Essay on Contracts Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On Contracts - Essay Example A valid offer may thus be made orally, in writing or by conduct. In the scenario, a question arises on when a valid offer was made by either party. Was it made by the brochure advertising the vehicle and its price? Or was it made by peter when he wrote to the sales company reserving a new Vectra 2.0i, Corsican Blue, for the price of ?15,749? An offer must be distinguished from an invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is generally a negotiation on in which a seller of a commodity gives the price of the commodity, not as offer that is capable of acceptance by the buyer, but rather as an invitation to conduct further negotiations on the price of the commodity. This means that if a seller of a commodity posts the price of a given commodity on the commodity itself, newspaper, brochure, or on a shelf, this amounts to an invitation to treat rather than a valid offer capable of acceptance by the buyer when he/she presents the item to the seller2. In the case of Pharmaceutical Society o f Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists3 the court considered the question whether the price of the goods displayed in a chemist amounted to an offer made to the buyer upon which he accepts when he picks the goods from the shelves and put them in a shopping basket. The court held that if that was the case, a customer who picks the goods from the shelves cannot be able to return them. Instead the goods on the shelves were merely invitation to treat, and the sale agreement was complete upon the cashier accepting payment for the goods. The same rule applies in regard to advertisements, which are generally interpreted by the courts to be merely invitations to treat. In the case of Partridge v. Crittenden4 the defendant had placed advertisements on the classified section of magazines advertising the sale of bramble finches, whose sale had been prohibited by Section 6 of the Protection of Birds Act. He was found guilty under the Act and so he appealed the decision of the trial court. The A ppellate court, in quashing the appellant’s sentence, held that the advertisements were merely invitations to treat as opposed to an offer. This view was upheld by the court in Fisher v. Bell5 where the court held that the display of a flick knife in the display of a shop was merely an advertisement of the good, and thus an invitation to treat. From the foregoing, the brochure obtained by peter containing the car’s description and price was merely a form of advertisement for the car. It did not amount to an offer in any way, but was merely an invitation to treat for the company’s customers. However, there was a valid offer from Peter to the company’s sales department through his written letter to the company indicating his willingness to purchase a Corsican blue Vectra 2.0i vehicle. It is a universally accepted principle of law that acceptance must coincide fully with the terms of an offer. This means that if new terms are introduced to the contract, or r ather if new terms are purported to be introduced, acceptance of such new terms will be considered as a counter offer which results in the rejection of the offer. In the case of Hyde v Wrench6 the plaintiff offered the respondent to him his land for $1000 and he refused. In his reply, he stated that he would pay $950 and the respondent refused. The plaintiff later wrote to the respondent accepting to pay the initial sum but the respondent re