Legal Question in Business Law in Missouri

personal property stolen from business

I own a small cellular phone repair shop. Six months ago my business was broken into. They stole all of my inventory and repair parts. They also took over thirty phones that belonged to customers that where in my shop for repair. Of course I didnt have insurance to cover these phones. So, I have been trying to replace them as quickly as I can. My problem is some the customers that had phones stolen are demanding I replace their phone with a brand new one. I feel like they are taking advantage of a situation. First they brought in ''broken'' or water damaged phones. I will give an example. A customer brought in a Samsung a707. It was liquid damaged. Brand new the phone is worth around $200. But liquid damaged it is worth almost nothing. liquid damaged phones usually go for around $5 to $10 on ebay. I usually charge $30 to clean and have a 50% chance of saving the phone. Even if it was repaired the value of the phone in that condition would maybe be around $45. I am a good person and feel bad that their phone was stolen, but where does my legal responsiblity lay? I did have locks on the doors and camaras (they disabled) Im financially ruined and need advice... please help


Asked on 10/16/07, 8:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony DeWitt Bartimus, Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, PC

Re: personal property stolen from business

If they were to sue you they would have to establish their damages. If the phone was water damaged and unusable, their damage would be very slight. I would offer to replace the phone with a like phone. I would tell them the offer was open for 10 days and would not be repeated. If they want to sue, they can sue, and you stand a very good chance of prevailing.

Good luck with this.

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Answered on 10/17/07, 8:27 am


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