40 - Sunday. December 24, 1989 - North Shore News Help’s at hand HELP’S AT Hand, a_ weekly feature by the North Shore Infor- mation and Volunteer Centre, an- swers questions about and discusses such topics as govern- ment policies and programs, benefits, consumer and_ legal tights, taxation and public ser- vices. Answers published in this col- umn are intended only as a general guide and should not be applied to specific individual cases without further consultation. wee In this season of good tidings it gives us at the North Shore Infor- mation and Volunteer Centre great pleasure to bring you a story with a happy ending. This is the tale of @ young woman who came to our office with a consumer problem and, having received informatioa and counselling, was able to resolve the matter herself. This case involved an old but dearly loved car. This was the kind of car that goes forever and never lets you down. The odd patch of rust that appeared had been pains- takingly rubbed down and_ re- painted, and the car was reguiarly serviced. In fact, although you never can tell with old cars, with luck it was all set to run merrily on for another 10 years or so. Although the car’s monetary value was small, its value to its owner was 2 ER SE Mee RANI immeasurable. That was until it was time to check the radiator for anti-freeze. The young woman took the car to one of the franchise operations of- fering lube and oil change services and asked them, among other things, to drain and flush the radiator. She waited while this was done, and was a little concerned when the mechanic told her that her radiator had a ‘‘small’’ leak and she should have it fixed soon. She asked if it was safe to drive the car, and was told that it would be just fine if she had the leak repaired in the next week or two. So off she went home along the highway. She hadn’t gone more than five or six miles when the needle of the temperature gauge hit the red and steam gushed out from under the hood. She stopped and allowed the car to cool down, then carried on her way. The temperature now read cool and there was no more steam, but after a couple of miles the car stopped dead. You've guessed it — the radiator was completely dry. To cut a long story short, after the car was towed to a nearby garage, it became apparent that when the mechanics at the oil and lube place, a bare half-hour earlier, had tried to remove the plug to drain the radiator, they had applied enough force to tear the metal surrounding the plug which they had then tried to patch with some kind of metal com- pound. After quite a lot of exploratory work was done on the car, it was evident that only after the expen- diture of a large sum of money would it ever be its old self, and the young woman was forced to abandon the cause. This is where the legal informa- tion counsellor at the North Shore Information and Volunteer Centre was able to help. This young woman, who felt that it was most unfair that not only should she suffer the loss of her car but was also faced with a bill for towing and work on the vehicle, wanted to take the garage which had dam- aged the radiator to Small Claim Court. She was advised of the best way to proceed, how to fill out a sum- mons, who to name as defendant and how to serve the summons. There is always a delay before small claim cases come to court, usually running into several months, but eventually the day ar- tived. Our client was well prepared. She had all the facts at her fingertips, with the relevant dates and the bills from both garages who had worked on her car. She More Help uring the winter months our Nort News carriers deliver the paper after dark yon Wednesdays and Fridays. You can assist our carriers by leaving your out- side ci on for them. eye DISTRIBUTION THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER CLEARANCE fo EVERYTHING IN THE STORE % OFF ? @NO EXCHANGES ¢ NO RETURNS ¢ * ALL SALES FINAL ve ON BOXING DAY (Somtong: spa Open 7 days a week, 9:30 am to 6:30 pm Friday ‘til 9:00 p.m. Restaurants open later. Phone: 985-6261 LONSDALE QUAY MARKET 984-7243