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Morgan Building and Spas3/10/2000
Joseph E. Gillett sued Morgan Building and Spas, Inc. (hereinafter "Morgan"), alleging numerous counts of fraud, breach of warranty, and breach of both the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act. The claims all related to his purchase of a recreational camper from Morgan. We note that although the manufacturer of the camper was also initially named as a party to the action, the manufacturer was never served with process. The record indicates that the manufacturer went through bankruptcy proceedings and is no longer in business.
At trial, Gillett dismissed his claims based on the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. After Gillett presented evidence in support of his case and rested, Morgan moved for a judgment as a matter of law on all claims. The trial court granted Morgan's motion for a judgment as a matter of law on Gillett's claims of intentional fraud and breach of an express warranty. At the close of the evidence, Morgan again moved for a judgment as a matter of law as to the remaining claims; the trial court denied that motion.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of Gillett, awarding him $12,000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in punitive damages. Morgan filed a renewed motion for a judgment as a matter of law. The trial court denied that motion. Morgan appealed.
On appeal, Morgan does not challenge the jury's findings on the factual issues. Rather, Morgan appeals as to several legal issues determined by the trial court. Therefore, because this appeal concerns only questions of law, there is no presumption of correctness in favor of the trial court's judgment; this court's review of legal issues is de novo. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Skelton, 675 So. 2d 377 (Ala. 1996); Stewart v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 686 So. 2d 1225 (Ala. Civ. App. 1996).
The record indicates that on December 15, 1995, Gillett purchased a camper from Morgan for $7,219.12. Gillett testified that he purchased the camper so that he and his family could go camping together. Gillett testified that he decided to purchase the camper from Morgan after a salesman assured him that Morgan performed all warranty work and that if he had any problems with the camper, Morgan would remedy those problems.
The camper Gillett purchased folds down for towing behind a vehicle. In order to use the camper, the top of the camper must be raised by turning a crank. The beds fold out from the ends of the camper.
On December 15, 1995, after he had towed the camper to his home, Gillett set up the trailer. He noticed that the bed rails were bent and that it was very difficult to pull the beds into their proper position. On December 17, 1995, Gillett telephoned Morgan about the problem with the bed rails; Gillett informed a secretary at Morgan that he had planned to use the camper immediately on a two-week vacation to Idaho. The secretary told Gillett to proceed with his vacation and to take the camper to Morgan for the needed repairs when he returned.
Gillett testified that he used the camper during his vacation and that he experienced difficulties in setting up and taking down the camper because of the bent bed rails. Gillett took the camper to Morgan for repairs in mid-January 1996. At that time, Gillett informed Morgan of at least one other minor problem with the camper that also needed to be repaired. Gillett testified that he was told the repairs would take one week to complete. However, it was not until February 8, 1996, that he received a call from Brad, the service manager at Morgan, who informed him that the camper had been repaired.
Gillett immediately went to Morgan's place of bus
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