DUTY OF VENDOR TO MINIMIZE LOSS WHEN VENDEE REFUSES TO ACCEPT GOODS.
It occasionally happens that a purchaser of a car of lumber refuses to accept same and leaves it at the mercy of the railroad company or common carrier. In this way demurrage piles up and other loss may arise and the shipper hesitating, for fear of compromising himself, refuses to do anything with the lumber on his part. This is generally a mistake because it is the duty of the shipper to make the loss, if any, as small as possible and it is always safe to first notify the vendee, who has refused to receive the goods that he, the shipper, will endeavor to dispose of them in the best possible manner and hold the vendee responsible for any loss or damage thereby. In this case he may have to have the goods sold elsewhere or returned to him, and it is always advisable to endeavor to have them inspected by two or three competent parties in order to establish the market value and to ascertain that the defects, if any, claimed by the vendee, do not exist.
Opinion No. 94.