A Defective Sheital and the Chasuna is Tommorow!

Q: My wife recently purchased a brand new sheital for
my sister’s wedding. Everything seemed perfect as she wore the sheital
the past few weeks. To our great dismay, my wife just noticed that the sheital
is missing some hair and is a defective product. My wife is adamant about
returning this
sheital
but we are in a very uncomfortable bind. On the one hand,
tomorrow night is the chasuna and this is the only appropriate sheital that
she has for such an occasion. There is no time left to get a new sheital
in time for the chasuna.
On the other hand, she clearly wants to return this sheital as it has a defect. Is she
allowed to wear this sheital once she has decided to return it and if she wears
it can she still return the sheital for a full refund?

A: This is a classic example of a mekach taus– a mistaken transaction. The Shulchan Aruch states that
one who purchases an item and later realizes that it has a mum– a defect, may
return the item even after many years[1].
However there are a few important conditions that must be met in order to be
able to return this item:

  1. Knowledge and Usage: As long as the consumer did not have knowledge of the
    defect at the time of the sale or at the time of the usage, he may return the
    item. If however, the consumer realized that there was a deficiency and still
    purchased the item, or the consumer only realized sometime after the purchase
    but continued to use the item, the usage indicates that the consumer is mochel – forgives the
    imperfection. The sale is therefore deemed valid as is. The consumer has
    forgiven his rights to return the object[2].
  2. Express Dissatisfaction: Once the consumer realizes that the item has
    a defect, he must express this dissatisfaction to the seller to let him know he
    would like to nullify the sale. If the consumer recognizes the defect but waits
    beyond a reasonable amount of time to let the seller know, this lack of action
    indicates that the buyer is mochel – forgives his rights to return the item[3].
  3. Ability to Rectify: Even in a circumstance that the buyer has the right to
    return an item, the buyer cannot necessarily cancel the transaction and demand
    a refund. If the product can be fixed to be like new, the seller must be given
    the opportunity to fix the item in a reasonable amount of time. Conversely, if
    the item cannot be fixed to perfection, the seller may not force the buyer to
    keep the item and refund only the difference between what the buyer paid and
    what the item is really worth; rather, he must issue a full refund.

Repairable

Given the above set of
conditions, it is important to analyze the details of our case. If the sheital can be fixed
by adding some hair to the point that the
sheital
would be a perfect
product, the buyer is not allowed to demand a refund and cannot just cancel the
sale. This being the case, she should wear the sheital for the
wedding and have it fixed afterwards.

If the sheital cannot be fully
repaired to perfection, the buyer has the right to cancel the sale. However,
this places the woman between a rock and a hard place; if she doesn’t wear the sheital, she will be
embarrassed at the chasuna. If she does wear the sheital, she forfeits
her ability to return the item because she has now used the item and has effected
a מחילה waiving her rights of
returning the sheital (as above).

Dire Circumstances

There is, however, an
exception to this rule. If the buyer is in a situation of an אונס – a dire condition, even if he is aware of the defect, he may
use the item in the dire situation and still have the right to return the
object. For example, if one rented a car and midway on his journey he realizes
that the air conditioning is broken and he wants to demand compensation for
this defect. He may continue using the car and demand compensation at the end
of his journey. The same halacha would apply in our scenario. Since the woman
is in a dire situation and would be left without a fitting sheital for the chasuna, she may use
the sheital and may still
demand a refund or a full repair after the chasuna.

Not Available

Another exception is a
case where the consumer would like to return the item immediately but the
seller is not available. In this scenario, even if the item was used after the
defect was noticed, the usage is not considered a מחילה
– and the right to return the object still stands[4].

Notified in Advance

There is a dispute in the
Poskim if one can retain the right of return and repair by first notifying the
seller of the defect before he uses the item. Some maintain that if advance
notice is given to the seller, even if the object was used thereafter, the
usage does not indicate a מחילה on behalf of the
buyer, because the buyer expressly communicated his dissatisfaction with the
item. In our scenario, if the woman would notify the sheital mocher that she
intends to return the item but she needs to wear it for the chasuna, she would
still retain the right of return or repair according to some Poskim[5].


[1]  ועי’
בשו”ת הגרעק”א (בתרא סי’ ק”ו) דהא שנתבטל המקח היכא
דיש בו מום, היינו משום דכל
מקח הוי מכירה על תנאי שהמוכר יתן לו מקח שלם. ובמקרה שקיבל המקח עם מום, יש זכות ללוקח לטעון מקח
טעות, ואז יש זכות
למוכר להשלים התנאי ואינו משלימו,
המקח
בטל. והיינו, דבעצם המקח קיים אלא שאם
טוען הלוקח מקח טעות,
אז
נתבטל המקח. אולם, עי’ בשו”ת בית הלוי (ח”ג סי’ ג’) דפירוש אחר יש בדבר, דביטול מקח אינו מדיני
תנאי אלא היכא דאיכא מום המקח בטל מפני שיש חסרון בעיקר המקח, והוי כאילו הלוקח קיבל
מקח אחרת לגמרי ממה ששילם עליה.

[2] . שו”ע חושן משפט סי’ רל”ב סע’ ג’

[3]  מדברי הרמב”ם (הובא במקור המשפט) משמע דעד שמשתמש במקח לא חשיב מחילה. אבל הרדב”ז (סי’ קל”ו – ח”ד סי’ אלף ר”ו) מביא בשם רב האי גאון דהיכא דהוי הדין עם שמעון צריך לישבע שמעון שלא הרגיש במום זה עד עתה, עכ”ל. ודייק המחנה אפרים (הל’ אונאה סע’ ד’) דמיד כשמרגיש הלוקח במום שצריך להחזירו, ואם אינו מחזירו מיד נחשב ההמתנה למחילה ושוב אינו יכול לטעון מקח טעות. וכן משמע ברי”ף בב”מ (דף נ) שכתב וז”ל והיכא דזבין איניש מידי ולאחר זמן איגלי ליה דאית ביה מומא דהוה ביה מעיקרא מקמי דלזבניה, אית ליה לאהדורי למריה ולא אמרינן בכי הא, הא שהה ליה בכדי שיראה לתגר או לקרובו, דלא אמור רבנן הכי אלא גבי אונאה. אבל גבי מומין מקח טעות הוא, וכל אימת דמיגלי ליה מהדר ליה למריה, והכי כתב רבינו האי גאון זצ”ל, עכ”ל. ומלשון “וכל אימת דמיגלי ליה וכו'” משמע דצריך להחזירו מיד, דאם לא עשה כן נחשב מחילה

[4]  כן פסק הנתיבות (משה”א
סק”א) והובא להלכה בפתחי תשובה שם סק”א.

[5]  .(המחנה אפרים פסק דלא חשיב מחילה, והגליא מסכת הוכיח דחשיב מחילה (והובא בפתחי תשובה שם