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Fellow Weekly - Issue 132
WHAT'S THE LAW ™
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Encouraging intelligent and entertaining debate at your Shabbat table.
Fellow Weekly raises issues of business law and ethics through lively emails by featuring your real-life scenarios answered by our leading authorities and professionals. |
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Case 246 The Baffled Babysitter XIV! CLICK HERE FOR THIS ISSUE'S PDF
A community-wide event without Mrs. Berman? Inconceivable! That's where Sara, her favorite babysitter would fill in; running hoards of chores and helping astutely around the house. All debacles aside, Meira, and the twins; Yair and Yonatan were quite fond of Sara and craved their quality-time spent with her, immeasurably.
Shavuot cooking was in the air, and Mrs. Berman's annual CBM (Community Board Membership Cheesecake Baking Marathon) for the Central Beit Midrash All Night Study Event. Less than one day remained till crunch time!
The grocery order arrived at 10:00 AM and Sara was off to a frenzied start in the kitchen. A few stark errors in the order only added to the pressure cooker. A twenty lb. bag of potatoes arrived, instead of five. No time to return them to the store. Three and a half times the price of five. Use five lbs.? Will the store accept fifteen back after the holiday? Forget the potato kugel? Impossible! Sara decided to improvise when she opened the newly purchased food processor which was missing an attachment.
A jumbo institutional size cream cheese received, instead of the smaller size. Certainly can't use part and return the rest! "But...She asked and paid for a small one and they gave her a large. She needs to make the cheesecake this morning, now!"
Cakes and kugels in the oven; the twins went in to nap. Yair was up an hour later, bathed and dressed in his new striking holiday outfit from the JAP. Mrs. Berman had ordered two matching outfits size 6 online for the twins and was eager to take pictures of the twosome and email them to her Mom in the States before candle lighting. Sara cut the tags off of Yonatan's as well. Soon Yonatan awoke, took a bath and proudly donned his over-sized fashion ware.
- May Sara use five pounds of potatoes and return the rest after the holiday?
- May the Berman's demand a full refund for the food processor or only an attachment replacement?
- May they use the cream cheese?
- Mrs. Berman ordered two of the same sized outfits. They were misfits. She removed the tags before trying them both on her kids. Even if she'd be allowed to return one, her boys would not match anymore. May she force JAP to refund her for none, one, or both?
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CASE 245 ♦ SRANDED & KNOTTED
With the Passover holiday appearing on the horizon, David endeavored to convey his longtime appreciation to his loyal wife Ruthie, by means of a princess length strand of freshwater pearls.
As Ruthie laid out to light her holiday lights, David presented her with her dazzling prize. The price had been right. The piece was regal. He hit the mark!
Delicately, Ruthie donned her necklace, lit the candles, then went to the mirror. Something, which she could not pinpoint, just did not seem right. "Maybe there's just something wrong with me," she thought to herself.
After a week of relentless cooking of eggs, borsht, and potatoes while sporting her new Indonesian imports - Ruthie finally had a chance to focus on her pearls. She took them off one morning, took out a tape measure...and clarified her uncertainties.
They ripped her husband off an inch! He paid for a princess length which begins measuring at 17 inches and received a choker which measures up to 16 inches.
Ruthie and David were rather incensed at the jeweler and demanded a full refund.
The jeweler adamantly refused. "I'll add some pearls to the necklace, but am not annulling the sale; especially in light of the fact that pearls depreciated in value in the interim..."
What is David's recourse option?
What is the law? |
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The Answer
We present you here with a concise ruling. For a more intricate elucidation, please see the detailed explanation below.
David may require the jeweler to add pearls but may not dissolve the sale. |
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Detailed Explanation
Metric Muff Up invokes the following three laws.
1. When a merchandise's metrics are even slightly erroneous, recourse is permitted even years after the sale. [Choshen Mishpat 232:1].
2. When the error is easily rectifiable (i.e. adding/subtracting an additional unit) the transaction is valid but the plaintiff may demand reimbursement for the difference [Choshen Mishpat 232:1]. For example if the plaintiff received 99 units instead of 100, he/she may demand from the defendant one more unit ad infinitum.
3. However, when the erroneous measurements create a different object, the article is viewed as blemished and the plaintiff may void the transaction (mekach taos). The plaintiff may return the article and demand a refund [Choshen Mishpat 232:1].
Application
Making a strand longer, entails adding pearls and restringing them. According to an interview with a long-time pearl stringer, restringing pearls is not a tedious job, nor is it generally too expensive (She charges $1 an inch and 17 inches generally takes her less than 1 hour to string). As such,a 16 inch choker is simply a shorter strand than a princess strand; not a completely different product. As the mistake was in the metrics which are fairly easy to repair, the intended sale is valid with a right for David to demand the Jeweler to to add the necessary pearls and duly restring them. ◆
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Note:
Although we aim to present the correct ruling, varying details are always important and decisively influence every individual case. Our readers are thus encouraged to present their personal cases to a competent authority and not solely rely on the information provided.
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