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HomeMy WebLinkAbout97-05676 ,... .'", \ " , " ,'t, " " , , , , , ,. , , , .' I, , , . , ,/ ,I. ", , " ! "1 " " ' . I j" I' ,J. , , i,1 i , ,t'l " t'! . ! , / " , . , , ',I I , , , II! " . . , .' . , , ! I, , " , " ',', ,/' , " ,,' , '. :, , " " 1/ , , ''I' I , , "~I ~ ( " " , " " , , " " ~ I" , , " "I, , ... U I ~ " ", i ~ " " ' I , , ~ ~. " , ,', " ( ,i, , ", I' , '" " ,I.) . ~ " , , ' " ,1!t '~!":'/~ " , , , .", It " .'," \ ,'", " , " " ,1'1, , , I', , , , , , , '" ", "'I " " - .I, >l " I' ,. , , , , !,,'i" ,,, ;,'1 ",' " ",1 " , , ,,", " "~'I"~ , I I'll": " " " (t-; "~9 1.4. , ~, " i' , . , , -' , ' .,.. t,t) bo" 0: t(~ c; tlfCJ c.. ~ "2 :' . < f'. ", I .It! .., (r:1 l.li" t!: , -,./" I"" l'': ~(: f.L" (,1 :_1 1'" c., j ,..~ 1.1. r- 'oj <..), <l' C) \ ~ ~I.,:" ,'~ 'J \... ~ '~ ~ t'l " 1"'(\. ~ /'("\ ~ ... ~ 3@~ " '.. I' . COM>>LAINT Appellee Theresa A. Santorella complains of Appellant Gregory A. Filak D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited as followst 1. Jurisdiction in this case is based upon 42 Pa.C.S~ a 931 (1997), which states that the courts of common pleas shall have unlimited original jurisdiction of all actions and proceedings, including all actions and proceedings heretofore cognizable by law or usage in the courts of common pleas. 2. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellee hired Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited to install a new hard drive into her computer. 3. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellee hired Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited to install more memory chips into her computer. 4. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellee hired Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited to transfer all of her computer files from the old hard drive into the new hard drive she had just purchased. 5. On approximately February 16, 1997 the Appellee entered into an oral agreement with the Appellant to perform the acts listed in paragraphs 2-4 of this complaint which together constitute what is known as a standard computer "upgrade". 6. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellant was expressly told by the Appellee that a computer "upgrade" was desired by her because her computer had substantially used up almost all its then existing memory space and Appellee simply wished to have her system run faster and thereby process information more efficiently. 7. On approximately February 16, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Appellant discussed the options that were available to Appellee in order to "upgrade a computer" such as installing a new motherboard, or installing a new computer processor, or installing a new hard drive and adding memory chips. 8. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellant expressed his opinion that it would be most cost efficient for Appellee to "simply install a new hard drive and add more memory to the computer". 2 9. On approximately February 16, 1997, it was agreed to by the parties that the acts in paragraph 8 would be done in order to upgrade the computer. 10. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellant examined the computer and agreed to perform all of the computer-related services stated in this complaint. 11. On approximately February 16, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Appellant was expressly told that Appellee was a law student at the Dickinson School Of Law who was substantially depend~nt on her computer in order to complete law school assignments, online research, and her legal work as a student attorney at the York County District Attorney's Office. 12. On approximately February 16, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Appellee expressly asked the Appellant if there was any risk inherent in the transfer of her files from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. 13. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellee was told in response to her question in paragraph 12 of this complaint, that she need not worry because the Appellant engaged in computer upgrading services "all the time". 14. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Appellant told the Appellee that that the costs of the above-mentioned services would be five-hundred and fifty-eight dollars and sixty-one cents ($558.61). 15. On apprOXimately February 16, 1997, the Appellant told the Appellee that her computer would have the above- mentioned services completed "in a week" and that payment would be expected when the computer was picked up. 16. On February 24, 1997, the Appellee telephoned Tech Support Unlimited and was told by the Appellant's business associate that the "computer was not ready yet" but that Tech Support Unlimited expected the computer to "be ready later in the day" and that Tech Support would call Appellee when the computer was ready to take home. 17. hours for from Tech On February 24, 1997, the Appellee waited a few the phone call, but to her surprise no return call Support Unlimited was forthcoming. 18. On February 24, 1997, the Appellee became concerned as to why she had not received a call back from Tech Support Unlimited so she telephoned the company again. 3 . 19. On February 24, 1997, the second phone call to Tech Support Unlimited was answered by Appellant's business associate who informed the Appellee that there was "an impending fami!.y emergency" and that the Appellant "had to run out for awhlle". 20. On February 24, 1997, the business associate then told the Appellee to "please call back later in the evening" to pick up her computer. 21. On February 24, 1997, the Appellee told the business associate that she understood "that emergencies can happen" and agreed to call the company back later that evening as requested. 22. On February 24, 1997, the Appellee again waited a few hours and then attempted to call Tech Support Unlimited a third time. 23. On February 24, 1997, the Appellee was told by the business associate that the computer "was almost done" and that she should "come to the store to pick the computer up". 24. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Appellee arrived at Tech Support Unlimited and saw her computer lying on a table and transferring files from her old hard drive to her new hard drive. 25. On the evening of February 24, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Appellant was forced to inform the Appellee that her computer files did not transfer correctly because the Appellant "forget to use the Windows Start-Up disk" when he initially started the file transfer. 26. personal system. The Appellee asserts that substantially all computers in the industry run the Windows operating 27. The Appellee asserts that it is basic knowledge in the industry that the proper way to transfer files is with the aid of the Windows Start-Up disk. 28. On the evening of F~bruary 24, 1997, the Appellant after realizing that the computer file transfer had failed asked the Appellee to "go home and retrieve the Windows 95 Start-Up Disk" and immediately return to his store. 4 . 29. On the evening of february 24, 1997, the Appellee and Mr. David Romano returned to Appellant's store and gave the Appellant the Windows 95 Start-Up disk as he had requested. 30. On the evening of rebruary 24, 1997, the Appellee, and Mr. David Romano, spent a minimum of two hours waiting for the computer files to ra-transfer from the old hard drive and into new hard drive with the benefit of the Windows 95 Start-Up disk. 31. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Appellant completed the transfer of the computer files from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. 32. On the evening of February 24, 1997, after the Appellant had finished the file re-transfer, he turned the computer on and then assured the Appellee that the system "was now working" and that she should pay him for his services. 33. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Appellant personally wrote out a bill to Appellee in the amount of five-hundred fifty-eight dollars and sixty-one cents ($558.61) the amount of his services. 34. On the eveninq of February 24, 1997, the Appellee paid Appellant five-hundred fifty-eight dollars and sixty- one cents (S558.6l) which was the full amount demanded by the Appellant in his bill. 35. took the home. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Appellee computer from Appellant's store and brought it 36. On the morning of rebruary 25, 1997, the Appellee turned on her computer only to discover that literally all the computer was able to do was turn on. 37. On the morning on rebruary 25, 1997, the Appellee discovered that her law school files (including but not limited to course outlines written up by Appellee over three years), which had all previously run without difficulty, would no longer work on her computer. 38. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee discovered that her applications (including but not limited to LEXIS), which had all previously worked without difficulty, would no longer work on her computer. ~ 39. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee discovered that her briefs and other papers written on behalf of the York County District Attorney's Office, which had all previously worked without difficulty, would no longer work on her computer. 40. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee asserts that she was expected to report into work at the York County District Attorney's Office. 41. The Appellee asserts that on February 25, 1997, she was prevented from giving the Commonwealth the completed brief they were expecting, which had previously worked without difficulty, due specifically to the actions of Appellant. 42. The Appellee asserts that on February 25, 1997, she was prevented from being able to do any LEXIS online legal research which was then due on behalf of the Commonwealth, which all previously worked without difficulty, due specifically to the actions of Appellant. 43. The Appellee asserts that on February 25, 1997, she was prevented from accessing any of her law school work that had been completed and was due at the Dickinson School of Law, which all had previously worked without difficulty, due specifically to the actions of Appellant. 