Not to step on any toes on how members run their business, but I would never sign a full release of liability for someone working on my car. The reason I would call a professional is to ensure my car was not damaged in any way. I would assume that if I call a professional that he would have the proper tools, knowledge and be confident enough in their work to not need a release of liability. The way I approach possible damage to say window tint, etc is simply have them sign off on the invoice that they understand the possible damage to the tint only. I also have them sign off on the invoice if there is prior damage to the door from opening attempts before I arrived. I go into great detail on the prior damage report. This part of the invoice is setup like a pre-work inspection. Items already damaged are noted such as damage from a previous opening or attempts by the customer along with existing scratches in the tint on the door I will be working on etc. Damaged window tint is tough to spot from the outside but looking through the windshield into the car makes large damage easier to spot. Be sure however to check the best you can from both sides of the window you will be working around. The door I work from is noted on the invoice every time regardless of tinting. If I have an alternative method that reduces the possibility of damage to the tint/film then I use it.
So there are cases I get the customer to sign off liability for certain items but it is not any sort of full release of liability. Nor would I expect anyone to sign off a full release of liability before I even touched the auto. If I break a window from over wedging or airbagging then it should come out of my pocket. If I scratch the paint on the door because I have wedged it open and then didn't use a protector slip between the long reach tool and the paint then again I should be responsible for proper repair. Same applies if I knock a linkage off then I should be liable for the time and cost it takes to fish the linkage back up and snap it back into place with a couple of cavity tools or if I cannot get it that way then I should not charge my hourly rate to take the door panel off and reconnect the linkage.
Again, not stepping on any toes nor trying to tell anyone how to run their business. If it is working for you and customers have no problem signing then that is great as it does better protect you. I know that if I were a customer and read the waiver it would scare me that I possibly made a mistake and would question the abilities of the professional I called. I feel that with becoming a professional and deciding to do this type of work, I accept that there are certain risks involved with doing a job but that is why I charge my rates. My rates reflect the risk involved and the costs and time of my training. It's hard to put into words what I think about the full waiver situations. I just feel a full waiver prior to working on anything goes against everything I have apprenticed and trained for which is guaranteeing damage free work. I do however agree that waivering is not possible to get around totally as I do have the customer sign off on window tint waivers all of the time. I explain what could happen on the invoice and have them sign by the x.
When coming up with your invoices, always be sure to protect yourself but also sit down and read it as a customer would from their point of view. Then to put it in perspective read it as it was just handed to you by a professional in another trade that you don't know anything about and see how you would feel as a customer about signing it. There is a locksmith shop about 40 miles from me that has a full waiver signed before working on anything. He has a bad reputation for breaking things while working. I am friends with another locksmith in the same town but he is in his 70's and cannot pick locks due to a stroke and cannot work on his knees due to back problems. He has been more than happy to refer openings, both auto and home, along with other work he cannot do or may be too busy on another job to get to. I got alot of work from this town before I hurt my back. The people from this town had no problem paying me more to drive to the job as they knew their auto or home was going to be in working condition when I left the job. They will not sign a full waiver there now days just because of the one under trained hack that they have dealt with. I always have to explain that they are not signing a full waiver when they sign off on my tint waiver. I have revised how it is put on my waiver so it reads in short plain english that they are only releasing liability of damage to the window tint and that the possible damage has been explained to them and is also worded that the signed portion only waivers damage to window tint/film.
A long post, I know but just stating that it may be of benefit to your business to sit down and read your invoice and seriously think how you would feel about signing it for another professionals work in another trade that you know nothing about. To me my invoice protects me but also makes a statement to the customer that I am confident in my abilities, tools, and training to properly do the work they need. Like I said, this is purely opinion and I am not judging any members training or skills based on what they have posted in this thread. I am just stating how I would feel about signing a full waiver. Sometimes we don't take the time to read things like this and look at it from the perspective of a customer. Like I said, if the full waiver is working for you, is not being questioned by customers, and full waivers have not tainted the reputation of all locksmiths due to a bad apple in the area then use them to protect yourself if you like
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Zeke79
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