I recently ordered and paid for boat engine parts in the value of $3,000. When the parts were delivered the shipment was incomplete and I wa...

Question

I recently ordered and paid for boat engine parts in the value of $3,000. When the parts were delivered the shipment was incomplete and I was told some parts were unavailable and would take 2-4 weeks to obtain. I subsequently found out that it was going to take 6+ weeks. I found replacements for the missing parts immediately available from another distributor but am now being told that if I don't buy them from distributor #1 they won't accept the items back ($1,000 value) and I will be charged a restocking fee of $200 even if I buy the replacement items from them. Since the order was delivered incomplete to begin, and the wait time (2-4 weeks vs 6+ weeks) was misstated, I feel distributor #1's behavior is unethical at best, and probably illegal too, under restraint of trade law. What should I do?

Answer

Without knowing the specific terms of your purchase order, I don't

see how a reliable opinion could be offered to this question.