Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts
Outlet Store-Consumer Rights
My friend and I have been purchasing and reselling electronics from a major electronic company at their factory outlet store since June 1999. We purchase thousands of dollars of merchandise each month for resale. The manager and all employees know we do this in order to pay for our graduate school tuition. We had gone to the store yesterday, as usual, to make our purchases. The manager pulled me to the side and told me I could not make the purchase which the cashier had already begun ringing up. What are my legal rights? They knowingly cut off our entire source of income as full time grad. students. Is there anything that we can do legally as they knowingly did this to us??
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Outlet Store-Consumer Rights
You're likely to get all kinds of replies to this question.
The starting point is that any party has the right to choose to do business, or not, with any other party. There are certain impermissible reasons that have recently been added to the law -- e.g., race discrimination -- that constrict that right.
Even if the store knew about the purpose for your pattern of repeat purchases, this does not create a contract that obliges the store to continue the relationship.
Other factors might include any notices at the store restricting purchases to "retail customers" or limiting quantities, or other indicia that the store intends to restrict purchases by middlemen (like you); however, a lack of such notices is not of much weight.
Anti-trust law comes into the picture if the store terminated your purchases because of complaints from retail vendors who carry the company's line of products, so that there is collusive action in the refusal to sell. Somehow, I doubt that your volume could have come to the notice of your area retailers, but it is a possibility.
My real curiosity is why the store wants to stop selling to you. Did the manager give you any reason?
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