Question
I saw an advertisement for a sofa that is a meter eighty. I measured the space I had available and saw that a meter eighty was perfect for me. I called the owner and purchased the sofa. When I brought the sofa home the sofa did not fit. I measured the sofa and saw that the sofa is really a meter eighty-four. Since this is really the only place I have for the sofa, I have nothing to do with the sofa. Can I cancel the sale since the advertisement gave false information which served as the basis for my purchase. Furthermore, if I cancel can I claim reimbursement for the transportation costs that I paid?
Answer
The basis for a claim to cancel a sale is that the sale constitutes, a mekach to'us. Therefore, your second question is whether one who bought an object that is a mekach to'us can bill the seller for his costs. The grounds for such a claim, is that the seller caused an outlay of money by the customer. Causative damages are generally either gromo for which one is not liable or garmi for which one is liable.
The Tur (232, 20) cites the Rama who ruled that if the seller was aware that there was a damage and yet he sold the object while it had a blemish, he is liable for the expenses of the customer because the seller's actions constitute garmi. However, if he was unaware of the blemish, he is not liable. Concerning the expense to retrieve the object which was sold, the SA rules (232, 21) that if the customer informed the seller that he plans to take the item he bought to a different place, the seller mush pay for the costs but if not, it is the customer's responsibility to return the object to the place he bought it. The Nesevos (232, 10) writes that even if the customer did not explicitly inform the seller that he is planning to take the purchased good to a different place but it if it known to the seller that this is the customer's intention, the seller must pay for the cost to return the damaged object.
Thus, if we were to consider the sofa as having a blemish, you could force the owner of the sofa to foot the cost to retrieve his sofa but not to reimburse you for your expenses.
However, it would seem that even if a sofa is a meter eighty four a person who advertises the sofa could write that is a meter eighty. This can be derived from the Gemoro (BK 27B) that rules that if a person agreed to sell a barrel which was called a chovis, and later gave the customer a barrel known as a kad, the customer does not have the right to cancel the sale with the claim that he did not receive a chovis, since some call the barrel that the seller gave the customer a chovis. Similarly, in your case many would call the sofa that you received a meter eighty because they round off the length of the sofa. Moreover, most people consider the extra length as an advantage. Therefore, if you need a sofa that is no longer than a meter eighty you should have checked out the length before buying.
There is one other possibility for you to cancel the sale. The basis for this, is a Gemoro that discusses a sale of land. The Gemoro (Kiddushin 49B) discusses a person who sold his land with the intention to move to Eretz Yisroel but in the end was unable to do so. The Gemoro rules that if the seller did not inform the buyer that he was intending to move to Eretz Yisroel the sale is valid because he did not reveal his intentions to the customer (devorim shebalev einom devorim). However, if he did mention to the customer that he was intending to move, he can later cancel the sale because we consider the sale as a conditional sale (explicit expression of SA (207, 3))-that if he succeeds in moving, the sale will be valid but if he is unsuccessful the sale is null and void.
We should note that the Ramo rules that at times it is not even necessary to explicitly state one's intentions since they may be obvious (an umdeno). For example, the Sema (note 7) writes that the reason the Gemoro explicitly requires the seller to inform his customer of his intentions to move is because it is in no way obvious that the reason he sold is because he wished to move since there are other reasons a person might sell his land. Furthermore, the Chasam Sofer writes (res 70) that even when we say that the customer can only reverse the sale if he informed the seller of his intention to move, he does not have to state that the sale is conditional on his finding suitable quarters to move into, since it is obvious that when people state that they wish to move they mean that they will find a suitable place to live in their new location.
Similarly, the Nesevos (230, 1) writes concerning a war situation where the ruler contracted to purchase a huge amount of linen. A who was one of his contractors went to B and showed him that he had a contract with the ruler and A purchased a large amount of linen from B. Later, the war ended and the ruler unilaterally cancelled all of the contracts. A in turn went to B and told him that he wishes to cancel their deal. The Nesevos ruled that A can cancel the sale since the only one who would buy such a large amount is the ruler. Therefore, it is obvious that the reason A purchased is only because he had a contract with the ruler.
Another anecdote where one could cancel a sale because the condition was clear was a question that was addressed by the Chasam Sofer (CM 102). A person sold his silverware in order to purchase a pot that he needed to brew whiskey. The brother of the one who was looking to purchase the pot passed away, leaving his brother with the pot that he needed. The Chasam sofer ruled that the customer can cancel the sale of his silver utensils since it is obvious that the only reason he sold his silver utensils was in order to buy the pot, which now became superfluous.
Therefore, we have to consider that perhaps it is understood that your purchase is conditional on your having place in your house for the sofa since you only have one small apartment and you don't deal with sofas. However, this case is far removed from the previously examples because there it is not obvious that you were intending to purchase the sofa for use in your apartment since you could conceivably have intended to purchase the sofa as a present.
In conclusion: There are no grounds to allow you to cancel your purchase.
