India partner sends good without authorization

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Question

Country: United States of America
State: Pennsylvania

We have started a small business recently. With Family member recommendation, we have worked with a garment manufacture from India. Without our knowledge he shipped 3 container loads of garments to United States. We didn't raise any PO to that manufacturer. We were told by him that he has potential buyers here in US and he will sell them as soon as he arrives to US and asked us to sign the bank papers from the country of origin's bank. Now he is not showing any interest in selling those goods. We ended up paying customs duty to release those goods. As I said we are new to this business and we don't know how to find buyers. We are receiving notices from the manufacturer for payment. How much risk are we in this deal? And what are our options?

Answer

Based on what you say here, you could probably file suit against him (or at least threaten to do so) in small claims court or in regular court; filing in small claims court is easier and requires no attorney...you could try to collect all of the costs and damages that you suffered due to his behavior...