LAW OF CONTRACT- GIVE ADVICE

Chong and Wei went shopping and decided to shop at Super Supermarket. Wei looked at the goods which were on display and decided to purchase 3 face cream which were on offer. She took the bottles to counter where she paid for them. As they were leaving the supermarket, the cashier came up to them and told them that they have to return the goods. Advise Wei according to Contracts Act 1950 and relevant decided cases.

Comment

the above case is an example which can help us determine the key differences between, agreement, offer, acceptance and invitation to treat. however the important issue here will be to discuss whether Wei should return the goods or no!

firstly, goods on display is merely invitation to treat(e,g the case of Fisher v. Bell) and cannot amount to a binding contract, however by taking the goods to the counter with willingness to accept the stated price Wei was making an offer (Section 2(a) of the Contracts Act define offer as, “When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to the act or abstinence) to the shop through their cashier as hence the moment the cashier scans the goods and receives payment from Wei, there is acceptance ( Section 2(b) - ACCEPTANCE is when the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted: a proposal, when accepted, becomes a promise) therefore an agreement has been reached as hence a legally binding contract exist between Wei and the shop based on terms and conditions of purchase

Based on the above scenario however, it is not clear why Wei was asked to return the goods, so for my analysis i will assume the shop assistant might have made a mistake in the price tag, or probably the offer price was no longer applicable as hence she wanted to get the goods and rescan with new price which most probably was higher. in this case Wei has the right to refuse to return the goods and can take action against the store for breach of contract. To support himself Wei can quote section 5 of the contact Act which reads thus "An acceptance may be revoked at any time before the communication of the acceptance is complete as against the acceptor or the proposer, but not afterwards." He can also have his Friend to testify or become his witness and in addition one important case which might be helpful due to similar facts shared in the sense that the revocation of offer was made after acceptance is the "Byrne v. Van Tienhoven ".

So in conclusion Wei can try to establish the facts of why he should return the goods, only if it is something that is against the agreement then he can consider but based strictly on the terms and conditions of sale as stated already above, but if its for other reasons that he deemed will be against his agreement with the shop then he can refuse to return the goods and sue the shop for their breach of loyalty and trust to the customer