Legal Question in Consumer Law in Maryland

Store Liability

Purchased a large dog house. Store employees loaded it into my truck and told me I was ''all set.'' They failed to tie it down or inform me that it needed to be tied down. It blew out of the back of the truck on the highway and smashed onto the road. Store owner refuses to accept ANY liability. I stopped payment on the check. Does the store owner bear any liability for not securing the load properly or am I just out of luck and $136.00?


Asked on 4/15/01, 9:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alton Drew Alton Drew, LLC

Re: Store Liability

One question you have to ask is what was the cause of the damage to my property? Your doghouse was in the back of the truck. The causal factors could be a number of things including a wild turn or the wind. If those were the causes, the seller won't be held at fault. Fault may end up lying with you or the force of nature. Just as important is whether the merchant had a duty to properly load and secure the doghouse in the first place. If this duty were established in your sales agreement then you may have a fighting chance on liability. If not, then you have no case regarding the merchant's negligence because no duty was established to begin with.

A $136 is nothing to sneeze at, but the cost of recovering in this instance may not be worth it.

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Answered on 6/12/01, 6:42 pm


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