44. promptly him that On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee telephoned the Appellant at his store and informed "the computer was not working properly". 45. On the morning on February 25, 1997, the Appellee told the Appellant that she was not able to perform "either her law school work nor her work duties" because her computer was not running properly. 46. requested residence On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee that the Appellant come to the Appellee's "in order to look at the computer system". 47. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellant came over to the Appellee's residence and personally observed that the computer was not working properly. 48. On the morning of February 25, 1997, after observing that the computer was not working properly, the Appellant told the Appellee that he would not fix her computer because he "had other customers" to attend to. 6 49. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee reemphasized to the Appellant that he was prev~nting her "from doing any work at all" and that she "had already lost a day of work". 50. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee told the Appellant that under the exigent circumstances, she thought Appellant should attend to her present needs before he attended to the services of other customers who had not even paid him yet. 51. The Appellee asserts that on the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellant thereby refused the opportunity to mitigate damages by leaving the Appellee's residence without even attempting to remedy the damage Appellant had already caused to her computer. 52. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee, out of desperation, called a Windows 95 technican to assess the damage done to her computer and to alleviate that damage, if possible. 53. On the morning of F~bruary 25, 1997, the Appellee was told by the Windows 95 technican that because the files "had been transferred improperly into her new hard drive that all her files would have to be checked one-by-one" on her computer in order to assess the full damage. 54. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Appellee spent at least four hours on the phone with the Windows 95 technician. 55. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Windows 95 technican was able to identify the problems with the computer that were caused by the Appellant but was ullable to correct those problems over the phone. 56. The Appellee asserts that the call to the Windows 95 technican on February 25, 1997, cost her forty dollars ($40.00) . 57. On approximately March 3, 1997, the Appellee received a telephone call from Tech Support Unlimited. 58. On approximately March 3, 1997, the Appellee believed that the phone call received by Tech Support Unlimited "would be an apology for all the problems that had previously occurred". 7 59. To the Appellee's surprise, Tech Support Unlimited did not apologize but in~tead informed the Appellee "that a computation error" had been made on her bill and that she now owed the store even more money. 60. During the phone conversation referred to in paragraph 59 of this complaint, the Appellee explained in detail to the store that her "computer was not working properly and that she was extremely dissatisfied with the Appellant's services as well as with the way Appellant had treated her when he had come over to her residence". 61. During the phone conversation referred to in paragraph 59 of this complaint, the Appellee then told the store that she "believed the amount written on her bill to be the full amount owed by her for Appellant's services because that amount had constituted the basis of. their bargainN. 62. During the phone conversation referred to in paragraph 59 of this complaint, the Appellee, finding the store to be most unresponsive, eventually told the person on the phone that she "would be forced to seek legal action" if the store did not act to remedy the situation by at a complete minimum, paying for the Windows 95 call. 63. from Tech liability hardware. On March 5, 1997, the Appellee received a letter Support Unlimited which attempted to avoid by offering a thirty (30) day "warranty" on 64. The Appellee asserts that she never saw a warranty agreement of any sort posted in the Appellant's store at the time of sale. 65. The Appellee asserts that the Appellant never mentioned the existence of any warranty agreement at the time of sale. 66. The Appellee asserts that she did not read any warranty agreement at the time of sale. 67. The Appellee asserts that she did not sign any warranty agreement at the time of sale. 68. The Appellee asserts that she did not receive a warranty agreement after the time of sale. 69. warranty The Appellee asserts that she did agreement after the time of sale. S not sign a 70. The Appellee asserts that federal consumer protection law requires that some sort of manufacturer's warranty be given along with the purchase of new computer hardware. 71. The Appellee asserts that she was never given a manufacturer's warranty along with the purchase of her new hard drive. 72. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Appellee asserts that she was trying to re- write four theses, each over twenty pages in length, which were due for law school and which were to later be her sole grades in the courses, by using the computer lab at night at the law school. 73. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Appellee asserts that she had to rewrite the brief needed by the Commonwealth due specifically to the actions of the Appellant. 74. On February 25, 1997, and 30me appreciable time thereafter, the Appellee asserts that she had to manually do legal research because she was cut off from LEXIS due specifically to the actions of the Appellant. 75. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Appellee asserts that she became physically exhausted due to the demands of an hour's travel time from CarliSle, PA to York, PA in order to get to work, coupled with the stress of rewriting all of her prior theses, having to re-write her brief for the Commonwealth, and having to do her legal research manually. 76. The Appellee asserts that further stress resulted from the acts referred to in paragraph 75 of this complaint, because all of her written work products had to also be done within the time-frame of the limited operating hours of the computer lab at the law school. 77. The Appellee asserts that she also experienced compounded stress because she fell behind in homework due to the demands of the acts referred to in paragraphs 75 and 76 of this complaint. 78. referred occurred The Appellee asserts that the unnecessary stress to in paragraphs 75 through 77 of this complaint, as a direct result of the actions of the Appellant. 9 . 79. The Appell~e asserts that due to all the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 75 through 78 of this complaint, she was left with no other option that would place her in the position she was before the Appellant upgraded her computer, except to come up with the money to enable her to purchase d brand new computer system. 80. On April 24, 1997, the Appellee purchased a new computer system which cost her nine hundred dollars ($900) so that she could complete her work with a computer system which was adequate to her needs and time constraints. 81. On approximately March 1, 1997 the Appellee, in the presence of Mr. Clayton Wheatley, attempted to speak to the Appellant at his store in order to try to negotiate an amicable settlement with him. 82. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Appellee requested a refund of her money, again reiterating the fact that the computer "never worked properly" after the Appellant had transferred the files. 83. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Appellee also requested that the Appellant "pay for the Windows 95 technician call". 84. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Appellant told the Appellee that his warranty "had expired" and that he would not refund her money. 85. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Appellant told the Appellee that he would not pay for the Windows 95 technician call. 86. On approximately March 1, 1997, after the events referred to in paragraphs 81 through 85 of this complaint had occurred, the Appellee told the Appellant that she did not think he was acting like a reasonable businessman due to the Appellant's "previous failures to remedy the computer problems she had experienced" and that she therefore felt that the Appellant's "actions were highly inequitable". 87. On Approximately March 1, 1997, after the events referred to in paragraphs 81 through 86 of this complaint had occurred, the Appellant then immed.iately replied, "Well, you may think so, but my warranty has expired." 88. referred Wheatley The Appellee asserts that after the events to in paragraph 87 occured, she and Mr. Clayton then promptly left the }\,ppellant's store. 10 I I , I , ',. I ,I. -.".' ,.: .,/ I [', : LI11:-J I .;\ I' i( d' C" r:; ,~; " < ,I '.-.'1 I (l, , I,' <, l,l,R fL, :/ U I;" , l.;l " 'I' l' . II' 'I Ii " II " " I 1'1 I I " I , I I I " I, I I I I d. " . . " , \ \ I I \ , . .'-' Hi 1'1 'I " I '.' '. " I .' ;I Illiw~:UJ~~~J\'AlI.iij-M~IM~~""';"<'<-~~ I I '. I I Jlmes K. Jones, Esquire I 71rY1DO Row Carll$le. PA 17013-3019 (717):l40~291S . ,. ,..", ,."t'.~~""ilJ!-'Jtifi~j1ffl'- it~' I '.' -it,' . ':, I " . I I I , I " " 'i , " ,"""'" ,r.;,.a: I, "./. ~ -.......,~ I ,I I, I,' I:, ,'; ". .' " .~ ii, " .' ,\-,' I I . ANUlDaD COIG'LAINT Plaintiff Theresa A. SBntorella complains of Defendant Gregory A. Filak D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited as fol10wst 1. Jurisdiction in this case is based IJpon 42 Pa.c.S. a 931 (1997), which states that the courts of common pleas shall have unlimited original jurisdiction of all actions and proceedings, including all actions and proceedings heretofore cognizable by law or usage in the courts of common pleas. 2. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Plaintiff hired Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited to install a new hard drive into her computer. 3. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Plaintiff hired Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited to install more memory chips into her computer. 4. