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Dale of Huntington Beach, CA, writes:
On May 7, 2000, we visited Universal Studios and received a sudden and powerful, direct water drenching caused by a jet-skier from the attraction called Water World. A jet-skier barreled directly toward us from across the waters at a high speed and suddenly did a u-turn to deliberately cause a powerful stream of water to drench our seating area. We were seated approximately six rows back and near the center of the grandstands which we thought reasonably safe.
The drenching I felt was unnecessary and leaves me to conclude that the jet-skier had only one agenda: to drench as many people as possible, regardless of where they're sitting or what they may be protecting. And in my case, it was my camcorder.
The camcorder captured the whole incident and can be viewed at: http://members.xoom.com/RMillerMEDS/0000/drenched.htm As a result of this drenching, my camcorder was left temporarily inoperative, but did eventually dry. Approximately three hours later, about 3:00 pm, it seemed to be okay and appeared to be working normally again. We were still at the park and left about 4:00 pm.
It did not occur to me that the camcorder could still be internally damaged but working at the same time. My point is that over the last two weeks, while not in use, the moisture from the water damaged internal components. Recently I tried to use it again and the unit would not power-up at times and also had a curious glow from the viewfinder even when switched off. The service technician indicated that a microprocessor suffered damage from water corrosion, as well as the mating circuit board terminals. He confirmed cause of damage was water getting inside.
With this assessment, I feel it only right that Universal Studios pay (or reimburse me) for the entire repair cost. The service center -- Colorvision Service Co. -- estimates the cost of repair to be $250.00.
The unit damaged is a 1995 Sony, Hi8 Stereo Camcorder, Model CCDV701. This unit had a retail price of $1,295.00 when new. I have owned it since new and have approximately 200 hours of use. This is a high-end unit and in my estimation, as well as the service center's, it is still worth at least $600.00 if you could find one used in the same, well kept condition.
Universal denied my claim stating the audience drenching is a part of the show that I should have anticipated.
If Dale really wants to make an issue of this, and it sounds as though he does, the simplest and quickest solution is to sue Universal in Small Claims Court . All he needs is his account of what happened, maybe an eyewitness or two, and the written estimate. The outcome's not guaranteed but at least the issue will be resolved one way or another.
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