internet purchase

[John Ash]

Hi,I am in Florida.I recently bought a watch on the internet for $2450.It was bought from a man and his wife.The wife mailed it via Fedex under her name,under her account.Fedex lost the watch and even though the seller thought it was insured for $2500,it was not because Fedex has a limit of liability for $500 on jewelry.The seller went to court with Fedex and the court ruled in Fedex's favor and paid the seller $500.The seller lives in California.Do I have a case against the seller for the loss?Should it be done through small claims court?If so,how is this done?Also,recently,the husband and wife seperated and filed for divorce.The husband is now in Chicago.Do I also need to sue him,or since the wife handled the mailing and insuring of the package,sue her?Also,when I made a gesture to the husband that if he incrued any expenses such as phone calls persuing Fedex,that he could keep that money out of the $500 that he received from Fedex,he took it upon himself to cash and keep ALL the money!Please help!John

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Hi,I am in Florida.I recently bought a watch on the internet for $2450.It was bought from a man and his wife.The wife mailed it via Fedex under her name,under her account.Fedex lost the watch and even though the seller thought it was insured for $2500,it was not because Fedex has a limit of liability for $500 on jewelry.The seller went to court with Fedex and the court ruled in Fedex's favor and paid the seller $500.The seller lives in California.Do I have a case against the seller for the loss?Should it be done through small claims court?If so,how is this done?Also,recently,the husband and wife seperated and filed for divorce.The husband is now in Chicago.Do I also need to sue him,or since the wife handled the mailing and insuring of the package,sue her?Also,when I made a gesture to the husband that if he incrued any expenses such as phone calls persuing Fedex,that he could keep that money out of the $500 that he received from Fedex,he took it upon himself to cash and keep ALL the money!Please help!John

My response:

It sounds to me like you haven't paid any money yet. If that's the case, then you have no grounds for a lawsuit. The contract is void for "failure of consideration"; e.g., the object of the contract, the watch, is no longer available through no fault of the seller. You can't "make" someone sell you something that no longer exists, as long as the seller did not breach the contract, or if there was no fraud involved.

If you did, in fact, pay for the watch, then you are entitled to a refund from the seller. The process for a lawsuit can be quite convoluted because there are two States involved. I would suggest, that if you need to file such a lawsuit, that you buy a book on Small Claims Court procedures at your local bookstore.

IAAL

 

[JackieTroll]

EAAAL must be ass-uming the agreement did not include delivery by FEDEX.

If it did, then the seller met his obligations, and your only recourse is against FEDEX....and you will lose there.

I have seen many similiar cases lately where sellers prevail because the buyer agreed to terms that included delivery by USPS, but somehow the post office botched things. In nearly every case, it was shown that the buyer agreed to terms, and was S-O-L.

If you failed to ensure that the agreed-upon method of delivery would sufficiently cover any potential loss, then it's your fault.

All this, of course, only applies if you entered into a contract with specific terms to use FEDEX as a conduit.