Misrepresented Product

[hotdog2007]

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I purchased a hot dog cart for $2500 from a local fellow on Craig's List. He told me the cart was NSF certified, which is required by law in the State of Georgia. NSF certification is for all food handling products. I also mentioned that the State requires a three-sink attachment in addition to the handwashing sink on the cart. He said that they were very easy to attach and that he would pick me up one that weekend "at cost". For three weeks now he has refused to answer my phone calls or address these issues. He finally sent me an email that stated that he had no obligation. Unfortunately, not having the NSF certification is preventing me from getting a permit from the Health Department, and the addition of the three-sinks has proven to be a major operation requiring special tools and training. Does the seller have any responsibility at all in this matter, or is it another case of "buyer beware"?

Thanks in advance.

 

[You Are Guilty]

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I purchased a hot dog cart for $2500 from a local fellow on Craig's List. He told me the cart was NSF certified, which is required by law in the State of Georgia. NSF certification is for all food handling products. I also mentioned that the State requires a three-sink attachment in addition to the handwashing sink on the cart. He said that they were very easy to attach and that he would pick me up one that weekend "at cost". For three weeks now he has refused to answer my phone calls or address these issues. He finally sent me an email that stated that he had no obligation. Unfortunately, not having the NSF certification is preventing me from getting a permit from the Health Department, and the addition of the three-sinks has proven to be a major operation requiring special tools and training. Does the seller have any responsibility at all in this matter, or is it another case of "buyer beware"?

He might. What proof do you have of his statement that it was NSF certified?

 

[hotdog2007]

I have nothing in writing, only his spoken words. We discussed my concerns about the NSF certification and the need for three sinks on his carport. He told me that all his carts met NSF certification and that it did not require any written documentation or label on the product. I have learned since then, that this is not true.

 

[You Are Guilty]

While I personally think his statements were sufficient enough to overcome the typical caveat emptor rule (and of course, a judge may certainly disagree), without more than your word about it, the case is hard to win. Odds are you'll go to court, ask him "did you ever tell me that your carts were NSF certified" to have him respond "Huh? No! I don't have any idea what you're talking about." (Of course, he might tell the truth, but with his history, probably not a good bet).

When it comes down to "he-said, she-said" type cases, unless you can really do a number on his credibility (i.e. written proof), courts tend to give both sides equal credence. And if that happens, you lose - you need to be 50.00001% more credible than the seller.

But, if filing the small claims case isn't too much of an inconvenience for you (time, travel, money, etc), it might be worth doing it if for no other reason than to give you some leverage in trying to resolve this with the seller.

 

[hotdog2007]

Thank You! Your answer was pretty much what I expected. It's funny, you go 25 - 30 years dealing with honest people and you get spoiled. I knew when I was negotiating such important matters that I should get something in writing, but my trust in "human nature" urged me to keep quiet.

I do have one more angle that might give me an edge in small claims court. He mentioned that Hooters had ordered 6 more carts from him. If I can get someone there to indicate that he has made false claims, I might get them to give me a written affadavit. I hate the idea of this rascal getting away with this, but over the years I have learned that education can be very expensive. In this case, $2500. I guess it could have been worse.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Witness affidavits saying that the seller made similar (false) claims to them would go a long way to shoring up the one glaring weakness to your case. The more you can get, the stronger your claim becomes. Give it a shot and see what happens. If nothing else, this guy needs to be stopped from screwing more people over in the future. You owe your fellow hot-doggers at least that much

Good luck.


PS: Don't forget to also get written confirmation that the carts need to be NSF certified, otherwise it's just your word on that as well.