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Plaintiff hired Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech Support Unlimited to transfer all of her computer files from the old hard drive into the new hard drive she had just purchased. 5. On approximately February 16, 1997 the Plaintiff entered into an oral agreement with the Defendant to perform the acts listed in paragraphs 2-4 of this complaint which together constitute what is known as a standard computer "upgrade". 6. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Defendant was expressly told by the Plaintiff that a computer "upgrade" was desired by her because her computer had SUbstantially used up almost all its then existing memory space and Plaintiff simply wished to have her system r~n faster and thereby process information more efficiently. 7. On approximately February 16, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Defendant discussed the options that were available to Plaintiff in order to "upgrade a computer." such as installing a new motherboard, or J.nstalling a new computer processor, or installing a new hard drive and adding memory chips. 8. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Defendant expressed his opinion that it would be most cost efficient for Plaintiff to "simply install a new hard drive and add more memory to the computer". 2 9. On approximately February 16, 1997, it wss agreed to by the parties that the acts in paragraph 8 would be done in order to upgrade the computer. 10. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Defendant examined the computer and agreed to perform all of the computer-related services stated in this complaint. 11. On approximately February 16, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Defendant was expressly told that Plaintiff was a law student at the Dickinson School Of Law who was substantially dependent on her computer in order to complete law school assignments, online research, and her legal work as a student attorney at the York County District Attorney'~ Office. 12. On approximately February 16, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Plaintiff expressly asked the Defendant if there was any risk inherent in the transfer of her files from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. 13. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Plaintiff was told in response to her question in paragraph 12 of this complaint, that she need not worry because the Defendant engaged in computer upgrading services "all the time". 14. On approximately February 16, 1997, the Defendant told the Plaintiff that that the costs of the above- mentioned services would be five-hundred and fifty-eight dollars and sixty-one cents ($558.61). 15. told the services expected On approximately February 16, 1997, the Defendant Plaintiff that he would have the above-mentioned completed "in a week" and that payment would be when the computer was picked up. 16. On February 24, 19~7, the Plaintiff telephoned Tech Support Unlimited and was told by the Defendant's business associate that the "computer was not ready yet" but that Tech Support Unlimited expected the computer to "be ready later in the day" and that Tech Support would call Plaintiff when the computer was ready to take home. 17. hours for from Tech On February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff the phone call, but to her surprise Support Unlimited was forthcoming. waited a few no return call 18. On February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff became concerned as to why she had not received a call back from Tech Support Unlimited so she telephoned the company again. 3 19. On February 24, 1997, the second phone call to Tech support Unlimited was answered by Defendant's business associate who informed the Plaintiff that there was "an impending fAmily emergency" and that the Defendant "had to run out for awhile". 20. told the nvening" On February 24, 1997, the business associate then Plaintiff to "please call back later in the to pick up her computer. 21. On February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff told the business associate that she understood "that emergencies can happen" and agreed to call the company back later that evening as requested. 22. On February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff. again waited a few hours and then attempted to call Tech Support Unlimited a third time. 23. On February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff was told by the business associate that the computer "was almost done" and that she should "come to the store to pick the computer Upfl. 24. On the evening of February 24, 1991, the Plaintiff arrived at Tech Support Unlimited and saw her computer lying on a table and transfp.rring files from her old hard drive to her new hard drive. 25. On the evening of February 24, 1997, in the presence of Mr. David Romano, the Defendant was forced to inform the Plaintiff that her computer files did not transfer correctly because the Defendant "forget to use the Windows Start-Up disk" when he initially started the file transfer. 26. personal system. The Plaintiff asserts that substantially all computers in the industry run the Windows operating 27. The Plaintiff asserts that it is basic knowledge in the industry that the proper way to transfer files is with the aid of the Windows Start-Up disk. 28. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Defendant after realizing that the computer file transfer had failed asked the Plaintiff to "go home and retrieve the Windows 95 Start-Up Disk" and immediately return to his store. 4 29. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff and Mr. David Romano returned to Defendant's store and gave the Defendant the Windows 95 Start-Up disk as he had requested. 30. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff and Mr. David Romano spent a minimum of two hours waiting for the computer files to re-transfer from the old hard drive and into new hard drive with the benefit of the Windows 95 Start-Up disk. 31. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Defendant completed the transfer of the computer files from the old hard drive to the n~w hard drive. 32. On the evening of February 24, 1997, after the Defendant had finished the file re-transfer, he turned the computer on and then assured the Plaintiff that the system "was now working" and that she should pay him for his services. 33. On the evening cf February 24, 1997, the Defendant personally wrote out ~ bill to Plaintiff in the amount of five-hundred fifty-eight dollars and sixty-one cents ($558.61) the amount of his services. 34. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff paid Defendant five-hundred fifty-eight dollars and sixty- one cents (S558.6l) which was the full amount demanded by the Defendant in his bill. 35. took the home. On the evening of February 24, 1997, the Plaintiff computer from Defendant's store and brought it 36. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff turned on her computer only to discover that literally all the computer was able to do was turn on. 37. On the morning on February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff discovered that her law school files (inCluding but not limited to course outlines written up by Plaintiff over three years), which had all previously run without difficulty, would no longer work on her computer. 38. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff discovered that her applicatlons (including but not limited to LEXIS), which had all previously worked without difficulty, would no longer work on her computer. s 39. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff discovered that her briefs and other papers written on behalf of the York County District Attorney's Office, which had all previously worked without difficulty, would no longer work on her computer. 40. On the mot"ning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff asserts that she was expected to report into work at the York County District Attorney's Office. 41. The Plaintiff asserts that on February 25, 1997, she was prevented from giving the Commonwealth the completed brief they were expecting, which had previously worked without difficulty, due specifically to the actions of Defendant. 42. The Plaintiff asserts that on February 25, 1997, she was prevented from being able to do any LEXIS online legal research which was then due on behalf of the Commonwealth, which all previously worked without difficulty, due specifically to the actions of Defendant. 43. The Plaintiff asserts that on February 25, 1997, she was prevented from accessing any of her law school work that had been completed and was due at the Dickinson School of Law, which all had previously worked without difficulty, due specifically to the actions of Defendant. 44. promptly him that On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff telephoned the Defendant at his store and informed "the computer was not working properly". 45. On the morning on February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff told the Defendant that she was not able to perform "either her law school work or her work duties" because her computer was not running properly. 46. requested residence On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff that the Defendant come to the Plaintiff's "in order to look at the computer system". 47. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Defendant came over to the Plaintiff's residence and personally observed that the computer was not working properly. 48. On the morning of February 25, 1997, after observing that the computer was not working properly, the Defendant told the Plaintiff that he would not fix her computer because he "had other customers to attend to." 6 49. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff reemphasized to the Defendant that he was preventing her "from doing any work at all" and that she "had already lost a day of work". 50. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff told the Defendant that under the exigent circumstances, she thought Defendant should attend to her present needs before he attended to the services of other customers who had not even paid him yet. 51. The Plaintiff asserts that on the morning of February 25, 1997, the Defendant thereby refused the opportunity to mitigate damages by leaving the Plaintiff's residence without even attempting to remedy the damage he had already caused to her computer. 52. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff, out of desperation, called a Windows 95 technican to assess the damage done to her computer and to alleviate that damage, if possible. 53. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff was told by the Windows 95 technican that because the files "had been transferred improperly into her new hard drive that all her files would have to be checked one-by-one" on her computer in order to assess the full damage. 54. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Plaintiff spent at least four hours on the phone with the Windows 95 technician. 55. On the morning of February 25, 1997, the Windows 95 technican was able to identify the problems with the computer that were caused by the Defendant but was unable to correct those problems over the phone. 56. The Plaintiff asserts that the call to the Windows 95 technican on February 25, 1997, cost her thirty-five dollars ($35.00). 57. On approximately March 3, 1997, the Plaintiff received a telephone call from Tech Support Unlimited. 58. On approximately March 3, 1997, the Plaintiff believed that the phone call received by Tech Support Unlimited "would be an apology for all the problems that had previously occurred". 7 59. To the Plaintiff's surprise, Tech Support Unlimited did not apologize but instead informed the Plaintiff that a "computation error" had been made on her bill and that she now owed the store even more money. 60. During the phone conversation referred to in paragraph 59 of this complaint, the Plaintiff explained in detail to the store that her computer was not working properly and that she was extremely dissatisfied with the Defendant's servlces as well as with the way Defendant had treated her when he had come over to her residence. 61. During the phone conversation referred to in paragraph 59 of this complaint, the Plaintiff then told the store that she believed the amount written on her bill to be the full amount owed by her for Defendant's services because that amount had constituted the basis of their bargain. 62. During the phone conversation referred to in paragraph 59 of this complaint, the Plaintiff, finding the store to be most unresponsive, eventually told the person on the phone that she "would be forced to seek legal action" if the store did not act to remedy the situation. 63. from Tech liability hardware. On March 5, 1997, the Plaintiff received a letter Support Unlimited which attempted to avoid by offering a thirty (30) day "warranty" on 64. warranty store at The Plaintiff asserts that she agreement of any sort posted in the time of sale. never saw a the Defendant's 65. The Plaintiff asserts that the Defendant never mentioned thp. existence of any warranty agreement at the time of sale. 66. The Plaintiff asserts that she did not read any warranty agreement at the time of sale. 67. The Plaintiff asserts that she did not sign any warranty agreement at the time of sale. 68. The Plaintiff asserts that she did not receive a warranty agreement after the time of sale. 69. The Plaintiff asserts that she did not sign a warranty agreement after the time of sale. 8 70. The Plaintiff asserts that federal consumer protection law requires that some sort of manufacturer's warranty be given along with the purchase of new computer hardware. 71. The Plaintiff asserts that she was never given a manufacturer's warranty along with the purchase of her new hard drive. 72. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Plaintiff asserts that she was trying to rewrite four theses, each over twenty pages in length, which were due for law school and which were to later be her sole grades in the courses, by using the computer lab at night at the law school. 73. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Plaintiff asserts that she had to rewrite the brief needed by the Commonwealth due specifically to the actions of the Defendant. 74. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Plaintiff asserts that she had to manually do legal research because she was cut off from LEXIS due specifically to the actions of the Defendant. 75. On February 25, 1997, and some appreciable time thereafter, the Plaintiff asserts that she became physically exhausted due to the demands of an hour's travel time from Carlisle, PA to York, PA in order to get to work, coupled with the stress of rewriting all of her prior theses, having to re-write her brief for the Commonwealth, and having to do her legal research manually. 76. The Plaintiff asserts that further stress resulted from the acts referred to in paragraph 75 of this complaint, because all of her written work products had to also be done within the time-frame of the limited operating hours of the computer lab at the law school. 77. The ?laintiff asserts that she also experienced compounded stress because she fell behind in homework due to the demands of the acts referred to in paragraphs 75 and 76 of this complaint. 78. referred occurred The Plaintiff asserts that the unnecessary stress to in paragraphs 75 through 77 of this complaint, as a direct result of the actions of the Defendant. 9 79. The Plaintiff asserts that due to all the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 75 through 78 of this complaint, she was left with no other option that would place her in the position she was before the Defendant upgraded her computer, except to come up with the money to enable her to purchase a brand new computer system. 80. On April 24, 1997, the Plaintiff purchased a new computer system which cost her nine hundred dollars ($900) so that she could complete her work with a computer system which was adequate to her needs and time constraints. 81. On approximately March 1, 1997 the Plaintiff, in the presence of Mr. Clayton Wheatley, attempted to speak to the Defendant at his store in order to try to negotiate an amicable settlement with him. 82. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Plaintiff requested a refund of her money, again reiterating the fact that the computer "never worked properly" after the Defendant had transferred the files. 83. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Plaintiff also requested that the Defendant pay for the Windows 95 technician call. 84. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Defendant told the Plaintiff that his warranty "had expired" and that he would not refund her money. 85. On approximately March 1, 1997, the Defendant told the Plaintiff that he would not pay for the Windows 95 technician call. 86. On approximately March 1, 1997, after the events referred to in paragraphs 81 through 85 of this complaint had occurred, the Plaintiff told the Defendant that she did not think he was acting like a reasonable businessman due to the Defendant's "previous failures to remedy the computer problems she had experienced" and that she therefore felt that the Defendant's "actions were highly inequitable". 87. On Approximately March 1, 1997, after the events zeferred to in paragraphS 81 through 86 of this complaint had occurred, the Defendant then immediately replied, "Well, you may think so, but my warranty has expired." 88. referred Wheatley The Plaintiff asserts that after the events to in paragraph 87 occured, she and Mr. Clayton then promptly left the Defendant's store. 10 " I I I " ,I .,. '1I t)' "c.~ " ~."! .. c~ -. ~II. -- /,,, . E" . ". ~I" .. ~-: , I,') f. : ~ 1,.,1 fj~\' , !: {.-. ". 11_ ". (,) C' .... [. (. " " , ...: , I' r) , I' I" , I :1, ,I , 'I " " ",.' " . " I . , i I I \ \' \ , ,I . ... )' q I I , , Jlmes K. Jones. Esquire 7 Irvine Row Carlisle. PA 17013.3019 (717) 240~296 , . II I I " )\ . " \'" '.- ..- ,-'-I"-w.h!,.,(f,i.'lr""E'" "'I f(fIIWft~>il'J;"I""','1 "'.hd.;~- . . " 'I I I I ". , ~ ,-.;.-r~I'"'~'.. THERESA A. SANTORELLA, Plaintiff IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 97-5676 CIVIL TERM v. CIVIL ACTION--LAW GREGORY A. FILAK, D/B/A TECH SUPPORT UNLIMITED, Defendant JURY TRIAL DEMANDED DEFENDANT'S ANSWER AND COUNTERCLAIM TO PLAINTI FF' S AMENDED COMPLAINT 1. Admitted. 2. Admitted in part and denied in part. On February 22, 1997, Plaintiff brought in her computer for the installation of additional RAM. After it was determined that the computer needed additional hard disk space, a new hard disk was installed. 3. Admitted. See Paragraph 2. 4. Denied. Defendant offered this service as a courtesy to Plaintiff without charge. 5. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that several agreements wer~ reached to perform these services. It is denied that they constitute a standard computer upgrade. 6. Denied. Plaintiff told Defendant that she was receiving "out of memory" errors. These were to be remedied by the addi- tional RAt<1, and larger hard drive. Defendant told Plaintiff that she would have to upgrade her motherboard and processor to make her computer run faster, which she declined due to cost. 7. Admitted. See Paragraph 2. 8. Denied. Plaintiff was financially unwilling to purchase i"1 , a new motherboard. 9. Denied. See Paragraph 2. 10. Denied. Defendant agreed to install additional RAM and a new hard drive with more memory and attempt to transfer the data from the old hard drive as a courtesy as Plaintiff had not previously backed-up the data. 11. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that Plaintiff said she is a law student. It is denied that she said she was dependent upon her computer. 12. Denied. It is denied that Plaintiff asked Defendant about risks in tI'ansferring files. 13. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is denied that ~laintiff was told that there was no need to worry about the transfer of the files. It is admitted that Defendant has per- formed these services. 14. Denied. The original invoice was miscalculated. The corrected invoice was forwarded in March, 1997. 15. Denied. Plaintiff was told the hard drive would be installed the next day, February 23, 1997. 16. Admitted, with the exception that the telephone call was made on February 23, 1997. 17. Admitted. See Paragraph 16. lB. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. See Paragraph 16. 19. Admitted. See Paragraph 16. 20. Denied. Plaintiff was told to call back the next evening, February 24, 1997. 21. Denied. Plaintiff agreed to call back the next evening. 22. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 23. Admitted. 