I called their main office back in December and had a leak fixed
(supposedly)
at the beginning of the year. They had their Tampa franchise come out
and do
the work. Unfortunately I had to spend the first two months of the
year in
Atlanta and when coming home mid February I saw that the pool was
still
leaking.

I called the company and spoke with management and they said they
would
be glad to come out when I wanted them too. I asked if it was okay if
I put
it off for a few months and the owner said no problem. Three months
later
its May and I call them up to come do the work and I'm told that the
franchise
had been sold and that they would no longer honor the prior owners
agreement.

I paid $300 dollars for essentially nothing. I called their
"corporate office" and
i might as well been talking to a wall. I was told the only thing I
could do was
to plead my case with the new owners. I understand the new ownership
not
wanting to do anything, but they got very nasty with me and when I
told them
I was going to call their corporate office the owner said he could
care less. I
don't expect the new owners to pay for it, but you would think they
would
be sympathetic to the problem at hand.

American Leak Detection's corporate office is nothing more than a
facade.
They sell their name but they do not honor work that is done by their
franchises.
If you need a company to fix your pool, don't spend $300 with them,
when they
did work on my pool their warranty was 90 days, now they give you a
one month
warranty. Can you say rip off?

Dennis Wyatt
Tampa, FL

Dennis,

When someone buys a business he assumes the responsibilities and must
honor them. Your problem is that you have nothing in writing to prove that
there was an agreement. Contact the previous owner and see if he remembers
your deal. Also, was there a warranty on this work? That, in itself, may
obligate the business to fix the problem

Dave M.

"David L. Martel" wrote in message
m...
Dennis,

When someone buys a business he assumes the responsibilities and must
honor them.

Depends.

Most folks who buy a business try to structure things so that they aren't
subject to any "surprises."

They buy the physical assets and the "good will" and the trademark but don't
necessarily assume responsibility for the obligations of the previous owner.

That's quite legal in general.

State and municipal "Comsumer Protection Laws" might attempt to create an
obligation to honor old contracts when a new business uses the old name.

Unless you can find the previous owner you likely are SOL. If you can find
him you mihgt be able to get your money back but that assumes he has any
money in the first place.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **