If you buy something from Amazon, and it is defective, and you get hurt, is Amazon liable?

[RicInOR]

Via Volokh Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions

• Man buys gift for friends on Amazon—a headlamp. It's defective; it burns down his friends' Montgomery County, Md. home. Must Amazon pay the friends' insurer? The Fourth Circuit says no; under state law, Amazon is not a "seller" as it never took title to the lamp. Concurrence: Which is about the only thing Amazon didn't do; it warehoused the lamp, took payment for it, and assumed the risk of credit card fraud, among things. Maryland legislators and judges might want to look into this.

I frequently look to Amazon as a supplier. But there are risks. Amazon will "common bin" items. So you may think you are getting a genuine product but Amazon may still ship you a counterfeit. This is a common complaint in dealing with batteries and memory cards (SD etc )

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[Alexx1401]

Sounds like something the bottom feeders would go for. So if you buy the same thing from Wally or Fred's are Wally and Fred supposed to pay out? Do people ever stop to think about what they are asking for here? If they get this kind of thing in law what do they think will happen to the price of stuff they buy?

 

[cigars]

Too many effing lawyers.

 

[Alexx1401]

Too many effing lawyers.

Certainly a large part of a lot of the problems we have. It also constantly amazes me that so many voters either ignore this or just remain totally ignorant of what this does to them. Every time a bunch of lawyers "win" some case like this all it does is raise the price on stuff everyone buys. Not to mention we end up with a lawn mower that you have to rig to stay running if you want to let go of it to move something. Since some moron stuck his hand in one while running and sued.