Smith v. AA Wood & Son Company

120 S.E.2d 800, 103 Ga. App. 802, 1961 Ga. App. LEXIS 1063
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 9, 1961
Docket38609
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 120 S.E.2d 800 (Smith v. AA Wood & Son Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. AA Wood & Son Company, 120 S.E.2d 800, 103 Ga. App. 802, 1961 Ga. App. LEXIS 1063 (Ga. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinions

Bell, Judge.

Our initial attention is directed to the motion first made in this court by the plaintiff in error to amend the bill of exceptions to show that the final judgment excepted to was rendered on August 11, 1960, rather than July 12, 1960. However, the motion itself conflicts with the record, which displays that the final judgment was rendered on August 12, 1960. Accordingly, we adjudge it unnecessary to pass upon this motion to amend the bill of exceptions, since the record before this court, if in conflict with the recitations in the bill of exceptions, will prevail. Upshaw v. O’Bryant, 101 Ga. App. 781 (115 S. E. 2d 591). In any event, taking the date of the final order as shown in the record of August 12, 1960, the bill of exceptions tendered on September 12, 1960, was presented within the allowable time from the date of the final order. Code Ann. § 6-902. While the final date of tender was 31 days from the date of the order, the 30th day fell on Sunday, which allowed the defendant until Monday, September 12, in which to accomplish the tender. Code Ann. § 102-102.

In the answer the defendant alleged that the plaintiff failed and refused to deliver the amusement devices and tractors prior to July 4, 1959, with the result that the defendant, being in a highly seasonal business, was prevented from earning income during the biggest day of the -year, the 4th of July, and, in fact, during the entire month of July; that the items delivered in August, during the defendant’s absence and without his authorization, were found to be defective, entirely too slow, and not suited for the very purpose intended, an amusement ride for children, and, as such, were worthless to the defendant; that the carburetors were defective, their speed and gear ratio were entirely contrary to what was ordered, which resulted in the motors to the units burning out, and although the plaintiff guaranteed these units for 30 days, when [806]*806they burned out the plaintiff failed to honor the guarantee and the defendant “tenders the entire order back to plaintiff."

By way of counter-suit it was alleged that through the failure of the plaintiff to deliver the units and amusement devices as promised, the defendant incurred his fixed lease expenses and other charges without being able to open the rides, and was damaged “in loss of income at least $8,500, of which 50:% was profit or $4,250,” for which the plaintiff was indebted to the defendant because of breach of contract.

The first amendment to the answer and counter-suit asked for attorney’s fees because the plaintiff was stubborn and litigious in bringing the action knowing of its breach of contract as to' the time of delivery and faulty mechanisms of the machines, and asked for judgment in the sum of $500.

The defendant’s second amendment alleged specifically that the motors were defective, causing excessive wear and burning out, charged certain other defects, and called upon the plaintiff ta honor the guaranty on the units delivered by taking back the machines except as to stipulated invoices totalling $273.84, for which the defendant admitted liability and claimed a credit of $200 against this amount. This credit was admitted by the plaintiff.

The record reveals the testimony of the defendant to be that the plaintiff agreed to redesign the gear ratio and make other alterations in the machines so that they would be suitable for the purpose for which bought, namely, the operation of amusement riding devices for children at Jekyll Island; that two of the machines were designed by the plaintiff and used by the defendant on a trial-and-error basis; that certain defects were found in them; that the plaintiff was notified of these defects; that the defendant could not secure any adjustments from the plaintiff on these; and, in short, the plaintiff had breached the contract in numerous respects both as to suitability of the machines in failing to live up' to the agreed-upon changes and as to the time of delivery. The defendant testified, as to loss of property, as follows: “I told him [Mr. Fortinberry, agent of the plaintiff] we had a machine for a comparison, a gasoline vehicle, I operate down on Jekyll [807]*807Island grossed me $8,500 gross. We figure that roughly by the time you amortize your equipment and everything else and pay your percentage, you are entitled to about 50 percent gross profit. I promised some very reliable people in this state we would put these in and I gave this promise based on a definite delivery of the equipment. So although the Jekyll Island Authority hasn’t said too much about it, they naturally know it and it is jeopardizing my position with them, which I don’t want to do. I have everything I have invested in Jekyll Island and I’m trying to* do a good job. It 'has caused me embarrassment with them, it has caused me to loose [sic] a year’s time, which I would estimate to be $8,500' because I have another gasoline-type automobile — the one Mrs. Manning sells — makes me $8,500 and it stood to reason that this ought to do the same thing. So I have lost a year by fooling with this stuff.” The defendant also testified that he had to spend other money to protect his lease, but no amount was given. On recross-examination, the defendant testified that he canceled the order on June 26th by calling the plaintiff’s office and talking to someone whose name he didn’t remember but he thought was one of the maintenance men.

In short, the summation of the defendant’s evidence, if believed by the jury, was that he canceled the order for the machines; that the machines which were delivered were unsatisfactory in numerous respects and did not conform to the standards of the contract, all of which, if believed by the jury, could result in their finding for the plaintiff only in the sum of $73.84, unless the defendant’s claim for loss of profits as demanded in the counter-suit could have been legally awarded by the jury. This pinpoints the error assigned in special ground 4 which urges that the court erred when it removed from the jury any consideration of the claim in the counter-suit for loss of profits, instructing the jury that “the law does not allow the recovery of such speculative damages nor attorney’s fees.”

Code § 20-1406 provides: “Remote or consequential damages are not allowed whenever they cannot be traced solely to the breach of the contract, or unless they are capable of exact computation, such as the profits which are the imme[808]*808díate fruit of the contract, and are independent of any collateral enterprise entered into in contemplation of the contract.” Code § 20-1407 states that: “Damages recoverable for a breach of contract are such as arise naturally and according to the usual course of things from such breach, and such as the parties contemplated, when the contract was made, as the probable result of its breach.” Under the authority of Code § 20-1406, numerous cases have refused the recovery of profits on the grounds that they were too speculative. Possibly the foremost case on the point in Georgia is Georgia Railroad v. Hayden, 71 Ga. 518 (51 Am. Rep. 274), which, following the leading English case of Hadley v. Baxendale, 9 Exch. R., 341, 354, stated the rule to be that damages recoverable for a breach of contract are such as arise naturally and according to the usual course of things from the breach, and such as the parties contemplated when the contract was made, as the probable result of its breach. In the Hayden

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Smith v. AA Wood & Son Company
120 S.E.2d 800 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1961)

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Bluebook (online)
120 S.E.2d 800, 103 Ga. App. 802, 1961 Ga. App. LEXIS 1063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-aa-wood-son-company-gactapp-1961.