Small Claims Court in British Columbia Determines that Coldplay Concert Was a Contract
Michael Stolfi (to whom the court refers as they/them) and Alyssa Randles attended a Coldplay concert together in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to Mr. Stolfi, they fronted the money for the tickets in the expectation that Ms. Randles would repay them her fair share of the costs. She contends — and this is her legal argument — that the evening was a date. Mr. Stolfi’s suggestion that she pay her share was merely a request. She was under no legal obligation to do so. Seems like a true Coldplay fan would Believe in Love, no?
No, said the court in Stolfi v. Randles. The actual facts get a bit ugly. While the parties were breakfasting in Nanaimo, they decided to buy tickets for a Coldplay concert. The tickets were $450 each, and Ms. Randles paid for them using her Ticketmaster account, but Mr. Stolfi transferred money to her to cover the cost of the tickets, as she was short on cash. Six days later, Mr. Stolfi texted Ms. Randles requesting payment. Four days later, they again sought recovery from Ms. Randles. Ms. Randles asked for more time, and Mr. Stolfi said “it’s all good,” which Ms. Randles took to mean that the debt, if there was one, was forgiven. However, she had acknowledged a debt, and the court took Mr. Randles to have agreed to a delay in repayment but not to complete forgiveness of the debt.
Mr. Stolfi became aggressive, demanding payment and threatening to contract Ms. Randles’ employer, landlord, and family. She went to the police. Mr. Stolfi was now demanding $1000, and they provided the court with receipts for nearly $450 in expenses relating to the concert outing, on top of the $450 concert tickets. However, Mr. Stolfi provided no evidence of a promise relating to those additional expenses.
Without specifically adjudicating whether the outing was a date, the court concluded that Ms. Randles was under a legal obligation to reimburse Mr. Stolfi for the concert tickets but nothing more. They were awarded the cost of the ticket, plus pre-judgment interest and court fees.
I’ve been gathering small cases like this for the start of the first-year contracts course. They are a great way to help the students navigate the border between binding agreement and social promise and also between express and implied agreements. Other recent cases in the mix include this purported contract involving an eat and run date and this alleged agreement for a ride to the airport.