Does anyone have a release form?

[Dennis J Brown]

Hello and let me first start by saying as a newbe here, I can't leave the website. I log in at 7am to learn a little and next thing I know, it's 10pm and time for bed. THANK YOU to every one of you that share your knowledge and experience!

Now for my question. I just bought a Epilog and had a customer bring in something for me to engrave. First I was nervous about "what if ruin his item". I verbally told him that I can not be held liable if it is damaged or something else happens. Luckily he said OK. BUT.. What about that person that brings in a set of her great great grandmothers one of a kind glasses and wants me to engrae them? I will ALWAYS do the best job I can and trust me, I am my worst critic when I do something. I reject things that 99% of my customers would never see or do not care about.

Does anyone have a release from liability form they use for people that want you do laser their items or am I worrying too much and just need to take some ulcer medication? (No I don't have an ulcer, but I worry about being sued or taken to court for stupid things like a hot cup of coffee)

Thanks in advance!
DJ

[Mike Null]

If it looks like there may be a high risk I don't take the job. I've never used a form but have a verbal agreement with the customer. You can write up something simple, you don't need a lawyer.

[Joe Pelonio]

Actually, I did talk to a lawyer about this. Turns out that any release form you write up protects you as long as the customer thinks it does. Legally, it offers some benefits to you in court but does not eliminate the customer's right to sure you for the damage. It would be up to the judge, probably small claims court, to decide whether you are still liable because of your lack of
caution, negligence, failure to properly maintain your machine etc, or that the
damage was due to an unknown such as new material not suited to the laser or unpredictable laser part failure. The judge could still order you to pay for all or part of the damaged item.

[Frank Corker]

If you think you are going to cock it up, leave it until you are confident enough to do it. If anyone is daft enough to engrave grannies glass collection, more fool them, if they accept it is at their own risk, no problem.

[Stephen Beckham]

I always give a verbal warning that I'll do my best, that if there are any unforseen problems out of my control, they'll be responsible for replacing the item. I then offer to re-etch the new item cost free if it was something that can be fixed.

If I goof up - I don't even bring it up for discussion - no charge to the item and I'll replace any item up to $20 in costs.


There is another side to this - the artwork. Some self proclaimed 'artist' want you to etch their file as delivered. I've had two recently, I hand write in their quote that they specifically want their artwork etched no matter the outcome and have them initial it. One came out the other got thrown out... The second asked that I rework the art for him so the laser would properly etch his item. Each time a little thing like this happens, it pushes me closer to charging for artwork.

[Darren Null]

As another form of insurance, you can always do a dry run with lots of speed and little power to masking tape stuck to the item you're going to engrave. A light dusting with a laser scuffs the surface and turns it white, so you can see the likely results before you burn. Then you have to get the tape off without moving your object.

[Gary Hair]

Here is the disclaimer we have printed on the back of our quotes and invoices. I am confident enough, and competent enough, to take on just about any job BUT if the customer won't agree to these terms then I don't engrave it.

Gary

Laser Image is not responsible for customer provided items. Engraving is a permanent process and changes may be impossible without damage or alteration to the item. It is the customers’ responsibility to ensure that the proofs provided are correct and acceptable. In the event of an error on our part we will be limited to engraving a customer provided replacement at no additional charge unless we deem the item not suitable for engraving. Customer errors or changes will be engraved again at the original price. Since the manufacture of customer provided items is out of our control, we are not responsible for variances in engraving results.

All items left more than 14 days after completion of imaging will become the property of Laser Image to dispose of as we choose

[Dennis J Brown]

Lots of good usefull info.

I am confident (even as a beginner) in what I do, but there are always those "what if" that float around in my head when you first start. I have made a couple mistakes on my own material. Both times, I forgot to set the page size because I was focusing on the raster and vector settings too much. OOPS!:)

[Mark Winlund]

...it pushes me closer to charging for artwork.

You dont charge for your artwork time?!? Your time is all you have... it has to be what they used to call "camera ready". Otherwise, they pay your shop rate to make it camera ready!

Mark