How a careless text message cost one man $53,000

[aGameOfThrones]

One careless text message ended up costing a*Buffalo, NY-area man $53,000, Buffalo News reported earlier this week. Louis J. Billittier Jr. dumped*his fiancee with a terse text message, breaking off the engagement. Apparently trying to calm down the situation, he then sent a fateful text: “Plus you get a $50,000 parting ring. Enough for a down payment on a house.” Each of those 90 characters ended up having a price tag of roughly*$600.

New York state law usually sides with men, giving them the right to demand back an engagement ring if a*wedding never takes place. But the man’s text message using the term “parting ring” term seemed to clearly indicate that his former fiancee*is entitled to keep the 2.97-carat diamond ring.

When the man changed his mind and started demanding return of the ring, the damage was already done.

“The text messages … have persuaded this court that it is highly probable that a valid gift was given to her after the engagement was terminated” noted State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia, the judge presiding over the civil case.

http://news.yahoo.com/careless-text-...152547216.html

[Nirvikalpa]

This was posted on his fb and I nearly fell out of my chair:



Seriously... wut?

[KCIndy]

If you don't mean it, don't say it!

[cjm]

Tradition generally holds that if the betrothal fails because the man himself breaks off the engagement, the woman is not obliged to return the ring. This reflects the ring's role as a form of compensation for the woman's damaged reputation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engagem...egal_ownership

(this was my understanding when I proposed)

[thoughtomator]

the text message was not in his top two mistakes in this story