The wrath of COVID-19 continues to blur the lines between buyer and seller liabilities, so it is important to know how to properly handle a buyer’s order cancellation. In the last few weeks, I’ve received a handful of phone calls from shippers wanting to know if it is permissible for their buyer(s) to cancel orders ...
Recently, a California grower-shipper sent me a copy of a March invoice for a properly executed transaction on which the wholesale buyer had written “P.O. canceled due to COVID-19.” The amount of the invoice was less than $650 for 35 cartons of three specialty items, seemingly destined for foodservice consumption. The reaction by the buyer ...