Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Iowa

Misleading a consumer

I bought a DVD player. My current TV did not have an audio/video input or an S video input so I asked if I could hook the DVD player up to my VCR, thus enabling me to watch the DVDs through the video channel of the VCR. The salesperson told me I could not hook the DVD player up to the VCR and that I had to have a TV with either an audio/video hook up or an S video hook up. After buying a new TV, I found out that hooking the DVD player up to the VCR works fine. I am wondering if there is anything I can do about this because I was mislead into buying a new $500+ TV through this company.


Asked on 11/21/99, 6:09 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Stanley Spring Spring & Spring, LLC

Re: Misleading a consumer

You might first contact the manager of the place where you encountered this sales person. It may be that the salesperson simply made a mistake. I have often encountered electronic sales people who know less about their product than I do. If the manager doesn't give you satisfaction you should check with an attorney where you live immediately. Louisiana, where I practice and is different than common law jurisdictions, provides relief in any commercial transaction if there is no "meeting of the minds." Common law jurisdictions have provisions for a cause of action in "fraud in the inducement". If the seller has intentionally made misrepresentations that were done so to get the prospect to enter a contract with the seller knowing that "but for the material misrepresentation" the prospect would not have entered the contract, this is a separate and distinct cause of action in tort. If the manager refuses to cooperate with you and he or she receives a demand letter from a local attorney, that may be all you need to resolve this matter. There is also the better business bureau available to you. You might contact them to see what kind of records they have on the store and its track record for resolving customer complaints, etc. Hope this helps. Good luck.

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Answered on 11/22/99, 8:18 pm


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