24. Denied. Plaintiff picked up her computer after the file transfer was completed. 2S. Denied. It is denied that the files did not transfer properly due to any error on Defendant's part. Plaintiff could not produce original software needed to properly transfer the files which caused some files to not transfer properly. 26. Denied. It is denied that all substantially all personal computers run the Windows operating system in light of Macintosh and other operating systems. 27. Denied. It is denied that the start-up disk is required. The Windows installation disks are needed for this task if the original transfer does not properly transfer all of the data. 28. Denied. It is denied that Defendant asked for the neces- sary software after attempting to transfer files. It is denied that the file transfer failed. Defendant requested the installa- tion disks prior to attempting the file transfer but Plaintiff was unable to produce any disks. 29. Denied. It is denied that Plaintiff was at Defendant' B place of business more than once on February 24, 1997. It is denied that anyone accompanied Plaintiff at any time on that date. Defendant did not request a start up disk. 30. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that a file transfer was attempted but not in Plaintiff's presence. It is denied that it was attempted with a start-up disk. See Paragraph 29. 31. Admitted. 32. Denied. Defendant never turned on the computer in Plaintiff's presence. Defendant advised Plaintiff that to the best of his knowledge the system was working. 33. Denied. In error, Defendant billed Plaintiff $448.20. 34. Denied. Plaintiff paid $350.00 in cash and charged $155.61 on a credit card to cover the balance of the amount charged and credit card surcharges. 35. Admitted. 36. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 37. Denied in part. It is den~ed that the files no longer worked as it was the operating system associated with the files that would not work. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to whether the files and/or applications worked at the time Plaintiff brought her computer to Defendant with the "out of memory" error messages. 38. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. However, Defendant is aware that Plain- tiff was receiving "out of memory" error messages from some applications. 39. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 40. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 41. Denied. Plaintiff could have copied the brief file onto another disk and submitted the brief. 42. Denied. It is denied that Defendant's actions prevented Plaintiff from performing this task. 43. Denied. It is denied that Defendant's actions prevented Plaintiff from performing this task. 44. Denied. Plaintiff informed Defendant that nothing worked on her computer. 45. Denied. Plaintiff informed Defendant that nothing worked on her computer. 46. Admitted. 47. Denied. The computer was working properly, but some of the applications were not able to be accessed as original disks to reinstall the operating system could not be provided by Plain- tiff. 48. Admitted. After attempting to remedy the situation for two hours caused by a lack of original disks and missing two other appointments, Defendant was required to leave and arrange- ments were made to continue working around the problem at anothe~ time after he provided access to the word processing and other applications. 49. Admitted. 50. Admitted. 51. Denied. Defendant spent hours attempting to remedy a situation caused by Plaintiff being unable to produce original application disks and went further in making arrangements to . bring the unit back to his shop to attempt further procedures. 52. Admitted. However, there was no damage to Plaintiff's computer. 53. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 54. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 55. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this avetment. 56. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 57. Admitted. 58. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 59. Admitted. 60. Denied. Plaintiff never had any previous complaints regarding the way Defendant treated her. 61. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 62. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 63. Admitted in part and denied in part. As with other .' customers. Defendant extended a thirty day warranty on the hard- ware by letter dated March 6, 1997. It is denied that this was done to avoid liability, 64. After reasonable investigation, Defendant ill without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 65. Denied. Plaintiff was informed that Defendant offers a customer satisfaction guarantee. Plaintiff was also informed that the manufacturers may provide additional warranties. 66. Admitted. 67. Admitted. 68. Denied. Paragraph 63 alleges that Plaintiff received a thirty day warranty. 69. Admitted. 70. This paragraph is a conclusion of law to which no response is necessary. To the extent that a response is re- quired, the allegations of this paragraph are denied. 71. Denied. Defendant received a warranty for the hard drive and RAM through the manufacturers. 72. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. However, Plaintiff was shown how to access her word processing files. 73. Denied. Any efforts on Plaintiff's part were not caused by Defendant's actions. See Paragraph 72. 74. Denied. Any efforts on Plaintiff's part were not caused by Defendant's actions. 75. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 76. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 77. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 78. Denied. Any stress caused by these efforts was caused by Plaintiff not possessing the original operating system disks and failing to back-up her data, and were not the result of Defendant's actions. 79. Denied. Any new purchase was caused by Plaintiff not possessing the original application disks and failing to back-up her data, and were not the result of Defendant's actions. 80. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 81. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that a conversation took place. It is denied that the conversa- tion took place on March 1. 1997, as it took place in May, 1997. 82. Admitted in part and denied in part. It is admitted that the conversation took place. It is denied that the conver- sation took place in March, 1997, as it took place on May, 1997. 83. Denied. It is denied that such a request was made in March, 1997. 84. Denied. It is denied that such a statement was made in March, 1997. It is further denied that Defendant said he could not refund her money, but rather he could not reinstall her original hard drive as the warranty had expired. 85. Denied. It is denied that such a statement was made in March, 1997. 86. Denied. It is denied that such statements were made in March, 1997. 87. Denied. It is denied that such statements were made in March, 1997. 88. Admitted. 89. After r.easonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 90. After reasonable investigation, Defendant is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of this averment. 91. Admitted. WHEREFORE, Defendant requests this CoUrt to enter judgment " in favor of Defendant and against Plaintiff. DEFENDA}fT'S COUNTERCLAIM 92. The proper charge for servic~s rendered by Defendant i. $558.61. r, " ~ ,... '- N ,," ~- " , , .. \ " " r' oJ " , lJ.J .. ~ ' (J; i "1'" [" , -" " II ~~~J C'-I , C", . " [jl, ."j .1,,-' ~ " , l' ., '( , 1.';'_ ." ". r. u, <I:: 'i " () &;1' f.j " " " , , !i " , , " 'i' , , " , , , , I' " ,-. '! 18. Identify all services performed by Filak and/or TSU for Ms. Santorella, whether gratuitously or otherwise, on the premises of 118 W. North St. Evaluated oomputer's overall condition, examinlng for obvious problems such as disconnected wiring, smoke damage, etc. Ran a diagnostic utility (QA+) to search for non-operational cicuits, burned out components, etc. Ran ScanDisk and Disk De-Fragmenter to attempt to determine any problems with the data on the drive and improve disk access times. Install 16 MB RAM Ran QA+ to check new RAM. Attempted to unstall Amerian Online from a dskette provided by Plaintiff. Temporarily connected new 3.1 GB hard drive. Initialized and formatted new drive. Transferred data from old hard drive to new drive using a disk copy utility. Removed the old hard drive and permanently installed th~ew drive. Ran QA+ to check the new hard drive. Installed America Online using Plaintiff's diskette. Corrected some configuration settings for Windows 95 and the system bios to improve performance w~the new drive. At Plaintiff's insistance, called Windows 95 technician to verify the Plaintiff had misrepresented the problem she experienced to the technician. Obtained recommendatlons for another 18 , additional RAM without Plaintiff having to purchase a new motherboard. 7. In error. See paragraph 2. 8. In error. See paragraph 6. 9. In error. See paragraph 2. 10. In error on the basis of Plaintiff's reply contained in paragraph 2. In addition, it was the Defendant's sole responsibility to make a back-up copy of Plaintiff's data before he attempted the data transfer. 14. In error. The Defendant's bill written on February 22, 1997, was not miscalculated. Rather, the Defendant sent Plaintiff a letter stating he had made a "mathematical error" on his bill on March 5, 1997 in retaliation for Plaintiff's prior phone conversation in which Plaintiff told the store that she would take legal action against Tech Support Unlimited if they did not take measures remedy the damage caused by them to her computer. 15. In error. See paragraph 2. 16. In error. The correct date was February 22, 1997, the date listed on Defendant's bill. 24. In error. The Plaintiff did not pick up the computer after the data transfer was completed. On the contrary, the Defendant twice performed the data transfer in the presence of both Mr. David Romano and the Plaintiff on the same day. 25. In error. Plaintiff's computer was fully operational and came pre-installed with the operating system as did all computers of Plaintiff's model, manufacturer, and production year in the industry, to the best of Plaintiff's recollection. In addition, the Plaintiff did produce all operation booklets that Defendant requested. This manual also states that the computer does not even come with installation disks. 