A contract is a legally binding or valid agreement between two or more parties.This contract appears under contract law which has four elements; Offer and Acceptance ,Consideration and Intentions to create legal relations .
The offer was made by A&M Ltd that approached Mr. Evens with the offer of £600 for the goods. “ An offer is an expression of willingness to contract on the specified terms without further negotiations , so that requires only acceptance for a binding agreement to be formed” (Poole,2008,p.p42).
An offer must be recognised from all other statements made in the period of negotiating towards the contract so then offer could be accepted by the other party. However the acceptance must be communicated between the offeror (A&M LTD ) and offeree (Emma )but the terms of the acceptance has to match the terms of the offer. The agreement must be certain. An offer must be distinguished from an invitation to treat. This is because an offer should be clear ,specific and created with an intention to be bound if the offer is accepted. It is important to distinguish an offer from an invitation to treat because “An invitation to treat is where offers are merely invited, and then those being offered something are free to accept or reject the offer.”(Ltd, 2016)
The Yates Building Company v. Pulleyn (1975) case , the method of acceptance can be selected by the offeror, also there is another method of acceptance which can be used in this case where it shows no disadvantage to the parties . The communication of acceptance may be in writing,verbal or the offer could be accepted by conduct. A&M Ltd reached to Mr. Evens with the offer by email but when Mr. Evens accepted the offer ,A&M Ltd rejected the offer and proposed a new offer .
“An offer that provides new terms or conditions becomes a counteroffer. However, the offer may limit, change, or add some or all the terms of the original offer. There is no obligation of either party until they agree on a contract, which occurs once the counteroffer is accepted.”(Investopedia, 2016)
The issue, in this case, is the counter offer at this point , the original offer was terminated . So Mr. Evens can sue the Mr. Neil for breach of contract but the contract does not exist . This is because when the counter offer was introduced to Mr. Evens, the original offer was destroyed, therefore ,the offer is no longer open to Mr. Evens to accept .
Consideration appears as an issue in this case which is one of the elements of contract law. This is where Consideration appears in this case when A&M Ltd charged Mr. Evens £700 for the goods .
“ A valuable consideration , in the sense of the law , may consist either in some right , interest , profit or benefit accruing to the one party , or some forbearance ,detriment , loss or responsibility , given ,suffered or undertaken by the other.” (Poole,2008,p.p127).
Hyde v Wrench (1840) is a case that is similar to Mr. Evens issue. Wrench offered to sell his farm to Hyde for £1000. After examining the offer, Wrench refused to accept the offer from Hyde which was less than the original offer. Hyde changed his mind later on and agreed to buy the farm for £1000 but Wrench refused to sell his farm and sued the buyer for breach of contract.
The bilateral contract would be the most suitable contract for each party. This is because it contains a promise by each party to fulfill certain obligations to agree on a deal. In some cases the offeror may revoke an offer before the acceptance takes place .
Dickinson v Dodds (1876) is the perfect case where revocation is displayed and when the offer has been successfully revoked. This is because the offeror can withdraw at any time before the acceptance , therefore , there is no contract between the Dickinson and Dodds unless there is deposit paid to the owner of the house. If A&M Ltd has revoked the offer like in Dickinson V Dodds (1876) case , then the company can withdraw the offer before the offeree accepts the offer which would be the suitable way for the company to avoid these situations.
Emma v A&M Ltd
According to E-Law Resources, contract is made when “Contractual agreement has traditionally been analysed in terms of offer and acceptance. One party, the offeror, makes an offer which once accepted by another party, the offeree, creates a binding contract.”(“Contract Agreement – Offer And Acceptance”)
A&M Ltd has recently employed Emma , the offer was introduced to Emma when A&M Ltd offered christmas bonus of £300 pounds if she worked extremely hard. The offer was accepted by conduct. This is because Emma has accepted the offer by working extra hours expecting to get the bonus by meeting her target. This is when the offer was accepted .
“ Acceptance is what turns a specific offer, made with the intention to be bound, into an agreement.”(Poole,2008,p.p55).
Consideration is an essential element of contract law , where Sir Frederick Pollock summed up consideration as \”An act or forbearance of one party, or the promise thereof, is the price for which the promise of the other is bought, and the promise thus given for value is enforceable.”Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres Co. Ltd v. Selfridges Ltd [1915]
A unilateral contract is when the offer is introduced to the whole world but the contract comes to an agreement when one party pays the other party to perform the certain duty. An example of this could be when there is an offer to find a missing dog, the only time the other party could claim the reward for the missing dog is when the dog is given back to the owner. Mainly acceptance by conduct is found in unilateral contracts .Carlil v Carbolic Smokeball (1893) is the key case that leads to a unilateral contract. The acceptance by conduct was formed when Mrs. Carlil bought the product and followed the instruction so that she uses the product correctly. The communication of acceptance was made when she claimed for the reward.
