You actually never know for sure you are dealing with the owner. Under most normal law the guy whose name is on your invoice is responsible one way or the other. It is he you answer to. However the problem comes if he OKs an estimate and you fix it then he abandons it.

I am not sure there but in Ohio they have tis consumer protection law that was started due to garages charging out the ass without an OK then demanding al that money - or they exercise the mechanic's lien on the car. The gist of it is if you fix it without their OK, you gave to give it to them fixed PLUS the repair charges, costs you double.

You are in a different country but I would look out for such a law because your government is, well how they is. I mean they disarmed the whole country because one guy went nuts and shot a bunch of people. You might want to have a talk with an attorney who deals with consumer law so you KNOW what the ****.

Now the flipside of the Ohio law is that when they OK the estimate thy enter into a binding contract. What that means is if you are waiting fro parts and it is not fixed is they demand to pick up the unit they must pay the bill done or not. Not one shop I ever worked for had the balls to use that, gutless mother****ers.

I can tell you this, customers are not always of the greatest moral character. I have seen so much **** and really I see no reason not to expect it there.

First of all the Wellman & Griffith we had customers who knew each other and actually bought the same model TV. Later we caught a couple trying to cheat on a repair warranty - this was off manufacturer's warranty. We fixed on, fie. Then it supposedly came back. Well there was al kinds of dust on the pins and solder of a part we supposedly replaced a couple of weeks before.

Another one, the guy got tired of waiting and sued us for the full new retail price of a RPTV that came in broken for one and was over ten years old. I said to countersue because any lawsuit is bad for business.

Then we got the case of the misplaced TV. We told them and were ready to make a settlement after a few ore days of searching. They sued for more than the thing was worth of course, and then we found it. The boss called them and let them know and they aid "OK, we'll drop that suit then, don't worry about it". Then they didn't - instead went in and got a default judgement.

So maybe, the trick is to require ID. Real owner walks in, give the the name and that who they sue. The sued pays the bill then the rightful owner gets the unit. Once you know about it, that unit goes nowhere until the court speaks.

I hate to be requiring ID for yet ANOTHER THING, but it seems it may be necessary. Some customers may actually appreciate it and see it as you acting to protect their unit.

Really though, if you loan something out and it is broken and repair, do you think you have the right to know ? I think you do. Like a car, loan it to them and they smash it but get it fixed real quick and you are not told, I think that is wrong.