A court has ordered a shoe store to pay Air Malta €15,253 after a consignment of shoes delivered to the airline almost 22 years ago did not meet the quality standards laid down in the contract conditions.
The court case was instituted by then Air Malta chairman Joseph Tabone against the British Shoe Store Company Ltd.
The airline said it took delivery of a consignment of shoes in April 1993 for use by its female staff.
According to the contract conditions, the shoes were supposed to be made of 'real leather material, kid or calf or full grain, with anti slip soles.'
After the consignment was delivered and the company was paid, it resulted that the shoes were actually made of synthetic plastic material reinforced with textile.
The members of staff found them unsuitable and uncomfortable, and the airline was forced to buy another consignment from a different supplier. The original consignment was deposited in court pending the court case.
Air Malta therefore asked the court to order British Shoe Store to refund the money paid for the consignment plus the difference in costs incurred by the airline to buy the shoes elsewhere.
The British Shoe Store insisted that the shoes it had supplied with the same as a sample which was given to the airline and approved by it.
In October 1996 the court decided that the shoes supplied by British Shoe Store did not meet the contract specifications and Air Malta therefore had a right to refuse them.
The British Shoe Store appealed, but its case was dismissed in January 2000.
Delivering sentence on compensation today, Mr Justice Wenzu Mintoff observed that Air Malta had bought the shoes from British Shoe Store at Lm12.50 per pair but then replaced them with shoes from Edwards costing Lm16.20 per pair, a difference of Lm3.70 per pair.
Air Malta had bought 420 pairs from British Shoe Store but then reduced its order to 355 from Edwards for a total additional cost of Lm1,313.50 (€3,021.05).
The British Shoe Store was therefore ordered to refund €12,232 it had been paid for the original consignment and the additional €3,021 paid by Air Malta when it bought the shoes from Edwards, plus interest.