more fraud

[Cessions]

I don't want to name names yet. However there is a store that has a web site that's toting register with the store and enter in the drawing for $1800 gift. The registering system puts you through the ringer but eventually you get to the end. The $1800 gift happens to be something made exclusively by a company that I know and have done business with. I thought it strange that they'd give this away as a prize so I contacted the owner of the company that makes the gift. He states that the company had contacted him about getting one for a prize but that they had changed their mind and canceled the order on 10/25/2000. I contacted the store. After many rings I got someone in the warehouse that told me that the owner had changed there mind and was not giving away anything on the internet. I asked to talk to a manager and the manager told me the owner had canceled the give-way a month ago and stated he didn't know anything about what the Internet say but he said he'd tell the owner right away. I've tried to contact the owner for a few weeks but I believe he knows what it's about and is avoiding me.

The web site states they are giving it away on 2/1/2001 there are no rules or regulations post
The store is in Minnesota; I'm in California.
Do we or I have any recourse?
Can someone in California sue someone in Minnesota?

 

[Jack Mevorach, Esq.]

Someone in one state can sue someone else in another state if the person suing has "long arm" jurisdiction. Mainly, this means that the out-of-state person came into the state to do business or otherwise make a profit. With the internet, the courts have been struggling to decide which types of websites and what type of activity will suffice to acquire long-arm jurisdiction. A developing area of law. You'd have to check with local counsel for a more definitive answer.