Exam 2: Aggreement

All Sugar Ltd is a producer of cane sugar. Blucose Ltd operates a glucose processing factory. For the past four years, Blucose has regularly ordered between 150 and 200 tons of sugar from All Sugar. Every year the contract is renegotiated. On 30 November, All Sugar sends out an offer to Blucose: 'We wish to offer you 200 tons of sugar at same price as last year'. On 1 December, Blucose sends out an offer: 'We wish to purchase 200 tons of sugar at same price as last year'. Both parties receive the respective offers on 4 December. On that day, there is a crash in the sugar market. Can Blucose enforce a contract for 200 tons of sugar at last year's price with All Sugar?

Chris and Harris have been friends all their lives. Harris has a successful dotcom business. He asks Chris, who works as a computer programmer at a large software company, if he could pass by that weekend to help him modernize his website. Working together proves very demanding on their relationship, with Harris throwing Chris out of his apartment when Chris has almost completed the job. For a similar job, Harris would have had to pay a computer programmer £800. Can Chris request this amount from Harris?

If an item is displayed for sale in a store, when has an offer been made and when has it been accepted?

In which of the following scenarios has an offer not been validly accepted?

Which of the following agreements is too uncertain to be enforced?

If a supermarket chain agrees to buy land for a potential store 'subject to contract', and then spends time and money obtaining planning permission for the site, what can the supermarket chain claim if the seller then refuses to conclude the deal but, instead, sells the land at an enhanced value due to the planning permission, to a rival bidder?

On 4 April, Alison offers Betty an antique clock for £2000. Betty spends a week mulling over the offer. On 13 April, she sends Alison a letter stating she'd be willing to buy it for £1500. The next day, while looking through an antiques catalogue she sees that a similar clock has recently been auctioned off at £5000. Betty realizes that if Allison refuses her counter offer she may lose the clock altogether. She immediately sends another letter on 14 April accepting the original offer. Betty's first letter containing the counter offer arrives on 16 April; her second letter accepting the original offer arrives on 18 April. Have the parties concluded a contract and, if so, when?

Brightlights Ltd, a lighting and electrical company, run a TV commercial at lunchtime on Monday offering special snail-shaped lamps free 'to any of our customers who buy a new chandelier in our Spring sale and send proof of purchase to our head office'. They also publish the offer in the Daily Comet. In which situation would Brightlights' unilateral offer have been validly revoked before Dora's acceptance?

Which of the following statements is false?

In which of the following scenarios has an offer been validly accepted?

Playtron Industries has rented its business headquarters from Novell Realtors for the past two years. With the third year approaching, Novell decides to raise its £9,000 per month rent to £9,800. The assistant writes to Playtron, but accidentally types £8,900 instead of £9,800. When Playtron receives the offer, they are pleasantly surprised and they immediately accept. Novell realizes the mistake they made upon the receipt of this acceptance and calls Playtex to correct the offer. Have the parties contracted and, if so, for which price?

Which of the following agreements is likely to be too uncertain to be enforced?

Foodshopper Ltd, a supermarket operator, has been contracting with Berry's Ltd, a fruit wholesaler, for the past three years. Each year the contract is renegotiated. This year, Berry's sends Foodshopper the following offer '100 kilos of citrus fruits for £250'. Foodshopper calls Berry's and leaves a message: 'Could we agree on 100 kilos for £200?' Berry's fails to respond, and, after a week, Foodshopper amends Berry's written offer with the handwritten messages '100 kilos for £200', 'Please send 400 kilos'. After receiving the altered document, Berry's ships 400 kilos to Foodshopper. Enclosed is an invoice for £1000. Foodshopper responds immediately with the following message: 'We agreed upon £200 per kilo, your invoice is incorrect, will pay £800 by Friday'. Knowing that the citrus fruit will go bad in a week, Foodshopper decides to sell the fruit. Have Foodshopper Ltd and Berry's Ltd concluded a binding contract, and if so, on what terms?

