Contract law

The area of law in this story is the Contract law. A ‘contract’ is a written legal agreement which is usually an offer and acceptance, between individuals or companies, who have to comply with legal requirements.
The contract involved as mentioned, an “offer”, which is an expression of willingness to carry out an action on certain conditions which are made with the intention that an obligatory agreement will exist once it is accepted, and an ‘acceptance’ which is the final and absolute assent to all of the terms of the offer.
There are two types of offer, which are; ‘unilateral offer’, that is capable of being made to the world as whole- Bowerman v ABTA, and ‘bilateral offer’ which is made to a specific individual or group.
In this particular situation, it can be seen that there is an ‘unilateral offer’, made by Elaine, as she puts the advertisement on her business website which says that there is a special offer for the HP234x cartridges with the cost of £2.50. This action of Elaine shows that she is willing to make a contract to the world as whole with the existence of the acceptance.
In order to get an acceptance, it must be considered that it is unequivocal and unconditional, and that the general rule of the acceptance is followed, therefore the acceptance must be communicated to the other party- Entores v Miles Far East Corporation.
An acceptance to an offer can be a written document, orally accepted, and by conduct. The unilateral offers are accepted by conduct- Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball.
It is clear to see that there is an unconditional communication between the person who offered and the person who accepted; as an ‘acceptance’ which is made by conduct, as Sacha immediately places her order for 100 cartridges and compl...

... middle of paper ...

...gh to form a contract. Although, the request for information does not destroy the offer and keeps the contract open, it is still needed to get a clear, certain and unconditional acceptance to form a contract. Also, there might be a possibility for intention to create legally binding relationship, as Bill and Sacha are colleagues. It can be argued that it is difficult to revoke a binding contract as the offer is accepted and the contract is formed. Elaine realizes her mistake about the price next day, which can cause problem to revoke it as she does not find the mistake at the moment of the existence of the contract. But Elaine’s action of refunding the money back which is approving, shows that she is ready to pay the cost that is paid by Sacha back, and it would not cause any damage to Sacha as she receives her money and does not have a binding contract with Bill.