Lester v. Davidow's Decor, Inc.

522 S.W.2d 148, 1975 Mo. App. LEXIS 1587
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 1975
DocketNo. KCD 26840
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 522 S.W.2d 148 (Lester v. Davidow's Decor, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lester v. Davidow's Decor, Inc., 522 S.W.2d 148, 1975 Mo. App. LEXIS 1587 (Mo. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

ROBERT R. WELBORN, Special Judge.

Action for damages for return of purchase price for allegedly nondelivered goods. On trial to court, judgment was for plaintiff, $3277.84 damages and interest of $991.97.

Plaintiff-respondent, Verlin K. Lester, and Lareita Boyer were planning to marry. On April 26, 1968, they went to Davidow’s, a furniture and interior decorating store owned and operated by defendant-appellant, Davidow’s Decor, Inc., in North Kansas City. There they selected numerous items of furniture for purchase at a price of $2656.73. The sales person prepared a sales ticket in the name of Verlin Lester, with the address shown as 2409 N.E. 53rd St., Kansas City. The sales ticket was marked “Hold.”

A Security Agreement was also prepared, showing Lester as the buyer and the 53rd Street address. The items purchased were listed in the agreement with a time payment price of $3307.15, payable in 36 monthly installments of $80.72, except that the last payment was to be $81.95. The agreement was signed by Lester and also Ms. Boyer, each as “Buyer.” It was signed on behalf of Davidow’s and bore the date “5-15-68.” It is not clear just when and by whom this date was inserted. The Security Agreement was intended to be assigned to General Electric Credit Corporation and there was evidence that the practice was not to date the agreement until General Electric Credit Corporation had checked the transaction and agreed to accept the assignment.

On May 9, 1968, Davidow’s delivered the furniture to 1413 Elmwood, Lawrence, Kansas. In response to interrogatories, Davidow’s stated that its employee, Donna Rawls, took instructions from Lester to deliver the goods to that address. On her deposition, Ms. Rawls stated that she could not remember being told by Lester to make the delivery to the Kansas address. The delivery ticket bears the signature of Lar-eita Boyer. There is a notation on the ticket “COD $32.00 Irene O.K. to leave.” This meant that the sales person who handled the transaction approved delivery of the order, whether or not the COD charge was paid.

According to Lester, sometime after the purchase had been made and before he made the first payment on the time contract, he was asked to come to Davidow’s and sign a new Security Agreement because the time charge had been erroneously figured on the first. He went to the store [150]*150and signed a new agreement calling for a time sale price of $3277.84, payable in 36 monthly installments of $79.94. No request was made to Ms. Boyer to join in the new agreement. The new agreement was assigned to General Electric Credit Corporation. A duplicate original offered in evidence at the trial bore the signature of Lester alone as buyer. No date appeared on the document.

According to Lester, when he signed the second agreement, he did not know that the furniture had been delivered. He first learned of the delivery sometime after June 1, when he stopped at Davidow’s to make the first payment on the installment contract. At that time Davidow’s demanded a $50 delivery charge. That was his first knowledge that the furniture had been delivered. The plans of Lester and Ms. Boyer to marry had fallen through and at the time of his learning of the delivery the two were not speaking to each other. Lester never did talk to Ms. Boyer about the delivery of the goods.

When Lester objected to the delivery charge, Davidow’s dropped that item but it could not cancel the note inasmuch as it had been assigned to General Electric Credit Corporation. Lester asked General Electric Credit Corporation to cancel the note or put Ms. Boyer’s name on it. They said they could not do this. Acting on the advice of his attorney, Lester paid the installments as they came due and then brought this lawsuit.

Lester’s case was based upon his testimony, coupled with the admission of the Dav-idow employee who supposedly received direction from Lester for the delivery that she could not recall having done so. Lester was admittedly vague about the date of the various transactions and events. He stated that the second agreement could have been signed after May 15.

For the defendant, Donna Rawls, Davi-dow’s bookkeeper who handled credit transactions, testified that, after the delivery of the furniture on May 9, she sent the first Security Agreement to General Electric Credit Corporation, but it was returned for correction. She called Lester and asked him to come in and sign the new agreement. She did not recall whether she said anything about having Ms. Boyer sign the new agreement. She couldn’t "recall whether she was present when the second agreement was signed.

Julia Slavin, a former employee of Davi-dow, testified that she received several payments on the contract from Lester and that he never complained about the delivery of the goods and complained about the delivery charge only after he had made several payments. According to the witness, Lester was told of the delivery charge before discussion of the second agreement, and therefore knew that the goods had been delivered before he signed the second agreement.

The defendant presented no direct evidence of the origin of the direction which resulted in the May 9, delivery.

The trial court made a general finding in favor of plaintiff. In the absence of specific findings, the fact issues presented to the trial court must “be considered as having been found in accordance with the result reached.” Rule 73.01, subd. 1(b), V.A.M.R. On this appeal, this court reviews the matter on both the law and the evidence “as in suits of an equitable nature,” giving “due regard * * * to the opportunity of the trial court to have judged the credibility of witnesses.” Rule 73.01, subd. 3(a) and (b).

Applying these rules, it seems obvious that the trial court resolved the conflict in the evidence over when Lester learned of the delivery of the furniture in favor of Lester’s version, i. e., sometime after the second Security Agreement was signed. Otherwise, he would, by signing the second agreement with knowledge of what had occurred, have been deemed to have assented to the delivery which had been made.

Appellant does not ask that this factual determination by the trial court be rejected [151]*151here. Its contention is that, at the time of the delivery of the goods, Lester and Ms. Boyer had obligated themselves jointly as purchasers under a complete contract, evidenced by the Security Agreement signed by both of them, and that the delivery arrangement which had been left open could thereafter be directed by either of the joint purchasers and delivery to either of them at the direction of either was a valid delivery and caused the contract to have been fully executed by appellant, leaving the second agreement only a modification of the first for the benefit of respondent.

Appellant relies on the case of Adler v. Wagner, 47 Mo.App. 25 (1891) as holding that delivery to either of joint purchasers is sufficient as delivery to both. That case does state that principle but the delivery there was in accordance with the directions made at the time the order was placed. The case does not hold that when there are joint purchasers, one of them has the right to-give delivery instructions to the exclusion of his joint purchaser. The rule relied upon by appellant applies only when delivery to one of the joint purchasers was by authority of the other. Cady v. Shepherd, 11 Pick. (28 Mass.) 400, 409 (1831).

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Bluebook (online)
522 S.W.2d 148, 1975 Mo. App. LEXIS 1587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lester-v-davidows-decor-inc-moctapp-1975.