Opinion ID: 1767013
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether mercury marine breached the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Text: ¶ 20. Mississippi does not allow the disclaimer of the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Miss.Code Ann. § 75-2-315.1. See Gast v. Rogers-Dingus Chevrolet, 585 So.2d 725, 728 (Miss.1991). As a result, we agree with the trial court that these warranties could not be excluded, but we disagree that they were breached. ¶ 21. Travis went to great lengths to show that he was not a normal customer because he was a member of Mercury Marine's Saltwater Pro Team, albeit one of 1100 members of Mercury Marine's promotional programs. He assumed that he was entitled to a higher level of service by virtue of such membership when all for which he contracted was a discounted price on the motors in exchange for various promotional services. There is nothing in the sponsorship program entitling him to special treatment outside of the repair or replace warranty or standard implied warranties. ¶ 22. We find the fact that Mercury Marine was not afforded an opportunity to cure fatal to the jury's verdict. As discussed above in Fitzner, the seller was entitled to an opportunity to repair the vehicle. We likewise noted: Smith later tried to get out of his deal with Fitzner. This occurred on August 20, 1984, when Smith delivered to Fitzner a letter rejecting the contract and telling Fitzner he wanted ... [his] money back. At this point Smith had no right of rejection. He had at most a right to revoke his acceptance. Miss. Code Ann. § 75-2-608 (1972). In such circumstances, though there may have been a breach of the warranty of merchantability, the seller has a right to attempt cure. 523 So.2d at 327-28 (ellipsis and brackets in original) (emphasis added). ¶ 23. This reasoning was applied in Tucker v. Aqua Yacht Harbor Corp., 749 F.Supp. 142 (N.D.Miss.1990). In Tucker, the court held that a manufacturer of boat engines was entitled to cure ailments of oil leakage and low oil pressure caused by defective pistons. Id. at 147. On the issue of implied warranties, the court applied Fitzner and stated that the seller must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to cure, even though there may have been a breach of an implied warranty. Id. at 145. That same prerequisite to recovery is also present under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Id. See 15 U.S.C. § 2310(e) (2002) (stating No action ... may be brought ... unless the person obligated under the warranty or service contract is afforded a reasonable opportunity to cure such failure to comply). ¶ 24. The dissent, in attempting to justify a jury verdict, would effectively render null the UCC's requirement of a reasonable opportunity to cure. Demanding warranty repair work on offshore outboard boat motors under a standard repair or replace warranty on a Friday night or Saturday morning cannot be considered reasonable under these or most any facts. Such a position would be not only improvident but also economically devastating, since sellers would be unwilling or unable to comply with such a truncated definition of reasonable.