Gulf Oil Corp. v. Rice & Agricultural Co-op, Inc.

536 S.W.2d 236, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2656
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 1, 1976
DocketNo. 16619
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 536 S.W.2d 236 (Gulf Oil Corp. v. Rice & Agricultural Co-op, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gulf Oil Corp. v. Rice & Agricultural Co-op, Inc., 536 S.W.2d 236, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2656 (Tex. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

PEDEN, Justice.

Gulf Oil brought this suit on a sworn account against the Rice and Agricultural Co-op, Inc. One of the principal issues on appeal is whether the arrangement between the parties amounted to a completed sale of some fertilizer, a consignment, or a sale or return.

The Co-op filed a sworn denial that the claim was just, a counter-claim for storage expenses and costs of sales resulting from Gulf’s failure to accept the return of the goods, and these allegations:

3.
“. . . Defendant was a dealer for Plaintiff in the sale of certain merchandise which Plaintiff furnished to Defendant under an agreement and arrangement known as a dated billing program. Under said dated billing program, Plaintiff was obligated to and agreed to accept merchandise to be returned by Defendant in the event that Defendant did not wish to continue to attempt to sell same to the public generally, at retail. The account set out in Plaintiff’s Original Petition is an account referring to goods originally held by Defendant under said dated billing program. It is alleged that the agreement and understanding between the parties was that Defendant should be a consignee of Plaintiff’s products and would hold same in Defendant’s warehouse subject to sale. At the time of each dated billing period, an inventory would be made of the products sold by Defendant and Plaintiff would, thereafter, invoice Defendant for the purchase price of the goods actually sold by Defendant to the public generally, at retail.
4.
“On or about December 9, 1970, Defendant notified Plaintiff, in writing that Defendant had lost its storage warehouse and did not have space in its own warehouse to store the goods held under consignment. Defendant requested that Plaintiff pick up said goods as soon as possible. Although, under the terms of the agreement and understanding be[239]*239tween the parties, Plaintiff was obligated to do so, Plaintiff failed and refused to pick up the said goods. Because of Plaintiffs failure and refusal to do so, it was necessary for Defendant to move said goods to another location and store same, at Defendant’s expense. The goods and merchandise so stored became reduced in value during the ensuing months and Defendant was unable to sell same for the list price. The merchandise was continuing to deteriorate and decrease in value and, in order to mitigate its damages and that of Plaintiff, Defendant was required to and did dispose of same for the best price obtainable. All amounts received for the sale of said merchandise were forwarded to Plaintiff and, in fact, Plaintiff has been paid more money, in total, than the amounts due on account to Plaintiff for merchandise sold prior to said notification and all amounts received for the sale of said merchandise, at reduced prices, subsequent to the delivery of said notice to Plaintiff. It is alleged that all of said merchandise sold by Defendant was sold for a fair price which amounted to the market value of said merchandise and was a reasonable price, under the circumstances.”

The jury made these findings:

1) There was an agreement that the Co-op could return any unsold merchandise to Gulf. This instruction was given:
“In connection with the foregoing Special Issue, you are instructed that ‘agreement’ means the bargain of the parties in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealings or usage of trade or course of performance.”
2) The Co-op requested permission to return fertilizer to Gulf.
3) Such request was made on December 9, 1970.
4) Gulf refused to accept return of the goods.
5) The Co-op acted in good faith in caring for and handling the fertilizer.
6) The Co-op received $12,443.52 for the sale of Gulf fertilizer from and after January 8, 1971.
7) The sum of money which would fairly and reasonably compensate the Co-op for caring for and selling the fertilizer from and after January 8, 1971 was $7,328.20.
8) Nothing was paid to Gulf by the Co-op for ‘goods on hand’ on January 8, 1971, and thereafter.
9) The Co-op owes Gulf Oil $2,811.66 for the merchandise in question.
10) Reasonable compensation for the plaintiff for its attorney’s fee is zero.

The trial court granted the Co-op’s motion to disregard the answers to Special Issues 8 and 9 and entered judgment that Gulf Oil recover $115.32 from the Co-op.

Appellant urges forty-nine points of error. Its first twenty-eight points complain that the trial court erred in submitting Special Issues 1 through 7 because there was no evidence or insufficient evidence, because the issues and the jury’s answers to them were against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence, and because there were no pleadings to support their submission to the jury. We overrule the great weight points. A trial judge does not err by submitting an issue whose answer is against the great weight of the evidence. He must submit it; he may, after verdict, grant a new trial.

Mr. Boyer, a Gulf salesman, began dealing with the Co-op through its manager, James Harvell. They agreed in 1969 that the Co-op would take delivery of some Gulf fertilizer for resale. Under an arrangement called a “dated billing program”, Gulf delivered and stored it in a warehouse operated by the Co-op. The parties agreed that at each dated billing period an inventory would be taken and Gulf would bill the Co-op for the fertilizer it had sold since the last billing period but that the Co-op would not be billed for any fertilizer still on hand.

Gulf says this transaction was a completed sale with a financing arrangement whereby Gulf would not charge the pur[240]*240chase price or interest until the Co-op sold the fertilizer but that if the Co-op failed to pay the billed amount within thirty days, the purchase price of the fertilizer in inventory also became due. Gulf says the billing statement of account called a “redating form” merged their agreement into an integrated contract.

We disagree. The redating form did not purport to be complete or to state the entire agreement of the parties. The signature of Co-op’s representative shows, at most, a verification of the accuracy of the values of the fertilizer sold and of the goods on hand. Gulf did not allege a written contract, and the evidence shows that the agreement between the parties was never reduced to writing.

It appears that the arrangement may be considered either as a consignment or as a “sale or return” as provided in Section 2.326, Tex.Bus. & Comm.Code:

“(a) Unless otherwise agreed, if delivered goods may be returned by the buyer even though they conform to the contract, the transaction is

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Bluebook (online)
536 S.W.2d 236, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gulf-oil-corp-v-rice-agricultural-co-op-inc-texapp-1976.