Caveat Emptor or Caveat Venditor?
An accountant from Massachusetts has said he will never sell anything on Craigslist again after getting caught up in a seven year long legal battle over a $40 printer.
Back in 2009, accountant Doug Costello sold his used black and white printer to Gersh Zavodnik in Marion, Indiana using an advert on the free advertising site, Craigslist. Costello's price for the printer was $40, plus $25 to ship it from Massachusetts to Indiana. Having shipped the printer, he was understandably surprised some time later when Zavodnik filed a case with the Marion Small Claims Court stating that the printer Costello had sent was defective when it arrived, that Costello had knowingly sold him a broken printer, and claiming $6,000 in damages. $6,000 is the maximum amount that can be claimed using the Indiana Small Claims process. The case was thrown out as Zavodnik was unable to produce the evidence, saying he had already disposed of the printer.
In any sane universe that would be the end of the matter, but Zavodnik was not to be deterred. In 2010, he sent paperwork to Costello asking for an admission of liability for $30,000 for breach of contract, fraud, deceptive advertising, and emotional distress. That case was also dismissed by the Marion Superior Court, along with 26 others which Zavodnik had filed.
If at first you don't succeed, sue, sue again. Zavodnik appealed, and in 2012 says he sent requests for evidence to Costello, claiming Costello had conspired with the presiding judge in Marion and asking for $300,000 in damages in that regard, and another asking him to admit liability for $600,000 of damages for supplying a broken $40 printer. Costello says he never received these papers. The case went back into court in 2013 and because Costello had not responded to the requests for evidence and was not present in court, Zavodnik won the case by default and the judge awarded him $30,044.07 in damages. Naturally, Costello then had to appeal the case.
Following yet more legal proceedings, in May of this year, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the rulings, and pulled no punches in its summary when it described Zavodnik as a "prolific, abusive litigant". However, whilst Costello has had a weight lifted off his shoulders, he has still had seven years of anxieties and court appearances, and it has cost him about $12,000 in legal fees, all because he sold a printer for $40.
The US legal system has no concept of awarding costs to maligned defendants. It seems incredible that any judicial system would allow this case to proceed without Zavodnik having made any attempt to simply obtain a full refund, as would be required under the UK distance selling regulations, and without any evidence at all to prove his claim that the printer was defective. It is also incredible that a judge would consider that a faulty printer could cause thousands of dollars worth of damages and emotional stress.
Costello is not the only victim of Zavodnik's legal antics over items bought online. Another case involves a woman and a dispute over a digital camera who he is suing for $1.2 million. According to the Detroit Free Press, he has sued a hundred people so far, and has another hundred in the works.
29th June 2016
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.