Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Holding product for storage fees after product is paid for.

Your question is vague as to your status as a purchaser. If you are a consumer, you probably will not have to pay storage fees IF the seller failed to give you PRIOR NOTICE that would be the case for failing to abide with the terms of payment and/or other conditions of the sale (there are many exceptions to this general rule, however). If you are merchant dealing with another merchant, you may be held legally responsible for reasonable storage fees under the rules of the California's version of the Uniform Commercial Code. When presented with this issue, courts usually consider many different conditions when weighing the equities between the parties. Such conditions include without limitation prior acts between the two merchants, course of conduct, industry standards, memorandums between the parties, notations on invoices, and the like. I would suggest you immediately seek legal counsel familiar with commmerce and contract law to determine your rights and obligations under the transaction described, irrespective of your status as a purchaser.

Re: Holding product for storage fees after product is paid for.

If the manufacturer did not inform you that the delay in payment would cause storage fees than you are not responsible to pay them. If there is no clause that states that storage fees will be incurred than you are in the clear. I would write a formal letter stating that the manufacturer is in breach of its contract with you. Depending on what you want to do you can either demand a full refund or demand your merchandise. However, at this point I doubt that they are going to give you either. What I suggest people do in a situation like this is to pay an attorney for his letterhead threatening a lawsuit. This costs less than $200 and usually gets the job done. If your merchandise is worth less than $200 than I suggest you file a lawsuit in Small Claims court. If you would like me to write a letter for you and make some calls in an attempt to resolve this matter please feel free to call me at 888-563-8529. I look forward to speaking with you.

John Hayes, Esq.