1001G77507 Tiong Jia Yin
In the assignment of case study between Sam, Colin and Jake regarding the
purchasing of a vehicle, the case is reviewed and arguments from all the different
parties were further discussed in this assessment report. The case was reviewed in a
day-by-day basis between the parties that are related. Argument from both the party,
Colin and Sam were discussed thoroughly in the body of this report and the
conclusion was drawn to advice if Colin has any action against Sam for breach of
contract.
Was there a valid acceptance made by Sam to either Colin or Jake on the 15 th
of
September 2011?
On the 15th of September 2011, Sam made an offer to Colin for the release of his car
at the price of RM5000. On the same day, Jake made an offer to Sam that he would
buy the car at the price of RM6000. According to the Communication of Offer S2(C)
Contracts Act 1950, an offer can be made expressly in writing, orally, partly oral and
partly in writing. In this case, Sam made an oral offer, which is a valid offer towards
Colin. On the other hand, Jake made a written offer via email, which is also a valid
offer towards Sam. However, Sam as the promisor to Colin and promisee to Jake is
not at fault, as he did not make any valid acceptance towards the consideration made
by Colin and the offer made by Jake. In the Communication of Acceptance, it is stated
that silence is not a mode of acceptance. By applying the principle of cases in
Felthouse v Bindley (1862) 11 CBNS 869, nephew never told F of his acceptance of
offer before auction, thus there was no contract. Therefore, there was no valid
acceptance made by Sam to either both parties on this day.
The counter offer made by Colin
Dummies.com (n.d) states that a counter-offer is a termination of offer as it reverses
the roles where the counter-offer is made by the offeree to offeror. When Sam initially
offered Colin the release of his car at the price of RM5000, Colin replied that he
would purchase the car at RM5000 if he could pay for it in three installments. This is
a counter-offer where Colin was trying to get sympathy from Sam by demanding for a
lower price indirectly. Instead, to play safe in the situation, Colin should have made
an invitation to treat rather than making a counter-offer. For example, Colin should
ask for the best offer that Sam could do for him as this is inducing a person to
negotiate rather than making a counter-offer. According to the law of Termination of
Offer, the roles will be reversed when the counter-offer is made by the offeree to
offeror and thus, the counter-offer destroys the initial offer. In other words, the
original offer has been extinguished. By applying the principle in the case of Hyde v
Wrench (1840) 49 ER 132, there was no contract held. Offer to buy at $950 in
response to offer to sell at $1000 was counter-offer which destroyed W’s offer. Offer