Amazon Ltd is a UK based shipping firm with a large international clientele. Biscayne Co, an Irish lumber firm, which plans to ship an order of timber to Japan, calls Amazon to inform about their prices. Amazon replies that, for a shipment of timber to the Far East, the average price would be £95 per pound. After an hour of negotiations, Amazon says it is willing to reduce its price to £91 per pound for the large quantity Biscayne is planning to have shipped. An offer is immediately drawn up by an employee of Amazon. Accidentally, he uses a form normally used for international shipments in which all prices are quoted per kilogram. When Biscayne receives the offer for £91 per kilogram, they immediately accept, this being almost half the price Amazon stated on the phone. Has a contract been concluded and, if so, for which price?

Wilma offers her car, a 1989 Volkswagen Polo, for sale at £750. Vijay sees the advertisement and calls Wilma to ask whether he can come see the car the following Saturday. Wilma proposes to meet on Sunday as she is unavailable on Saturday. Vijay cannot meet on Sunday and decides to send his cousin Sanjay to inspect the car. After Sanjay reports back to Vijay, Vijay calls Wilma to say he's interested but thinks the price is too high. He offers £675 for the car and says his offer is valid until Thursday. On Wednesday, Sanjay sees Wilma on the High Street and tells her that Vijay's no longer interested in the car. Wilma immediately calls Vijay to accept his offer of £675. Has Wilma concluded a contract with Vijay?

On 2 May, Boston Technology Ltd receives a letter from Calculatrix Co offering 250 calculators for £7000. On 10 May, Boston Technology sends a letter to Calculatrix in which they accept the offer. This letter reaches Calculatrix on 12 May. On the evening of 7 May, Calculatrix realizes that they have made a miscalculation and that the offer should have been 250 calculators for £7500. On 8 May, Calculatrix sends Boston Technology a letter revoking the offer. Because of the weekend break, this letter only arrives on 11 May. Has there been a contract concluded between the parties? If so, on what date; if not, when was the offer revoked?

Jim sells videocassettes over the internet and has recently acquired two copies of Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece 'Psycho'. On 1 June, he places the following message on his website: "'Psycho', only £30, limited stock, first come, first served! Reply by e-mail". Three interested people see the advert: - Alan sends Jim an e-mail at 2.30am on 2 June. He writes 'I'd like a copy of "Psycho". I can pay by credit card'. - Barney sees Jim's telephone number on his website. At 12.45pm on 2 June, Barney leaves the following voicemail message: 'I'd like to buy three copies of "Psycho"; would that be possible? Call me back'. - Chris sends an e-mail at 7.45am on 3 June saying: 'I'd like a copy of "Psycho". I've sent a cheque to the address on your website'. On the morning of 2 June, when Jim tries to start his computer it crashes. While his computer is being repaired, Jim decides to go hiking. On 3 June at 8.00am, Jim starts up his fixed computer. While he's opening his inbox, Jim listens to his voicemail. The first e-mail he opens is from Chris. While he's reading the e-mail, Jim hears Barney's message. Jim sends a copy of 'Psycho' to Barney and Chris. Jim then replies to Chris: 'The video is in the mail', but doesn't contact Barney. Finally he reads Alan's message and replies: 'Sorry, all copies have been sold'. When Chris receives the video, he is shocked to see that he's been sent the wrong film. He's never heard of Hitchcock and thought he was buying the 1998 version of 'Psycho'. Which of the following is true?

What does it mean when we say that the courts apply an objective test of intentions to ascertain what contracting parties have agreed to?

Edward is an avid rugby fan. He subscribes to Sports World, a magazine which contains a classified section where private persons and small businesses can advertize their sports memorabilia for sale. One day, he sees an advertisement from Lionel, who owns a sports shop, which reads: 'Special deals on Football, Rugby and Cricket sportswear. Special deal this month: England Shirts from last World Cup. Liquidation Sale. £15 each'. After England's success in the Rugby World Cup, Edward has been at pains to find an English rugby shirt. He e-mails Lionel, immediately ordering two. A week later, Edward receives his package and is surprised to see that the shirts he has bought are the English Football Shirts from the 2002 World Cup. Seeing as the 2006 World Cup is nearing, Lionel wanted to make room for new stock. Have the parties concluded a contract and, if so, on which terms?

Mindset Industries Co is interested in taking a 90% stake in New Age Computers Co. The parties agree that they should wait a month before the shares are transferred to avoid a fall in value. A month later, the shares lose 30% of their value and Mindset refuses to cooperate on the transfer. In which of the following scenarios could Mindset get out of the agreement by alleging it is too uncertain to be enforced?