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DMR_ML

Guest
What is the name of your state? BC

I know i'm not from the States, however, the problem is between myself and an individual in Florida. I need some help to resolve this.

This individual emailed me concerning a bike frame that was for sale for 400 CAD and we worked it out to 330 US including the shipping fares. He sent me a money order for 330 US and it would take 25 business days to clear according to my bank. When the frame arrived in Florida he claimed that the frame had an unrideable dent that couldnt possibly be from biking because it looked as though a hammer had hit it forcefully.

Also, he requested that I ship express and he'd pay the difference...I ended up paying 110 plus packaging to send it to him. There was no insurance on the package. He suggested that I ship him back his money and he'd ship me back my frame. That would mean i'm left with a broken frame and out 110 CAD. In all fareness i never accept responsibility for something that happens in shipping and he never requested insurance. He says that if i do not comply with what he says then he will get a lawyer. I am curious of what exactly he could press on me? If anyone has information please help me. Thank you
 


N

netio

Guest
"I know i'm not from the States, however, the problem is between myself and an individual in Florida. I need some help to resolve this."

No worries. I am from Canada.

First, here is a little snippet I posted earlier on some other topic regarding use of e-mail as evidence: (if you don't want to read it all, it basically says that e-mails are mostly not considered as strong evidence)

E-mail evidence:

(1) Providing a printed (hard) copy of the e-mail is not strong evidence since the content and other parts of the e-mail can easily be manipulated.
(2) Providing an electronic copy of the e-mail, while better than a printed copy [section 1], is not considered strong evidence [subsection (a) and (b)], because,
--(a) if you provide the court with electronic data copied by you over a media such as a floppy-disk it can still be very easily manipulated; and

--(b) if you manage to prove that the content of the e-mail has not been manipulated by logging into your e-mail account live in the court, the incoming address would still not be verifiable, since
----(i) the e-mail technology at the moment allows an individual to specify any incoming address/name while sending an e-mail. This is like sending snail-mail, where one can write anything in the "from" block on the envelope; and
----(ii) even if the incoming address is proven accurate, one can have difficulty associating an e-mail address with the person who sent it (even if the name of that person is specified in the incoming address). This is because of existence of free e-mail services such as Hotmail or Yahoo that allow any one to sign-up for an e-mail address of their choice, and not verify that person's identity.

Saying this, I have seen many judges consider such e-mail as somewhat of a strong evidence (because most small claims court judges do not fully understand the electronic mailing system). This is the mostly the case when the judge already knows what his/her moral decision is, but needs some sort of an excuse to make it his/her final decision.

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The rest:

However, I am unsure of how the case, if any, is going to be effected by the fact that you live in Canada and he lives in the United States.

If I could take an educated guess, I'd guess that considering that you live in Canada, his lawyer would instruct him aginst taking legal action. His lawyer might on the other hand simply try and get you to settle to a deal by writing letters.

If his lawyer does write such letters, I'd recommend that you respond without accepting any offer that you find even slightly unfair (I'd find him asking for any money unfair. I don't know what else he could possibly ask for :)).

You should ask for photographs of the claimed damage. Then respond to him or his lawyer by saying that if the damage was caused by the shipping company, it's a risk his client was willing to take at the time of the purchase, since he was the one who chose the shipping method and paid for it. So, simply say that you should not be held responsible for the effects that his client's decisions have had on the arrival of the bike frame.

Remember, do not easily give up. You have a very strong case.

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Possible complexities:

If you this transaction has gone through online systems such as E-bay, your case will become much more complex. Your case will be strongly effected by the online system's policies and user-agreements.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Netio:
You have NO idea of what you are talking about!!
First, you are in Canada, and unless you are a licensed attorney in the US, your posts are inherently 'suspect' as to your understanding of US laws.
Second.... this is NOT a Canada forum.
Third, say goodbye.
 

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