You make a good point, but not for your case. The manufacturer and retailer will have far deeper pockets to litigate this case than would ZO-SICK. Plus the potential award would be fairly negligible for any attorney to get himself involved with.

Maybe he can take this before Judge Judy instead!

 

Leave the lawyering to lawyers. Your assessment this situation as a potential case is without legal foundation and fundamentally incorrect. He does not need conclusive proof....just a preponderence of the evidence.

Here you have a guy with a nice interior in his car...obviously cares about it a lot. He goes into the store, buys this corrosive product which the manufacturer and retailer know will be transported this way and it leaks on his seat and interior....causing substantial damage. Do we know who is at fault for sure....not necessarily....but we have a good case.

How does he benefit from bringing this claim if his request is only to have the interior fixed? What is the motive to manufacture a claim? You would really have to reach if you were to impute some fraudulent intent or dishonesty. This situation creates nothing but a headache for the OP...even if his seat is fixed. Hopefully he immediately returned to the store to bring this to someone's attention within a reasonable time after purchase....and the case is even better. This is a case that should settle....but it sounds, initially, like a case that could be won if the store doesn't want to make it right. A reasonable settlement might be appropriate. Of course, I remmond resolving this without litigation.

 

I am not being a smart *** but everyone now-a-days wants to blame someone else for their actions when something goes wrong.

 

A potential case, yes, but I know enough to know his chances are pretty slim.

You may be assuming he would be dealing with reasonable people, and therein lies the fault.

 

Maybe and maybe not. I have no idea what everybody does....even if your general assessment of what "everyone" does is correct, that has little to do with this situation.

I can say this...when you buy a product like the one at issue...I believe that you have a should reasonable expectation that the product is properly packaged and contained to prevent leaks. I have no idea whether the bottle was defective...that would be sorted out though investigation and discovery; however, if it was defective...this would not be a case of someone just wanting to point the finger elsewhere.

I can see nothing in the OP's original post to suggest that he was at fault for anything.

All I am saying is that it does not appear fundamentally wrong or offensive for the OP to seek recovery from a pocket other than his own in this case. The outcome would depend on facts which are not presently known.

 

Translation: KA-CHING for the lawyers!

 

I am not going to go around and around with you about what you know or believe that you know...but my professional, and dare I say, expert opinion is different than yours. I'll leave it to the OP to decide which post to give more weight.

You state that I may be assuming that he s dealing with reasonable people....In fact, I make no such assumption. I was simply suggesting that he consider a reasonable settlement should one be offered. So, I do not see this fault you speak of.

 

Hey...we've gotta eat and pay bills you know.

 

Now you say that.

BTW nice edit to your original post sir, specifically the addition of the last sentence.

 

Yep, just like the rest of us business owners.

 

I am not sure what you are implying...if anything at all. Note that my last edit to that post was 5 minutes before your first response to the same. Interesting...huh?


EDIT: Maybe I am the one incorrectly reading your posts as challenging mine....if so, that's just my nature....ignore me.

 

Zilla,

I wonder what you would say if you went to the gas station to put gas in your car and there was a hole in the hose which caused all the gas to spill on you and your car. I wonder if you would blame yourself for not inspecting all the hoses prior to filling gas. Or maybe you would blame the gas station. Or maybe the manufacturer of the hose. Or maybe the oil companies....you get the point

 

Not challenging you as much as just stating my practical, real-world experiences, that's all.

 

Crap happens, I was at a gas station putting gas in the car where the nozzle didn't automatically shut off. The gas went on the side of my car and shoes.
I opened a bottle of coke in the vette and it foamed up went all over interior so do I blame the store for that?

I will ask you why put something, as you put it, so flamable and poisionous as octane booster on the seat next to you and not in the back?

 

Just curious...what type of involvement do you have in these types of lawsuits? What is the extent of your "practical real-world" experience?


Defending companies against claims of this nature (although generally on a larger scale) is a substantial part of my practice. I deal with them most every day....in the practical, "real world" sense.

 

Interesting post.

Not being from a country that normally takes these types of things to court I have old fashioned views.

If someone gives me a product that damages my belongings I think they should make it right. If they don't I feel inclined to sue. In this case, the store probably acted in good faith and someone else unscrewed the cap.

To me thats an accident. Insurance covers accidents.

JMHO.

 

Put it in the back, check the lid, carry a small box to hold it (liquids) upright

 

That's a very good analysis. If the packaging was suitable for its intended purpose, and a customer loosened the cap and the store had no reason to know the cap had been loosened and had no duty to inspect....then there is no good grounds for recovery in my estimation.....

However, if the store breached some duty owed to the OP, or the packaging was not suitable for its intended purpose...there may be grounds for recovery under several causes of action. At this point...we do not know enough facts to determine what happened for sure.

EDIT: This is a simplified analysis.

 

Had I put it in the back, I would not have smelled it as quick and would have 32 ounces of booster soaked into the carpet. That's not the point though. When I buy something that is toxic like booster, I expect that the manufacturer has sealed it properly. The thing leaks even with the cap fully closed. If I had spilled it while trying to open it, I wouldn't blame anyone but myself...

 

Like I said before, as a business owner, where unfortunately I have had ocassion to deal with people who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions and instead try to put the blame on someone else. That's what I'm referring to as my practical, real-world experiences.