Punitive Damages?

Question

Ok so I put my phone up for sale on craigslist.com. Some guy was interested and he e-mailed me and gave me his number. I called the guy the next day and that same day I told him to meet me around my neighborhood. He came and I showed him the phone, which was in perfect condition. He looked and checked the phone all over and he even went through it to see if anything was wrong. Ok, so after checking it he was very satisfied and he paid me for the phone. The next day he e-mails me and says that something is wrong with the phone. But when he looked at the phone at the time of purchase nothing was wrong he loved it. I told him I don't know what's wrong since the phone was a perfectly new phone. He now wants to give me my phone back and he wants me to refund him the money. I told him I can't help him anymore because I can't take a messed up phone when I sold him a perfectly normal one. He know wants to take me to court and sue me for punitive damages. Is this guy able to do this?

Answer 1

if you can prove that it was sold to him in good condition (do you have a witness, recording or e-mail), or you had him sign agreement that it was sold "as is" then no.

Answer 2

With what you've said, it's a simple contract dispute. Punitive damages are EXTREMELY rare in contract disputes. The only way he could get a PD award is by proving fraud, which is very hard to do (unless you did defraud him, of course). I don't know how much he paid you for the phone, but I'm guessing it will cost him more to file a lawsuit than he would get if you gave him the money back. He could take you to small claims court, but the best he will do there is getting back the purchase price, and then it's your word against his. Set that against the time it will take away from his job and other such inconveniences (over at least a month, depending on how busy your local court system is), and it will not be worth it for him to pursue court action. If he got a lawyer to take the case (which is unlikely), the attorney would probably work on an hourly basis. Most lawyers' rates start at about $150/hour, and the case would take at least 2 hours of work to draft a demand letter to you, start the office file, and go to court to file a lawsuit. If you fought it at all (like by calling the lawyer and telling him to tell his client where to shove it), the price just goes up and the hours increase.

Answer 3

you will be in regulation college and think of you be attentive to what you're speaking approximately yet you're in part incorrect. I even have been a tribulation legal professional for 34 years. i do unlike vast punitive harm awards. besides the undeniable fact that, the objective of punitive damages is to punish and deter. some cases call for such action, which includes poisonous torts the place the defendant knew of the pollutants and its risk. on the different hand, a scientific professional should not be punished for an operation long previous undesirable till he exchange into impaired on the time or there are different extenuating situations.

Answer 4

Punitive damages = extra money the court makes you pay the "victim" because your behavior was outrageous and you deserve to be punished (hence the name P-U-N-itive). I doubt any judge would find your behavior outrageous. The worst the court would do to you would be to make you pay the value of the phone. I doubt the court would even do that. Besides, it would cost him more to file the claim than the phone is worth. He's bluffing, or stupid.

Answer 5

No, punitive damages can not be applied in a contracts case, which is essentially what this is, a verbal contract. You sold the phone 'As Is' and have nothing to worry about. He had his opportunity to check it out in your presence before making the transaction.

Answer 6

The principle of law, accepted by all law-abiding countries and people, in "Jurisprudence", is summed up by the dictum, "caveat emptor", meaning, " let the buyer beware": so, the onus of verifying&confirming quality of item to-be-purchased, always lies with the buyer! In this case, the buyer should have satisfied himself about the standard and quality of the phone before buying it: indeed, he inspected the item thoroughly before paying for it and taking it over. He has no case for any refund of money from you, or, for returning the item to you!

Answer 7

After market sale ALWAYS have an as is clause unless otherwise stated. No waranty, no refund is fine.

Answer 8

no he cannot go after you for punitive damages..i doubt he even knows what punitive damages are if he is useing it in this context..just ignore him

Answer 9

if your conscious says it was working phone with out any problem
simply ignore his calls

Answer 10

yes, but its ok, because you will obviously when in court, and he will have to pay for the court costs.