Can you reclaim payment if a textbook company gives false information about their textbook?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can you reclaim payment if a textbook company gives false information about their textbook?
If you purchased textbooks for a school with the understanding that there wouldn’t be a new textbook coming out in that series for another 6 years. Then the textbook company publishes 1 within 6 months of your purchase. Can you sue the textbook company to get back the money you paid or exchange those books for the updated textbook?
Asked on March 30, 2012 under General Practice, Pennsylvania
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The school could sue the textbook company for fraud. Fraud is the intentional misrepresentation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity and with the intent to induce your reliance upon which you justifiably relied to your detriment.
The textbook company committed fraud by intentionally stating that no new edition of the textbook would be published for six years when in fact it knew that the new edition would be published sooner (in six months). This false statement was made to induce the school to purchase the current edition and the school justifiably relied on the misrepresentation from the textbook company and purchased the current edition. The school would not have purchased the current edition if it had known that a new edition would be published in six months.
The school's damages (monetary compensation it is seeking in its lawsuit for fraud) would be the out-of-pocket loss, what it paid for the books. As to whether or not the books could be exchanged for the new edition, that would be something to consider as a potential settlement of the case.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.