But for The Plan (The Power of a Lawyer ’s Letter)

Mark (not his real name) purchased a brand new, rather expensive car, and immediately began to have problems with it. He brought the car into the dealer repeatedly during the warranty period, but they could not determine the problem.

After several years passed, and after the warranty had expired, Mark had more trouble. He brought the car back to the dealer, again, and was told that the engine had seized, that it would cost up to $30,000 to fix the engine, and up to $60,000 to replace it. The dealer’s warranty representative offered to rebuild the engine for “50% off”.

Mark declined the offer and had the car towed to an independent mechanic who determined that the cause of the engine failure was directly related to the problems which Mark had reported years earlier, during the warranty period, and which the dealer’s technicians had failed to recognize and correct.

It was at that point that Mark decided to use his legal services plan benefit, instead of continuing to negotiate by himself. So, he made an appointment to see Nick Bruch, the Managing Lawyer at our St. Catharines office at that time.

Nick wrote to the manufacturer, explaining the situation and demanding that the engine be replaced under warranty. As it turned out, the manufacturer knew that the original problem that caused the damage to Mark’s engine was a fairly common occurrence. Within three weeks the manufacturer contacted Mark directly, and arrangements were made to rebuild the engine, 100% under warranty.

About one month later, Mark had his car back, with the re-built engine running smoothly. And Mark reports that he has been treated very well by the company ever since. Total cost to Mark for Nick’s services: $60.52.

But for the Plan, Mark may never have understood how powerful a lawyer’s letter can sometimes be.

Submitted by Michael Maddalena,
Managing Lawyer
St. Catharines Office