Kold-Serve Corp. v. Ward

736 S.W.2d 750
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 11, 1987·No. 13-86-514-CV·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinion

736 S.W.2d 750 (1987)

KOLD-SERVE CORPORATION and Chuck Williams, Appellants,
v.
Michael B. WARD and Mary Lou Ward, Appellees.

No. 13-86-514-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Corpus Christi.

June 11, 1987.
Rehearing Denied August 28, 1987.

*752 Bill W. Russell and J. Milton Chapman, McKay, Smith, Robins & Russell, Victoria, for appellants.

O.F. Jones, III, Jones & Whitaker, Victoria, for appellees.

Before KENNEDY, UTTER and SEERDEN, JJ.

OPINION

KENNEDY, Justice.

Appellees brought suit for breach of contract, breach of warranties, and violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). The trial court, pursuant to the jury's answers to the special issues, rendered judgment in favor of the appellees for $47,200.00 in actual damages, $25,000.00 in additional damages because the appellants "knowingly" violated the DTPA, and $15,250.00 in attorney's fees. Appellants bring twenty-two points of error. We reform the judgment of the trial court and, as reformed, affirm.

Michael Ward owns Speedy Refrigeration, which specializes in "larger refrigeration equipment, walk-in coolers and freezers, and ice machines." In an attempt to procure an ice machine for one of his customers, Mr. Ward contacted Kold-Serve Corporation, the manufacturer of Kodiak Icemakers. Although these negotiations broke down when Mr. Ward's customer abandoned the idea, Mr. Ward decided to enter the ice making market and bought a Kodiak Icemaker from Kold-Serve. Kold-Serve, through its president Chuck Williams, represented to Mr. Ward that the Kodiak machine he purchased would make 5,000 pounds of ice each twenty-four hour period.[1] Because of the Wards' dissatisfaction with the amount of production and the performance of the machine in general, they brought this suit.

Appellants, in their first and second points of error, complain that venue was improper in Calhoun County. Kold-Serve and Mr. Williams are residents of Longview, Texas, situated in Gregg County. Kold-Serve's principal place of business is in Gregg County, and it does not have an established place of business in Calhoun County. Mr. Ward traveled to Gregg County to take delivery of the ice machine. Further, Mr. Ward installed the machine himself in Calhoun County, subject to a final inspection by a Kold-Serve employee, Jim Hicks, to ensure proper hook-up of the machine.

The Wards pleaded and recovered damages for violation of the DTPA, Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 17.50 (Vernon Supp. 1987). The venue section of the DTPA, Tex.Bus. 17.56 (Vernon Supp.1987), provides, "An action brought which alleges a claim to relief under Section 17.50 of this subchapter may be commenced ... in a county in which the defendant or an authorized agent of the defendant solicited the transaction made the subject of the action at bar." Both Mr. Ward and Mr. Williams testified that Kold-Serve *753 sent a brochure to the Wards in Calhoun County. This brochure espoused the quality and production capability of the Kodiak line of icemakers. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Ward initiated the contact with Kold-Serve, the act of sending the brochure to the Wards in Calhoun County constituted solicitation of the transaction made the subject of this suit. See Padre Island Investment Corp. v. Sorbera, 677 S.W.2d 90, 94-95 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1984, writ dism'd); Appleby v. Hendrix, 673 S.W.2d 295, 297-98 (Tex.App. —Beaumont 1984, no writ); Big Rock Properties Texas, Inc. v. King, 613 S.W.2d 804, 805 (Tex.Civ.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1981, no writ). Venue was proper in Calhoun County. We overrule appellants' first and second points of error.

Appellants, by their third and fourth points of error, complain that the trial court erred in rendering $25,000.00 in additional damages, pursuant to section 17.50(b)(1) of the DTPA, because the definition of "knowingly" failed to conform to the definition set forth in Tex.Bus. & Com. Code Ann. § 17.45(9) (Vernon Supp.1987).

Special Issue number twenty inquired: Do you find that the Defendant Chuck Williams, or the Defendant Kold Serve Corporation acting by and through Chuck Williams, knowingly engaged in the conduct, if any, asked about in Special Issues No. 5, 8, 12 and 17?[2]

Beneath this issue, the charge defined "knowingly" as follows:

You are instructed that "knowingly" means actual awareness of the act or practice if any asked about in Special Issues No. 5, 8, 12 and 17, but actual awareness may be inferred where objective manifestations indicate that a person acted with actual awareness.

Section 17.45(9) of the DTPA defines "knowingly" as follows:

"Knowingly" means actual awareness of the falsity, deception, or unfairness of the act or practice giving rise to the consumer's claim or, in an action brought under Subdivision (2) of Subsection (a) of Section 17.50, actual awareness of the act or practice constituting the breach of warranty, but actual awareness may be inferred where objective manifestations indicate that a person acted with actual awareness (emphasis ours).

The appellants complain that, because the trial court's definition of knowingly failed to refer to their "actual awareness of the falsity, deception, or unfairness of the act," the special issue will not support an award for additional damages as referred to in section 17.50(b)(1).

The Texas Supreme Court, in Yellow Cab and Baggage Co. v. Green, 154 Tex. 330, 277 S.W.2d 92, 93 (1955), held: We hold that in a case where the trial court gives a definition or an instruction in connection with a special issue, and a party is not satisfied with the instruction or definition given, all that is necessary to be done by the complaining party is to file an objection to the court's instruction or definition specifically and clearly pointing out wherein it is claimed the given instruction or definition is insufficient or is in error. It is not necessary for the objecting party to tender with his objection a substantially correct instruction or definition. . . . When the court's charge contains no instruction, the complaining party must accompany his clear and specific objections to such omission with a substantially correct definition or explanatory instruction.

Failure to lodge an objection to the court's charge, clearly pointing out the error, waives the right to complain on appeal that the court's charge improperly awarded damages based upon an erroneous definition. O'Connor v. Gragg, 161 Tex. 273, 339 S.W.2d 878, 885 (1960); McAllen State Bank v. Linbeck Construction Corp., 695 *754 S.W.2d 10, 18 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1985, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Tex.R.Civ.P. 274. Appellants did not lodge any objections with respect to the trial court's definition of "knowingly" as contained in special issue number twenty. We overrule appellants' third and fourth points of error.

Appellants, by their fifth and sixth points of error, complain that there is no evidence to support the jury's answer to special issue number 20 or, in the alternative, insufficient evidence to support the answer.

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