CONTRACTS IN BUSINESS

Contracts in Business Assignment

QUESTION 1

Case Overview

The case refers to a delayed acceptance of an offer by Gem Computer Stores (GCS) in Oldfield. Bruddersford Electronics Ltd (HE Ltd) offered the company a sale of 10 laptop computers on 10' of September. Gemma, the manager of Gem Computer Stores inquired about the credit terms of the deal on 20th of September. Brian told Gemma that the sales of terms of his company were 'cash on delivery'. Feared that GCS would not turn up, HE Ltd sold the computers to Argon Electrics on 22nd September. On 23d of September, Gemma wrote a letter to HE Ltd notifying the acceptance of the offer. The letter reached Brian on 25th of September, who immediately informed GCS that the product they had offered had been sold out.

Analysis and Advice to Parties

In the HE Ltd and GCS case, the primary elements of contract, offer and acceptance do not take the usual form. Under the contract law, an offer must be communicated and accepted to validate a contract (Knapp & Crystal 1987, p. 50). We first provide the basis and functioning of these two elements before proceeding to advise each party.

Acceptance is an outright approval of the offer. It is a unilateral expression of will in line with form of contract. An acceptance must be made in the context of the offer. Acceptance may be express or implied. However, in case of implied acceptance, it should be noted that silence cannot in itself constitute an acceptance; it must be accompanied by other elements (August 2000, p. 36-58). The law regulates the formation of certain contracts upon certain formal rules, such as the conclusion of an electronic contract. Conversely, the law and jurisprudence provide certain cases in which silence is consent. To enter into an agreement, there must be a meeting of offer and acceptance. The offer should be firm, precise and externalized, either expressed or implied. Once the offer is issued, it is in principle revocable until it is not accepted unless the offering person has set a deadline or if it is addressed to a specific person. (Keenan & Riches 2007, p. 163) Acceptance is the final expression for the offerer.

After acceptance, the contract comes into force.The first reaction in contract of future is to look if there is a delay and if acceptance takes place within that period. After the period the offer is extinguished. If there is no time limit, a contract would normally be worth accepting. However, the courts have considered an overly late acceptance as one that does not entail any enforceability (MacIntyre 2007, p. 77). This is also the position of the reform bill before the law of obligations. If the person who has offered dies and that acceptance is made within the prescribed period, the heirs have an obligation to continue. The preliminary draft reform of contract law jurisprudence reflects this.

The offer

The offer is a declaration of will through which two or more parties aim to conclude ...