Man in Abu Dhabi duped into buying a watch worth Dhs80,000 on Snapchat
- 04 Dec 2022
Aya El Deeb, Staff Reporter
The Abu Dhabi Court for Family and Civil and Administrative Cases obligated a man to pay another Dhs80,000 and compensation of Dhs5,000.
The case dates back to an earlier time, when a man contacted another via the “Snapchat” application to buy a valuable watch from him, and after agreeing on the price, the first transferred to the watch owner Dhs80,000, while the latter did not deliver the watch and delayed returning its price.
The man filed a lawsuit before the court against the owner of the watch, demanding that he return to him Dhs80,000 and 9% legal interest from the date of filing the lawsuit until full payment, in addition to Dhs20,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages incurred, fees and expenses of the lawsuit, and lawyer’s fees.
The appellant indicated that he contacted the appellee via the “Snap chat” app to buy a valuable watch for Dhs80,000, and in July 2022 he transferred the amount to the appellee's account in a bank, provided that he would receive the watch in mid-August, but the appellee did not deliver it and when he demanded a refund, he stalled.
The court indicated that the appellee did not comply with his obligation regarding handing over the watch to the appellant according to the conversations between the two parties via the “Snap chat” application, pointing out that the appellee confessed before the Reconciliation Centre that he had received Dhs80,000 for the watch and its accessories and that he was ready to repay the full amount within 10 days.
The court pointed out that the appellant suffered damages as a result of seizing his money by the appellee and delaying payment, and decided to compensate him with Dhs5,000 for all the damages incurred.
The court ruled to annul the verbal sales contract between the two parties and obligated the appellee to return Dhs80,000 to the plaintiff and compensate him with Dhs5,000 for the material and moral damages incurred, in addition to the fees and expenses of the case and the lawyer’s fees.