A good example of acceptance by conduct is Brodgen v Metropolitan Railway (1877) The issue, in this case, was whether the written contract was valid or not but the agreement was valid. Thi is because when the counter offer was introduced to the offeree and was accepted by the party , offeree was still receiving receive the product so the agreement was valid and therefore it wasn\’t necessary to take this case to the court .
Relating this to Emma’s case , she has the right to receive the bonus because the acceptance was formed when she stayed late to finish work and stop taking cigarette breaks. This shows that the offer was accepted by the offeree. The contract was verbal and not written. A&M Ltd would not know if the offeree accepted the offer because it doesn\’t state that Emma has accepted the offer , she only carried out the job but she has not confirmed the offer with the manager. A&M Ltd should provide written offer with terms that would benefit both parties. They should set an achievable targets and if the employees aren’t performing well and not meeting their targets they should not be receiving any bonuses.
A&M Ltd v Emma
The purpose of tort law is about safety and protects a range of private interest including ; physical and sometimes mental integrity ,reputation and other personal integrity and financial interests. Mrs. Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) case established the law of negligence. Negligence covers the area of accidental injury , road accident , illness and injuries caused by manufactures. Negligence offers rights to the person who suffered from damages and it goes against the party who has failed to take care for other person health and safety.
Marc Rich & Co.AG v Bishop Rock Marine (1995) (HL)
“The duty of care does not vary with the nature of the damage, as to whether it is physical or financial. The relationship of the parties is to be taken into account in assessing the extent of the damage.”(“Marc Rich & Co Ag And Others V Bishop Rock Marine Co Ltd And Others; HL 6 Jul 1995 – Swarb.Co.Uk”) The duty of care is when a person is undertaking an activity or course of behaviour that owes a duty not to harm another party reasonably expected to be caused damage as a result. The area of duty care comes under the Sales of good act.
The contract is formed when the offeree has purchased the product from A&M Ltd. When the product is purchased by the offeree , that means the offer was accepted.
Consideration is the price paid for the promise of the party. The price must be something of value .
Sales of Goods act 1979 ,section 12,13&14 are really important to this case because the products must fit for purpose , there must be sales by description and the company must repair or replace the product. These acts all apply to Emma’s case because she has consumer rights and if there is a private contract then there are sales made from business to consumer, business to business or consumer to consumer. The Consumer Rights Act states that the buyer has the right to test the product to see if it meets their requirements. If the company alerted the consumer about the defect of the product before it was purchased and the consumer still purchased the product , then this act can not be used against the seller. “Where the third party is prevented from making the valuation by the fault of the seller or buyer, the party not at fault may maintain an action for damages against the party at fault”(“Sale Of Goods Act 1979”) In Emma\’s case it does not state that the defect was brought to the buyers attention from A&M Ltd when the contract was made.
Consumer Protection Act 1987
“ The consumer Protection act 1987 gives you the right to claim compensation against the producer of a defective product if it has caused damage, death or personal injury. The act also contains a strict liability test for defective products in UK Law making the producer of that product automatically liable for any damage caused.”(“Consumer Protection Act 1987″)
The consumer protection act would give Emma right to claim against A&M Ltd or the manufacturer . Mrs. Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) claim was successful because she has suffered from personal injury. The quality of the product is the most important factor to consumers like Emma. This is because the product has exploded in her face . The carelessness of the manufacture and A&M Ltd are responsible for the goods and the damages that are caused to Emma. She has the right to claim against the Manufacturer for item which is the microwave that has exploded in her face. (Consumer Rights Act 2015”) The consumer has 30 days to reject the goods that are of unsatisfactory quality. Emma as the consumer can not return the product that she purchased because it’s been more than 30 days but if the company says that she has a warranty for 12 months , then the product can be replaced with a new one. The first 6 months of the product that was purchased can be replaced or repaired if the product was faulty. If the product can’t be replaced or repaired , then buyer has the right to reject the product ask for a full refund. So it all depends on the retailer because if the retailer can prove that the product was not faulty when it’s purchased then Emma might not receive full refund. The consumer can ask the retailer for price reduction if she wishes to keep the product.