Sad auction story [exidy sorcerer]

From: Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com <(Philip.Belben_at_pgen.com)>
Date: Tue Aug 15 06:32:04 2000

Sellam, quoting Chuck:

>> Nope, this is fraud plain and simple. What was sold was an electronic
>> "prop" used in furniture stores to highlight how a piece of furniture might
>> look at home. I've seen a variety of things from color TVs to Amiga's done
>> up this way. Usually on the bottom is the sticker from the company
>> (Proptronics usually, but there are others) that created it. Some of their
>> more interesting ones are color TVs with a color picture in the "tube" and
>> a light bulb behind it. The boring ones are all cardboard.
>>
>> If I were you I'd contact the seller and ask for a refund.
>
> I agree with Chuck here. You were out & out defrauded. Luckily for you,
> you're within beating distance of this guy. Ideally you're in the same
> county, and you can threaten him with a complaint to the District Attorney
> (in the States, he's the top prosecutor for the county one lives in...you
> don't generally have THE D.A. prosecute your case (unless he/she wants to
> set an example with your case) but your complaint is referred to the
> D.A.'s office for follow-up by one of the prosecutors there...anyway,
> enough of American Gubment 101).
>
> If he refuses to follow through with the refund, file the complaint. As
> Chuck suggests, you can also file a claim with the Post Office which will
> follow up on this.
>
> Jim, don't settle for anything less here. You were defrauded by this
> person, whether it was intentional on his part or not. $200+ is way too
> much money to be spent on a piece of plywood. Get your money back.

Hang on. In principle I agree with Chuck and Sam, but you can cause a lot of
trouble by using the wrong words. To start with, DON'T accuse this guy of fraud
until you have had at least two more goes at getting your money back!

I am not a lawyer, and certainly not an American lawyer, but I claim you have
missed the difference between FRAUD and MISREPRESENTATION.

What you have here is misrepresentation - the seller has claimed the item is a
computer, when it actually isn't.

English law makes a distinction between the civil offence "Innocent
misrepresentation" - the seller genuinely did not intend to sell you a dud - and
the criminal offence "Fraudulent misrepresentation" - the seller actually
intended to defraud you. (A lot of English law depends on intent - very hard to
prove, but...)

In a case of innocent misrepresentation, the sale is voidable - you can sue for
your money back, and you have to return the goods essentially undamaged
(excepting cases like a machine that died when you tried to use it because it
was misrepresented as being suitable for the job).

In a case of fraudulent misrepresentation, the penalties can be higher -
including consequential losses - and I think the seller can even go to jail.

I can see that you're going to be annoyed paying $200 for a box with no
circuitry in it. But don't start accusing people of crimes like fraud until you
have exhausted other avenues...

I suggest you find out what the American equivalent of innocent
misrepresentation is called, and accuse him of that - privately first, and then
backed by lawyers and the courts. Again, in the UK a matter of $200 (plus costs
of course) would be the province of the Small Claims Court, but I don't know how
it works in the US.

Have fun :-(

Philip.







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Received on Tue Aug 15 2000 - 06:32:04 BST