Samatha has a small business selling clothes. Because his shop is too small to store all his goods so he must hire a warehouse. Each time that he took goods to the warehouse he was asked to sign an invoice which contained an exclusion clause stating that the warehouse owners were not liable for any damage to the goods. This invoice was put into effect in September 2020, whereas the contract had been agreed on July 2020. One day, Samatha came to take his clothes but realised that most of them were burned due to a fire. As a result, he required the warehouse owner to compenstate him and refuesed to pay for the storage. The warehouse owners brought action against him.

Question Completion:

Do the warehouse owners have to be responsible for the loss?

Samatha Vs Warehouse Owners

Legally, the warehouse owners are not liable for the loss.  Through a series of previous dealings, the contract terms were restated or amended using the exclusion clause on the invoice, which Samatha signed.

Samatha should have been aware that exclusion clauses lessen contractual liabilities, and if he had continued to sign the invoices bearing the exclusion clause without objection, then he had consented to the exclusion.

Therefore, the warehouse owners are entitled to payment for warehouse storage, and Samatha has lost his right to claim compensation for the damage to his warehoused goods.

Explanation:

According to the Uniform Commercial Code, a series of previous conduct between Samatha and the Warehouse owners may create a common basis for understanding and interpreting the amendment of the underlying contract.  For example, an exclusion clause can be introduced in the contract through previous dealings.

the cat said meow. the police should not have shot it.