27. In error on the basis of paragraph 25. In addition, the Window's 95 Start-Up disk contains information which was required to be programmed into Plaintiff's computer so that files would transfer successfully. 28. In error. The Defendant did ask for the Windows 95 start-up disk after his first attempt to transfer the data 2 on Plaintiff's computer without the aid of the disk had failed. In addition, the Defendant never asked the Plaintiff for any "installation disks" at any time. 30. In error. The Defendant did attempt a data transfer in the presence of both the Plaintiff and Mr. David Romano. In addition, the Defendant made two attempts at the transfer. The first attempt was made without the aid of the Windows Start-up Disk, and the second attempt was made with the aid of the Windows Start-up disk. 31. In error. The correct date was February 22, 1997 the same day Plaintiff paid the Defendant for his goods and services. 32. In error. The Defendant did turn on the computer in both the Plaintiff's and Mr. David Romano's presence. What the Defendant did not do was to check to see if any applications or data were running correctly. 33. In error. The Plaintiff was billed a total of fivp- hundred and fifty-eight dollars and sixty-one cents. ($558.61.) 34. In error. See paragraph 92 of Plaintiff's New Matter. 35. In error. The correct date was February 22, 1997. 36. Partly in error. This event took place on the evening of February 22, 1997. 37. In error on the basis of paragraphs 25, 27 and 28. In addition, the Defendant inspected Plaintiff's computer the day options for upgrading and transferring data was discussed with the Plaintiff, and therefore had the reasonable opportunity to discover that Plaintiff's files and applications were working at that time. 38. In error. The Defendant cannot be "aware" of any out of memory messages as the computer was brought into his shop fully operational. 41. In error. The Plaintiff could not copy the data onto another disk because the data had already been lost due to the actions of Defendant. 42. In error. The LEXIS application could not be accessed by Plaintiff because the computer was not working properly due to the prior actions of the Defendant. 3 43. In error. See paragraph 42. 46. Partly in error. The correct date was late in the evening on February 22, 1997 when Plaintiff left a message on Defendant's answering machine. The Plaintiff also spoke to the Defendant on the telephone on February 23, 1997, when she again requested that Defendant come over to her residence. 47. In error. The computer was not working properly and no installation disks of any sort were ever requested by the Defendant. 48. In error. The Defendant spent about fifteen minutes at Plaintiff's residence and never requested any installation disks. In addition, Defendant did not make any arrangements to remedy the damage done to Plaintiffs computer, nor did Defendant provide access to any word processing files. Rather, the Defendant stated that he had "other customers" and had to leave when he was forced to acknowledge that Plaintiff's computer qid not work properly. 51. In error. The defendant did absolutely nothing to mitigate damages nor did he ever request any installation disks from the Plaintiff. 52. In error. Plaintiff's computer was rendered useless by the actions of the Defendant and due to the Defendant's unwillingness to mitigate damages Plaintiff called a Windows 95 technician on the telephone. 60. In error. The Plaintiff told the Defendant's agent how dissatisfied she was Defendant's services and well as demeanor. !n addition, the letter sent to Plaintiff by the Defendant expressly acknowledges that the store was well aware of Plaintiff's dissatisfaction. 62. In error. Tech Support Unlimited was well aware of Plaintiff's dissatisfaction as is reflected by the letter the Defendant sent to Plaintiff which reiterates same. 63. In error. The document Defendant characterizes as a "warranty" letter is the very same letter which acknowledges that Plaintiff was so dissatisfied with Tech Support Unlimited's actions that she stated she would seek legal redress if no help from the store was forthcoming. 64. In error. The Defendant is well aware that there was no warranty sign in his store at the time. 4 65. In error. The Plaintiff was never informed that the Defendant provided any customer satisfaction guarantees at the time of sale. Nor was Plaintiff informed by Defendant of manufacturer's warranties might exist. To the contrary, Plaintiff obtained this information off the hard drive manufacturer's website by using another computer. 68. In error. See par.agraph 63. 71. In error. Regardless of whether Defendant allegedly received copies of manufacturer's warranties for the goods he sold to Plaintiff, he neve~ gave Plaintiff any such warranties as ~equired by federal law. 72. In error. The Plaintiff was nut shown how to access her word processing files by the Defendant as the computer was not working properly. 73. In error. See paragraphs 25, 27, and 28. 74. In error. See paragraphs 25, 27, and 28. 78. In error. See paragraphs 10, 25, 27, and 28. 79. In error. See paragraphs 10, 25, 27 and 28. 81. In error in part. This conversation took place between April 5, 1997, when Defendant's alleged "warranty" expir~d, and April 25, 1997, when Plaintiff bought her new computer, 82. In error in part. See paragraph 82. 83. In error in part. See paragraph 82. 84. In error. The Defendant stated to Plaintiff in the presence of Clayton Wheatley that he would not refund her money, nor would he give Plaintiff back the old hard drive' that was in Defendant's possession, because Defendant ' believed a warranty existed which had expired. 85. In error in part. See paragraph 82. 86. In error in part. See paragraph 82. 87. In error in part. See paragraph 82. s , 96. Admitted in part and denied in part. The Plaintiff admits that the Defendant has made repeated demands for payment. The Plaintiff denies that any monies are properly owed the Defendant. tmr NAnU The ~laintiff further asserts that paragraphs 93 and 94 of the Defendant's Count~rclaim contain fact~ of a fraudulent natur.e. 97. Specifically, in regard to paragraph 93, the ~laintiff asserts that her computer was in the Defendant's shop only once in order to receive a computer upgrade. Yet the Defendant refers to this event as the "first time" when in fact it was the only time and the Defendant knows this. Second, the Defendant states that this "does not include services performed after the computer left the Defendant's shop," when in fact the Defendant never performed any services for Plaintiff after he upgraded her computer and the Defendant is aware of this as well. Both of these allegations are untrue and deceitful and these allegations thereby contain facts of a fraudulent nature. 98. Specifically, in regard to paragraph 94, the Plaintiff asserts that she has in her possession the bill written out by the Defendant, as well as the customer copy portion of her credit card receipt and an inVOice, which together show that the allegations made in paragraph 94 are untrue and deceitful and thereby contain facts of a fraudulent nature concocted for the purpose of retaliation against Plaintiff when she first threatened legal action. WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff respectfully asks this Court to enter judgment in favor of the Plaintiff and against the Defendant on the Defendant's Counterclaim and also asks that this Court impose punitive damages and/or sanctions against the Defendant in an amount equal in value to Defendant's Counterclaim ($50.00) or any greater sum as this Court deems just under the circumstances. Dated: 2!2!fJ8 1~lNlllO. 0.. ~ Theresa A. Santorella 527 South ~itt Street Apartment 5 Carlisle, PA 17013 (71'/) -258-8232 2 ~ ~l '.. .:I r:, r.', .. ~fJi,_,. .l~ I.~_ ,) - .- t,) >.'_ ( t.' :ri I')' P"] " ~, ~ ' "-, (-"J 55[' ;;r... , , 6~' ,ft') ~ \1 l.:~- J)I;;. N )1", I F.' "'i;'~ [U:' ~) ,1. t1.- ( tl;' ". jl,. :J (,) l.1' <U " , , , , ,1 - ..... " " " ...-tI ......,. , _4''--'0 II ;" " ,-I.'--~- .,.., ...' . NlllQIUUlDUN IN SOl'l'OltT or I'LAXNTIrr'S NOTION rolt SAlfCTI0lf8 :r. SANCTIONS AGAINST D.rDlDU'1' QIUlGOltt rILAIt A. Violation o~ l'a. It.C.I'. S 4019(a) (1) (i) On March 3, defendant Gregory Filak received, through his attorney, James K. Jones, Esq., a set of interrogatories sent via certified mail by Plaintiff Theresa A. Santorella. Under Pa. R. C.P. S 4006(a) (2)" a party must respond to interrogatories within thirty (30) days. As of today, March 10, 1998, thirty-five (35) days after Defendant received the interrogatories, Plaintiff has not received answers to any of her interrogatories, nor has she received written objections to any of her interrogatories. Even if Defendant believes any of Plaintiff's interrogatories are objectionable, Pa. R.C.P. S 40l9(a) (2) provides that this does not excuse failure to respond unless Defendant files an appropriate objection or applies for a protective order. Since this Defendant has not done so, Plaintiff requests under Rule S 4019(a) (1) (i) that the Court issue an order compelling Defendant to answer the interrogatories fully, completely and immediately. 3 . .. Violation of 'a. a.c.'. 