Desk cancellation dispute ends in $60 settlement subject to shop’s approval

Alder Desk Shop LLC and Leah Benton reached settlement terms providing for a $60 payment to Benton over a disputed desk cancellation fee. The final settlement remains subject to Alder’s designated approval; the record contains no judicial ruling on Benton’s request for the return of the full $240 retained by the shop.

The dispute, brought in small claims court in Madison, turned on whether a walnut-finish desk counted as a special order. Benton canceled her $600 purchase the next morning, before delivery. Alder refunded $360 but kept the remaining $240 under its special-order cancellation policy.

The recorded terms offer a limited resolution rather than the full refund Benton sought. They set a payment deadline tied to approval, not to a supplied calendar date, and confine the release to this cancellation dispute.

• Alder pays Benton $60 within 14 days after designated approval.
• The release is limited to the cancellation dispute.
• The settlement includes no admission of liability.
• Final settlement is subject to Alder’s designated approval.

Benton sought the return of the $240 cancellation fee. Alder denied that retaining it was improper and sought to have her refund request denied or materially reduced.

The shop’s position was that Benton’s choice of finish required a supplier reservation, making the desk a special order rather than a stocked item. An Alder email explained that rationale, but the record identifies no written proof or confirmation that Benton saw the email.

The receipt stated both the stocked-item refund policy and the special-order fee policy. It did not identify this desk as a special order. That gap mattered to the competing positions: the shop relied on the selected finish to justify the fee, while the purchase document did not expressly classify the desk that way.

Independent proof of a supplier reservation was not identified, and no known witness could confirm one. The record therefore supports reporting Alder’s belief about the reservation, not treating the reservation as an established fact.

The transaction followed a short sequence: Benton purchased the walnut-finish desk for $600, canceled the next morning before delivery, and received a partial refund. The retained amount was 40 percent of the purchase price.

The settlement leaves the underlying policy question unresolved. There is no recorded finding that the desk qualified as a special order, that the fee was valid, or that Alder owed the full amount claimed. Nor does the supplied record confirm designated approval or payment of the agreed $60.