circuit board).  I will always loan to family- cuz family is family.

terrapin24h wrote:
I do the same thing, except I now include family.  Found out my chain saw had been used for some subaquatic tree removal.  It was used to remove some downed trees that were somewhat submerged in the creek.   They complained that the saw lost power when you put the bar under water!!

Now I go where EVER my tools go!

I usually have spare LOANER equipment, But if my Front line equipment goes out, i go with it.