8 401'lh) When Defendant Gregory Filak filed his Preliminary Objections to Plaintiff's Reply, he did so for the purpose of delaying the litigation and in bad faith, hoping to drag out the litigation until Plaintiff graduates from the Dickinson School of Law in June 1998, at which point neither she nor her two witnesses will remain in the state of Pennsylvania. (Plai~tiff and Mr. Clayton Wheatley will be in Hoboken, New Jersey, w;'ile Mr. David Romano will be working at a summer internship in ~lexandria, Virginia.) As detailed fully in the attached Motion .0 Overrule Preliminary Objections, Defendant's present set of objections are frivolous and without merit. If the Court agrees that Defendant's objections are frivolous, the Court can also infer that they were filed in bad faith and/or for the purpose of delay. Filing a motion either for the purpose of delay or in bad faith is forbidden by Pa. R.C.P. S 4019(h). Violations of S 4019(h) are punishable by Defendant's being required to pay costs actually incurred by Plaintiff as a result of the violation. Therefore, Plaintiff requests that if the arbitration hearing is unreasonably delayed as a result of Defendant's actions, Defendant be required to compensate Plaintiff for all reasonable travel, lodging and other 4 , related expenses which will be incurred by her and her two witnesses in returning to Pennsylvania for the hearing, as these would all be costs actually incurred by Plaintiff as a proximate cause of Defendant's motion. II. SANCTIONS AGAINST ATTOaNmY J~8 K. JONS8 James K. Jones, Esq. has engaged in a pattern of ethical and procedural violations directed against Plaintiff ever since first taking this case on behalf of Defendant Gregory Filak. The first such ethical violation occurred as soon as Attorney Jones filed Defendant's answer without a good-faith belief in thp. truth of his client's testimony as required by 42 Pa.C.S. S 9579(A) (3). One significant example of Attorney Jones' failure to properly verify his client's answer is that Paragraph 60 of Defendant's Answer states that "Plaintiff never had any previous complaints regarding the way Defendant treated her." However, a letter sent by Defendant to Plaintiff on Defendant's own letterhead four months before litigation ever commenced explicitly admits Defendant was aware Plaintiff had threatened legal action, and implies that this threat motivated him to extend Plaintiff an alleged "warranty." A second and more egregious example of Attorney Jones' failure to verify his client's word occurs in Paragraph 27 s of Def~ndant's Answer, which states that "[i]t is denied that the [Windows 95] start-up disk is required. The Windows installation disks are needed for this task [transferring computer data files) if the original transfer does not properly transfer all the data." However, the user's manual as well as the relevant techinal notes which are put out by MicrOSOft, the manufacturer of the Windows 95 system at issue in this case, clearly states that only the Windows 95 start-up disk or CD-ROM is required for the operating system to run (and hence the successful transfer of files) and that installation disks are merely an optional way to do the same thing. In fact, the "installation disks" themselves are an archaic concept, because Mircosoft only offered these disks as a supplemental resource when a person chose to pay an extra fee for them. Most significant, however, is the fact that Microsoft stopped selling such installation disks as of March 31, 1994 according to the owner's manual for the computer that is the subject of this litigation. Attorney Jones' failure to verify his clients competence and/or honesty on this issue is a serious violation of 42 Pa.C.S. S 9579 (A) (3) . Attorney Jones' next ethical violation occurred in December 1998, when he allowed the twenty (20) day statute of limitations to lapse on the filing of Defendant's answer 6 to Plaintiff's amended complaint despite having assured Plaintiff that he did intend to file an answer within the statutory period. As Attorney Jones has never provided a single word of explanation for why he chose to let the statute lapse and forced Plaintiff to file a praecipe for default judgment with the Prothonotary under P.a. R.C.P. S 1037(b) before finally filing the answer during the ten (10) day statutory window allotted by the default judgment rule, Plaintiff must conclude that his failure to do so was intentional, with the purpose of delaying litigation and the misplaced hope that Plaintiff might just forget about the whole thing. However, whether Attorney Jones' failure to follow the statute of limitations was intentional or merely grossly negligent, it is still a violation of Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 3.2, requiring an attorney to expedite litigation in a fair and timely manner whenever possible. When Attorney Jones finally did get around to filing the answer, it contained a counterclai~ as well as substantial amounts of New Matter not properly captioned as such. After Plaintiff replied to Defendant's answer, Attorney Jones filed Preliminary Objections attempting to strike the reply as not in conformity with Pa. R.C.P. S 1017(a). However, the plain text of S l017(a), which Attorney Jones himself cites in his Objections, states on 7 its face that a reply is permitted if the answer contains a counterclaim or new matter, and Defendant's answer contains both. Therefore, the Preliminary Objection is frivolous on its face and violates 42 Pa.C.S. S 9579(A) (2), requiring an attorney to have a good-faith basis when arguing a question of law, as well as Pa. Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1, generally prohibiting frivolous claims, motions or pleadings. Plaintiff wrote a letter to Attorney Jones pointing out these facts, and he wrote a letter back reiterating his original position and refusing to remedy the situation in any way. The morning after the last day on which Attorney JoneB could have filed Preliminary Objections to Plaintiff's Reply, Plaintiff called the Prothonotary's office and found that he h~d indeed filed such objections. After waiting two more days and not receiving any objections in the mail, Plaintiff drove down to Attorney Jones' office to ask if he had mailed the objections to her. There, she discovered he had not in fact mailed the objections to her. As Attorney Jones did not express any intent to mail the objections to Plaintiff anytime in the near future, she was forced to ask him to personally hand her a copy of the objections, which he did. Again, whether Attorney Jones' failure to mail the objections to Plaintiff was an intentional act to delay litigation and trick Plaintiff into waiting for the 8 objections to arrive while the twenty (20) day response period ticked by, or whether it was simply another act of gross negligence, his conduct in this matter nonetheless violates the letter of Pa. Rule of Professional Conduct 3.2, as well as the spirit of rule 3.4, requiring fairness toward opposing party and counsel. Finally, as noted earlier in this Motion, Plaintiff has not received any response to her interrogatories evcn though the thirty (30) day deadline has already elasped five days ago. Moreover, Plaintiff has no evidence to indicate that either Defendant or Attorney Jones has taken any action with regard to answering these interrogatories at all, let alone promptly. Therefore, at least for Attorney Jones, this is yet another violation of Pa. Rule of Professional Conduct 3.2, requiring an attorney to expedite litigation whenever reasonably possible. CONCLUSION AND PRADR I'OR SANCTIONS First, the Court should note that all documentary evidence mentioned in this motion has been attached for the Court's convenience. Defendant Gregory Filak has failed to answer interrogatories in a timely manner, and has also filed 9 . Informalion In this doculllenl is subject to chunge wilholltnullce. ('oIllJlllnies. nallles. IInd dala used In e~lIll1ples herein arc l1ellllolls unless olherwise 1I0ted. No Jl"rlof this doclIllIcnllllny be reprodllced or transmilled In any form or by an) means. electronic or llIedlUnlcnl. for any purpose, wilhoutlhe cxpress wrlllen pennisslon of MlcrllSoft Corporal ion, 01993 Microsoft Corpurutlon. All righls reserved. Microsoft [)erruglllenler I) 19l!l!-199.l Symanlec Corporulion Microsoft Backup" 1991-1993 SYlllantec Corporallon and Quest Development Corporation Microsoft Undelete 0 19l!l!.199.' Cenlral Polnl Software. Inc. MSA V 01992-1993 Central Point Software. Inc. Microsoft, Microsoft Press. MS. lInd MS-DOS arc registered trudelllarks. and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corpuralionlnlhe United Slates of Alllerlca nnd other countries. U.S. Palent NUlllbers 4955066 and 5109433 Adaplec is a trademurk of Adaptec. Inc. AddStor is a registered Irademark and SupcrStor is Illrademllrk of AddStor. Inc. AT&T is a registered trademark of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. CompuAdd is a registered lrademark of CompuAdd Corporation. CompuServe is a regiMered lrademark of COlllpuServe. Inc. Everex is a trademark or Everex Systems, Inc. GEnie is a trademark of General Eleclric Corporation. Vfeature Is a trademark or Golden Bow Systems. Hewlell-Packurd, UP, and Vectra arc registered lrademarks of Hewlell-Packard Company. Hitachi is a registered trademark of Uilachi, Ltd. AT. IBM. Proprinter. PSII, PS/2. and Quietwriter arc registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Bernoulli Is a registered lrademark or Iomega Corporalion. Logilech is a trademark of Logitech. Inc. Novell is a registered trademark of Novell. Inc. Disk Manager is a registered trademark of On track Computer Systems, Inc. Philips is a regislered trademark or Philips Internalional B.V. Priam is a registered trademark or Priam Corporalion. SpcedStor is a registered lrademark or Storage Dimensions. Symantec and Norton Backup arc trademarks of Symanlec Corporation. Syquest is a registered trademark of Syquest Technology. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX Systems laboratories. .1 (X)K.A()7~~.EN OM/MAl' Printed in Taiwan R.O.C. I I I >- I Iln' '>- 1". .. ..... -l ~ r; .' ti ,I ,~'; ( , j','1 I, e I, I (i' f~, t: 't t;: - " I Ll, .'. t. 'L-: I f-\ (;1 (J Iii 'I f i,1 'I " I I " I' " I I I I, 1~,',:,", "",-'k' , " \ \ " \0 '\ !; '''~ "I', H,I,'!!")-';'I"'_'!i1"'''- .' 1/, - 'i'd' f [,;\;".:\1 ',~~n"t\ll ;\t~ if'!'\1~'I'J!t,i'I~IIF~fftr~Hf1"(t:f~~!i;~' " , , " Jim" K. Jones, Esquire 7 Irvine Row Carlisle. PA 17013.3019 (71 n 24o.oa96 ",.,;., " I' t, .I",.ttl>:"'......~ '. ," I' ~ . ~ , " iI .-11 , . I , , '~~' " , " " 1,'1 , , :i il l"':~_ . . . \ , , , , Theresa A. Santorella Plain'tiff v. IIN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF ICUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA I I No. 97-5676 CIVIL TERM I I CIVIL ACTION--LAW Unlimited: : JURY TRIAL DEMANDED Gregory A. Filak, D/B/A Tech SUpport Defendant TO: Gregory A. Filak You are hereby notified to give a written response to the attached Interrogatories and return same to the Plaintiff within twenty (30) days from service hereof as required under Rule 4006 of the Pennsylvania Rules Of Civil Procedure. ---11Nrw IIt\ a. ~ Theresa A. Santorella 527 South Pitt Street Apartment 5 Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) -258-8232 eX' If ~ 6rr " , , " I , t'l \, ~AI? 1 1 1998 , , "II , " 3. 