Trinidad floral company ordered to pay US$52k to Colombian exporter

A Colombian floral exporter has won a breach of contract case against a locally-based business over unpaid invoices for flowers delivered between 2017 and 2018.

In a ruling, Justice Ricky Rahim ordered Ziyad Mohammed and Zalina Mohammed, trading as Zalina’s Floral Elegance, to pay US$52,974.16 to Bloom Flower 2 Trade S.A.S., an international flower supplier based in Bogotá, Colombia.

The total award includes the principal debt of US$39,859.86, interest at 2.5 per cent per year from October 2, 2023, to the date of judgment, and legal costs. The claim related to shipments of flowers exported to Trinidad and Tobago from February to October 2017.

Rahim rejected the Mohammeds’ counterclaim for US$19,717.00, in which they alleged that they had overpaid due to receiving too many or damaged flowers.

Rahim found that they failed to provide solid evidence to support their assertion. He also noted that certain labels on credit card payments did not link those transactions to Bloom Flower.

The judge also said that while the Mohammeds claimed they received extra flowers or that some were damaged, they kept all the shipments and did not follow the agreed procedure of reporting any issues within 48 hours. Rahim also noted that Bloom Flower issued credit notes to Zalina’s Floral for damaged flowers received during the period and overshipment of flowers, but the Mohammeds kept the flowers and benefited from them.

“The defendants have not proven to the court that they received more flowers than ordered, including the quantum thereof, value thereof and on the dates, they allege and have not proven that they paid sums to the claimant.”

Bloom Flower was represented by attorney Abdel Mohammed and Shania Sinanan.