Caveat Emptor
By Mike Hughes ©
“I felt sick and couldnʼt sleep with the worry When a sale is subject to this warning the told me that it was a bit ʻbed sitter landʼ. Thatʼs
of it all”, my wife, Lynne, admitted to me later.
purchaser assumes the risk that the product when Lynneʼs spirits hit rock bottom.
might be either defective or unsuitable to his or
Jut how had this come about? Prior to marrying
her needs.
But we were not defeated yet. Lynne spoke
and having our kids Lynne had been a trained
to her bank (Abbey / Santander), carefully
graphic designer. She has always had an
This rule is not designed to shield sellers who
explained the situation, and asked if there
interest in art of all forms. She decided in the
engage in Fraud or bad faith dealing by making
was anything we could do. To our surprise the
early part of 2009 (and probably long before but
false or misleading representations about the
operator couldnʼt have been more helpful. He
hadnʼt told me until then) that now our kids are
quality or condition of a particular product. It
took all the details weʼd obtained and explained
both at university sheʼd like to spend some time
merely summarizes the concept that a purchaser
that there was a good possibility of getting
doring various art projects as a hobby. To get
must examine, judge, and test a product
a ʻpaybackʼ as our money had gone to an
the best natural light she decided to invest in a
considered for purchase himself or herself.
individual, not a limited company. Lynneʼs mood
suitably styled shed for our garden.
The modern trend in laws protecting consumers,
lifted immediately, only to be slightly dashed as
she would be told that her bank debit card would
To afford this she had been saving little amounts
however, has minimized the importance of
be frozen. Sheʼd done nothing wrong but was
of money from the small salary she gets as a
this rule. Although the buyer is still required to
being punished for the failings of someone else!
part time teaching assistant. Sheʼd also spend
make a reasonable inspection of goods upon
a lot of time selling various items on e-Bay.
purchase, increased responsibilities have been
What are the lessons weʼve learned?
Have you seen how much time it can take
placed upon the seller, and the doctrine of
• Make sure you use a credit (not debit) card
up to deal with something thatʼs been sold,
caveat venditor (Latin for “let the seller beware”)
for your major purchases
sometimes for less than £1? So when she
has become more prevalent. Generally, there is
• Double check the sellers – then check
announced that she had enough saved I was
a legal presumption that a seller makes certain
pleased for her as I knew just how much effort
warranties unless the buyer and the seller agree again. PayPal transactions do not show
had gone into it. More time was spent on the
otherwise. One such Warranty is the Implied the sellers address, but itʼs always a good
computer, looking at various web sites, getting
Warranty of merchantability. If a person buys idea to get this from the seller by personal
soap, for example, there is an implied warranty
prices, specifi cations, sizes, etc. Eventually
message before parting with large sums of
that it will clean; if a person buys skis, there is
she found just what she wanted – or at least
money.
an implied warranty that they will be safe to use
what she could afford – and duly ordered a
• If the seller has a web site and it doesnʼt
on the slopes.
ʻsummerhouseʼ from an Essex based company
show an address, walk away from the deal
with an impressive web site. Lynne thought
no matter how good it looks.
A seller who is in the business of regularly
sheʼd bagged a bargain with a sizable reduction
• Donʼt be fobbed off with excuses
selling a particular type of goods has still greater
off the price – nothing unusual about that as it
• You can fi nd out information about people
responsibilities in dealing with an average
was October and many companies have ʻend of
but it can be very time consuming
customer. A person purchasing antiques from
seasonʼ sales to reduce their stock levels and
• Be persistent and you will get results
an antique dealer, or jewelry from a jeweler, is
keep cash moving in the business.
• Some banks can be helpful
justifi ed in his or her reliance on the expertise of
the seller.

Weʼd been informed that there would be a 6 to 8
There is some good news at the end of all
week delivery deadline which was not a problem.
If both the buyer and the seller are negotiating
this. The bank has been extremely helpful and
The order was placed and as a safeguard
from equal bargaining positions, however, the
returned the money Lynne had paid out on her
Iʼd suggested that Lynne make her payment
doctrine of caveat emptor would apply.
card. The only loss has been the £200 deposit
using a credit card. She assured me that she that had been taken from her PayPal account.
had a VISA card and I felt confi dent that weʼd
As weʼd bought the goods using PayPal and
Weʼre still trying to get that back. Iʼll let you
done everything we could to protect ourselves.
a card we decided that weʼd given the seller
know if we get anywhere.
A local builder laid the concrete base in good
enough time, and after an e-mail giving a
time. Then we waited. And waited. And waited.
deadline for delivery we decided to get our
The main lesson is caveat emptor so next
Then the reasons for the non-delivery started
money back from Paypal the card company.
time, beware.
to come. “Weʼve had a death in the family”; “the
Thatʼs when we discovered the mistake weʼd
bad weather is holding us up”. All this took place
made. Although it was a VISA card it was a Mike Hughes
before Christmas, the original delivery deadline.
debit card not a credit card. While you can get
The New Year came and went. Nothing, not even
the money back from a credit card company
a reply to any e-mails weʼd sent.
you canʼt do that with a debit card, although
there was a small glimmer of hope as were told
The alarm bells were starting to sound so we
that the bank may consider it. What was worse
started to dig for information. The Internet is a
PayPal referred us to their ʻterms and conditionsʼ
wonderful tool. It can be very time consuming,
which stated that any disputes must be resolved
but when youʼve spent a 4 fi gure sum you
in 45 days – which was clearly impossible as that
really donʼt want to get messed about. Initially, meant just over 6 weeks, and weʼd been told our
things didnʼt look any better, in fact they looked delivery deadline would be after that. More alarm
worse. We discovered that the person selling bells. So we did some more research.
the goods had been a director of a company
which had been trading within a garden centre, It was back to searching for our seller again. A
but that they had ceased trading from there in company director has to register their address
the summer of 2009. The company sheʼd been at Companies House. A payment of just under
a director of had also been dissolved at around £7 allowed us to get these details, together with
the same time. Yet sheʼd offered the goods for her date of birth, giving us someone we could
sale on the Internet in October! Because the identify. A phone call to the local (Southend)
ʻreasonsʼ for delay had been plausible (indeed Trading Standards revealed nothing, other than
they may even be true!) weʼd not pushed for our this incident would be recorded and we were
delivery. So we tried again. Nothing. given a reference number, but a call to a local
taxi company (Iʼve left his name off here just in
Then the Latin expression caveat emptor came
case thereʼs any problems, but Iʼd like to thank
to mind. An online search says this [Latin, Let
him through these pages) was more forthcoming.
the buyer beware.] A warning that notifi es a
Itʼs wonderful to realise that taxi talk is read
buyer that the goods he or she is buying are “as
throughout the country and the person I spoke to
is,” or subject to all defects.
recognised my name. He knew the area well and
30
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