'State the job function, scope of responsibility, and len1th of employment of any employees who worked for Tech support Unlimited in the year of 1997. I , , , I '.11 " " \. d , ., " " ., , jJ ',I ".1 'I i 11. Identify any liens sqainst the real or personal property of Filak, TSU and/or TAE. '" 'i " I I I I I I " , ,~ , " I 'I " I I ,Ii 'I , " I, '! ., , , I I I I ., I I, II ;,; 19. State the cost to F1lak and/or TSU of all computer parts sold to Ms. Santorella. ii I, I I I I , , I, " I, I " 1',-,:."1 'I " II , ' ,I " ,i' I I Does the Defendant believe that it is a customer's 26. responsibility to back up data him to upgrade a computer? in a hard drive aft.r hir1nq " , , .1 i , ' ,,] 'I 'It , ' ,j' j\ Z6 28. Did Filak at any time warn Ms. Santorella that she should back up any of her data before he was hired to install parts and transfer data on the Plaintiff' IS computer? " " I' , " , ' , , ,I, I',' , I I, 2. . , . , 33. State the percentage of personal computers (i.e. desktop models and laptop models) in the industry for the' years of 1996 and 1997 which used the Windows 95 operatinq system. , ' " " state the percentage of computers in the Defendant's located at 118 W. North Street 1n the years of 1996 ;tore ,nd 1997 used the Windows 95 operat1nQ system. ;, I " ,"I', , ,I "oj ,', I, , " , 34 40. State the written text of any warranty and/or customer satisfaction quarantee siqn that ws~ located on the premises of Tech Support Unlimited in the month of February 1997. Ii " , ' , , " ,I , I 'I ,I .\ 40 " . TABLa or AUTBORITIIS STATY.,.S Pa. R.C.P. S 1017(a) """""""""""" t,f """"""""" .6, 7, 8, 12, 13. . Pa. R.C.P. S 1029(a) ".""""",,,,,,,,,,,,, ..,,,,,....,,...,, ......." .. . .12 Pa. R.C.P. S 1029(b) , , , , , . , , , , , , , , , ",~ , , , , , , , , , . . . , , . , , ,,8, 12 Pa. R.C.P. S 1030(a) "..""" ..."".."""""""..t"""""" .,f"""" .10, 13 Pa. R.C.P. I> 1032. """"..""""""""""""."""""""."..""" , . . ".. , " .8 Pa. R.C.P. S 1037. "".""""""""""""."""""""""""""""" . . . ".. , .11 ROLIIS or CONSTRUCTION Pa. S 127(b) """""""".""""." .,.'''''..''"""..""".".""""""" R.C.P. Pa. S 128 (a) .""""."""""".... ...."...""" ," ....""" .... R.C.P. CUI' Gotwalt 395 Pa. v. De11inqer Insurance Aqency. super. 439, 444; 577 A.2d 623 .."""""""" ...."."." .11 (Pa. Super. 1990) Harmer v. Hulsey.. 321 Pa. Super. 11, ""."..""......"".."".".""..... , """ .6 15; 467 A.2d 867 (pa. Super. 1983) Kline v. Forman,. 404 Pa. 301, 306; ".."..""" . .".."..."" , "".. .10 172 A.2d 164 (Pa. 1961) Paulish 442 Pa. v. Bakaitis,."".. ...... 434, 439; 275 A.2d 318 '''. . '''''..''.''''''''..''''.' .11 (Pa. 1971) Ruhe v. 425 Pa. Kroger Company, ........ 213, 216; 228 A.2d 750 ".... , .". , . , t t." " , , . . . .11 (pa. 1967) 3 .7 .7 II, .1 I , ,I By failing to properly caption as "NEW MATTER" the additional facts concealed within his answer, Defendant attempted to prevent Plaintiff from replying to those facts. Had Plaintiff failed to respond, the New Matter would have been deemed admitted under Pa. R.C.P. S 1029(b) and Defendant could have moved for default judgment. In addition, Plaintiff is permitted under Pa. R.C.P. S 1017(a) to reply to New Matter even if that New Matter does not contain an affirmative defense. Because all of the provisions of Defendant's answer listed above contain "material facts which are not merely denials...of the previous pleading," Pa. R.C.P. S 1029(a), Plaintiff is permitted to reply to all such provisions. Failing to allow Plaintiff to do so would essentially allow Defendant free rein to throw all sorts of new facts into his answer without fear of being contradicted. 12 ., " CONCLUSION AND PRAYIR Pa. R.C. P. S 1017 (a) allows a reply "if the anskler contains New Matter or a counterclaim." (emphasis added) Defendant's answer contains a counterclaim ~learly labeled "COUNTERCLAIM." Defendant's answer also contains New Matter which is not clearly labeled "NEW MATTER." If the Supreme Court had meant to limit the reply only to the counterclaim and New Matter, the rule would state that it allows a reply "only to new matter or a counterclaim." Therefore, by the plain text of the rule, Plaintiff should be permitted to reply to Defendant's entire answer since his answer contains both New Matter and a Counterclaim. A reply to New Matter is allowed by Pa. R.C.P. S 1017. If the New Matter contains an affirmative defense, Plaintiff must reply or possibly suffer a default judgment. Since the Court on a motion for default judgment determines whether New Matter requires a response, Plaintiff exercised reasonable caution in responding to all New Matter in Defendant's answer, even when not labeled as "NEW MATTER." Pa. R.C.P. 1030(a) also defines New Matter as any new facts which do not merely deny the prior pleading. The bulk of Defendant's answer is comprised of facts which do more than deny Plaintiff's complaint. Since S 1017(a) allows a reply to any New Matter, not just to affirmative defenses, 13 ., I " I, , , ., " , , " r 1 '....) " , ,." I I": " " " I,. I .oj . , " ,. " I" .,. " l.i'I' , " . , " " 'Ii ,,' " " I, L' " , , "j " .1 " " I, 1'1.1 PAGE 11 4TH DOCUMENT ot Level 1 pnnt.d 1n FULL tormat. PENNSYLVANIA RULES OF COURT ... THIS DOCUMENT REFLECTS CHANGES RECEIVED THROUGH 12/01/97 ... PENNSYLVANIA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE ACTIONS AT I.AW CIVIL ACTION JUDGMENT UPON DEFAULT OR ADMISSION PA ST RCP Rule 1037 (1997) <-I> Review Court Orde. which may amend this Rule Rule 1037. Judgment Upon Detault or Admission. As.essment of Damages (a) It an action i. not commenced by a complaint, the prothonotary, upon praecipe of the defendant, shsll enter a rule upon the plaintitf to file a complaint. It a complaint is not filed within twenty (20) day. after service of the rule, the prothonotary, upon praecipe ot the defendant, .hall enter a judgment of non pro.. Note: See Rule 237.I(a) (2) which require. the praec1pe tor judgment ot non pro. to contain a certification ot written notice of intent to file the praecipe. (bl The prothonotary, on praecipe of the plaintiff, .hall enter judgment again.t the defendant for failure to file within the required time a pleading to a complaint which contain. a notice to defend or for any relief admitted to be due by the defendant'. pleading.. Note: See Rule 237.1 which require. the praecipe for detault jUdgment to contain a certification ot written notice of intent to file the praecipe. (11 The prothonotary .hall a..e.. damage. for the amount to which the plaintiff i. entitled if it i. a .um certain or which can be made certain by computation, but if it i. not, the damages .hall be a..e..ed at a trial at which the i..ue. .hall be limited to the amount of the damage.. (2) In all action. in which the only damage. to be a..e.sed are the co.t of repairs made to property (il the prothonotary on praecipe of the plaintiff, waiving any other damage. under the judgment, and the filing of the affidavit. provided by .ubparagr.ph. (ii) and (iiil .hall a..... damage. for the co.t. of the repair.; (iil the praecipe .hall b. accompani.d by an affidavit of the r.pairman; the affidavit of the repairman .hall contain an itemized r.pair bill .etting forth the charge. for labor and material u.ed in the repair of the property; it .hall also .tate the qualification. of the per.on who made or .upervi.ed the repairs, that the repairs were necessary, and that the price. for labor and material were fsir and rea.onable and those customarily charg.d; l <& o~q') t." J t 'I ., A , -- ,. f\1l-">W?()C().)('l\1:("-~\1.\ ''r "tnk~e.:i t.l\\ :~!I\\- OUt- on 2./~lq3 , ii/iffI Sorry W. Mined Your fJ:11li TIU. We ',I2tDollver For Youl '\. :~o::; m>. osl O'''e. (so", 10VO'SO) ,-,tift 0 . · ~[~,~~c~EK vou~i!,j]tPR-ESENT AT TIME OF DELIVERY 0 SIGN' . EJl.P"" Md (,-..,.,"'-')' "'lid . 0 TE o largo .n,.lapt, noli dt".,.'Y dty 0 p~~ulnng P'yment 0 FINAL NOnel magazine, Cltllll lie II/nt... t'OlI Cln,o hold a coo Il' Cueo C ArtJd. wi. be ,_t.. . ".,,, a"""' Am ullomo I dt ~.med o Pore'l CU,11ned OUnIOuI:,__ 010" tOf): o lured AdU'e~llQG.;::a~.Jti!l!.'J. n_. - o Oollvory R..lllcled 0 Rou'.lared --.1'u.l1.Jl::..;J ::Jt){\f") 10 Addr8llo. 0 A'tum RlCelpt Addlua o PerIshable 111m tor M.rchllfldl" o Recorded DaUvery [J Ilnlon14UonaI) o Spoclal Oollvery .~ ~ v.t~.. OJ?,";t Vcl>'~";:Y'991 I. Domag. Delivery NQUCelRlmlndlrm,etlpt \ C ef( fiJd ~' :{)Ff} 8 (' clJ Nfl!!'! 5Irztttfi=- e~/ft~ In {"(fir) ~tf ;flt#. (J";/7~/e. .I [)/lVf# r. '~/&d'1c I ('II i' /)Et,"i1?Y 'iv/,.,>/{v/.. ar1t',~ <.~f1,<'I.IF~ 51(;IIIFt' M /rJt1DI'1 t~FT Ntd UfilJ {NCq41F(rIJil"F. ''''t . . . 1M. ::: ~ -::n: ~otb additional ..rvle... I I I .Print yow namd ~ ~ddt. ' a $0 wish 10 rocelve the ~rd 10 you. .. on the f......". 01 It'll. lorm 10 thai WI can I,lurn thl, ronowfng services ('or 8n -Aneth thl, form 10 1"- Pr ~ of IN extra fee): perm/I. 0 malrpl.~. 01 on the back I' 'pace doe, not j it 'Wr1I"RlfhJmR~;plR IfI(j' 1. 0 Addressoe'. Address ti . The Rllum Aecejpl 'Mn :~" on ,,.. mailpl.C4 bolow IN .rtldt numbe~ 8 Glllv"td, W 10 whom tho ar1h:l. was dellv'tN and thl dal. 2. 0 Restricted Delivery f 3. Mcl. Addre..ed 10: eonsull poslme.le, 10' fee, I 4B~de Number ~""J:l'l\ll.\\\.-:r~ <;,,~ - C'/3 .;<,7S-3 "'/ I "I:NI!\l. 9,t>W \ ~. lb. Sarvtee TIP' j c.c.rY \ D 0 Aogl.lored Certiflad \~ (., f ~ \/oo\,2,-2.D\,\ 0 Expre..Msil Oln.urad I o A.'um Rscoipl 101 Marchand.. 0 COD 1 7, Oo'a 010 Irw .. 5, Aoc.lve 1: rintNam.) - '"< ~ 2 JjJcry I , ~ 8, Addre.. .'. Add.... (Only" reqlt..,ed J . and I.. f. psfd) .: (...<!dro.... or - PS Form 38", Oecember 1994 -' , . . , , , t: I.r) ... ..!J , I. . " /, , "I; l.I.' , ~,-2 " ' . , I' .: ~ ,; / C ,. " tL' d ! '. , l~. , ) l..J l~ \ <.J V' ,,' ~l ~ " " I '" ". 'I ,. " , , , , , , ", " '. " i,,' " , I }' , '1 d .d \ , ~ f ' " \ -{," (('j('( ('Co '( (, ; . ( ( ;, ') c . L I I ., In The Court of COr.llllon Plolas of CumbllrlancJ County, ?ennsyl'fania " (,.., .,0. (I, , I - ) ( ,( 0 19 ' 1'/ L l.'ou.'{(c'U, I ': D~ i,' (.ft )7//(,/ (-'" I We do sol~ly swear (or affirm) the Conatitution of the United States ~ealth and that we will discharge the ./ that we will support, ObolY and defend and the CvnlSt1tu~ioft or this Co~on- duties of/_OU~'Q"~7 .~rh :idelity. ; ..../f -- '~)J.'~jf. ai;' 1'~. {;f Me L:..- AWARD We, the undersigned arbitrators, having been duly appointed and sworn (or affirmed), make the following award: (Note: If damagea for delay are awarded, they shall be separatal stated.) t, o " . 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