ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION
Hello, all,
On Tuesday I received a call from Tony Pereira. Picking up where we left off, he proposed the following:
1. refund the cost of the Alpine system.
2. replace/restore the modified HVAC unit, since Alpine required it to be modified.
3. He will take care of replacing his factory unit and factory trim.
4. No signing a release.
I informed him that would be a hard sell internally at Alpine, given the legal threats, the attorneys mentioned, the social media postings during negotiation, etc. He claimed he never went to an attorney and doesn't want to, and he just wants a return and refund and walk away. I again attempted to get him to see how this matter is beyond a simple return of product and that a release is perfectly normal at such juncture.
He then responded with his old counteroffer: $2500 cash +$2500 equipment+ signed release. If we would meet this counteroffer he would sign a release "and remove all social media postings".
I told him we were beyond that offer, but that I would discuss this new proposal and get back to him by Friday.
During the call he continued to assert certain rights under New York warranty/consumer protection law.
The New York General Business Code in a pertinent section on Motor Vehicle Parts states that a seller must provide a warranty of the part(s) covering "the first three thousand miles of operation of the motor vehicle after installation of the part; and or during the period of ninety days following the original delivery of such parts to the consumer, whichever occurs first".
The law further states that if the part does not conform to warranty, the seller shall make repairs as necessary and if seller "is unable to repair such part it shall either replace such part or refund the purchase price of such part to the consumer."
Alpine initially met its responsibility in replacing the product, however he claims the second unit is functioning improperly as well. At this point, if he were to press his claim that the second unit is inoperable Alpine could be responsible for refunding the price of the products purchased. In following the law here, there is no legal requirement upon which Alpine can rely for demanding a release in exchange for a refund. If we were to go beyond the refund, then requiring such release is appropriate, however getting Pereira to agree is another matter. The law is silent as to installation charges, which arguably is a charge separate from the product price. (He did not actually demand the installation charge refunded on this call.) I am not sure what "replacing the modified HVAC" entails, but if this is beyond the price of the refund, we may be able to argue this is separate as well.
In short, Legal proposes to attempt to require a signed release if we provide more than just the refund, but I anticipate he will just drop his demands to a straight refund (which he is basically at now) to avoid the signed release.
I appreciate your thoughts and direction.
Regards,
-Alan