The E-Mail Acceptance Rule. Gill & Duffus Landauer Ltd v London Export Corp GmbH [1982] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 627. 121 While my views here are not central to my decision, the plaintiffs have adverted to this relationship in a misguided attempt to derail the defence on an arid pleading technicality. 18 He said he later conducted some searches using the Google search engine and ascertained that the laser printer could be sold at about US$1,300 in certain markets. There could be different considerations. It was found that the plaintiffs must have known or realised that the offer did not express the true intention of the defendants. Claiming he was in a light-hearted kind of mood during his ICQ (acronym for I-Seek-You) conversation with Desmond, he insisted that this conversation should be taken neither seriously nor literally. The recipient rule is therefore more convenient and relevant in the context of both instantaneous or near instantaneous communications. He placed another order for a further 150 printers at 3.14am, followed by two further orders for 300 printers each at about 3.56am and 3.59am. This final mass e-mail only reinforces my view that the first plaintiff consistently and continuously entertained the view that the price posting on the HP website was a mistake. - See also Balfour v. Balfour (1919). The CISG has currently been adopted by 95 Contracting States world-wide. 136 First, it was suggested that no contracts had been formed as all the contracts were subject to availability and that a failure to adhere to the directive call to enquire prevented the contracts from coming into existence. This rationalised the law and gives the court a broad discretion to fashion the applicable relief. CISG-online is a research platform dedicated to the law and practice of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods adopted in Vienna on 11 April 1980 (CISG), as well as related areas of international commercial law. This, in a nutshell, is the issue at the heart of these proceedings. His own counsels description of him as careful and prudent only serves to corroborate this. The object of the exercise is to determine what each party intended, or must be deemed to have intended. The sixth plaintiff is precluded from asserting his ignorance. High Court and Court of Appeal, recently, in a number of case . 26 It is clear from the priority status accorded to the e-mail that the first plaintiff was sharing his knowledge of a good deal. He admitted in cross-examination to being the lawyer for this group of people when they had questions like these in the present proceedings. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall Pte Ltd The defendant, Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, were an online IT company that sold related software and hardware from Singapore. It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. Not all one-sided transactions or bargains are improper. . Olley v Marlborough Court [1949] 1 KB 532 Omnium D'Enterprises v . They are not entitled to the costs of the subsequent brief hearing, for reasons I now deal with summarily. 77 Soon after the defendant informed the plaintiffs that they did not intend to deliver the laser printers, the plaintiffs took their claims to the press. The second plaintiff made an enquiry as to the terms and conditions governing purchases through the HP website while the fifth plaintiff was perusing the conditions of the Digilandmall website. 29 The first plaintiff struck me as an opportunistic entrepreneur. He is described by his counsel in submissions as a prudent and careful person. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:43 coz the HP laser colour printer sells for at least 3 to 4k outside, Desmond 13/01/20 01:44 from US I heard is about USD 2k, Desmond 13/01/20 01:44 its HP and Laser and Coloured. 28 In any event, the first plaintiffs commercial background and business experience alone would have amply alerted him to the likelihood of the pricing being a mistake, even without his conversation with Desmond. Voces del tesauro. The case of Chwee Kin Keong & Ors v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] SGHC 71, and the decision by VK Rajah JC, has received much public attention. CISG-online is a research platform dedicated to the law and practice of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods adopted in Vienna on 11 April 1980 (CISG), as well as related areas of international commercial law. 124 A number of decisions over the last five decades emanating from several common law jurisdictions even go so far as to suggest that with the integration of the courts of common law and equity, equitable principles now hold sway and that earlier common law decisions need reinterpretation. After the defendant intimated that it would not be delivering the laser printer, he sent an e-mail excoriating it, asserting, inter alia: Myself, and other people who have been disappointed by you decision, will definitely spread word of the companys lack of honour and integrity to everyone we know and all over the internet! In Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, the Singapore Court of Appeal was asked to consider if the decision in Great Peace Shipping also had the effect of excluding equity's jurisdiction . Unfortunately, they mistakenly offered the price at so much per pound in place of so much per piece. They have taken into account both the English and Australian authorities in distilling the jurisprudence in this area. In principle, there is no difference between amending particulars and amending say, a cause of action, defence or any other part of substance in a pleading. In this case, there was no consensus ad idem or meeting of the minds between the parties, which meant that there could be no binding contract between them. 26 It is clear from the priority status accorded to the e-mail that the first plaintiff was sharing his knowledge of a good deal. In addition, Tan Cheng Peng, the girlfriend and business associate of the third plaintiff, filed an affidavit detailing her communications with him. He worked in an accounting firm, Ernst and Young, for three years. The case of Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3All ER 566 is incontrovertibly the leading authority in this area. Mistakes that negative consent do not inexorably result in contracts being declared void. 152 This view has also found support in the Singapore context. You may find the status of your order by calling us at (phone number given) Special instructions: Please call to advise delivery date and time. A viewer from any part of the world may want to enter into a contract to purchase a product as advertised. 91 There is no real conundrum as to whether contractual principles apply to Internet contracts. These orders were placed at a price of S$66 each, whereas the actual price was S$3,854 each. There is no larger noble principle, such as the sanctity of contracts, to be observed or protected in these proceedings. 66 The fifth plaintiff also gave evidence that the next morning, when he logged on his computer, he noted that a Hong Kong lawyer friend, Coral Toh, was also logged onto her computer. To that extent, his evidence that he subsequently dismissed the notion altogether is unacceptable. He seemed to suggest that in a number of cases going as far back as Cundy v Lindsay (1878) 3App Cas 459, the contracts in issue therein should be treated as only being voidable in equity: see Solle v Butcher at 692, Lewis v Averay [1972] 1 QB 198 at 207 and dicta in Magee v Pennine Insurance Co Ltd [1969] 2 QB 507 at 514 where he opined that: A common mistake, even on a most fundamental matter, does not make a contract void at law: but it makes it voidable in equity. While commercial entities ought not to be given a licence to relax their vigilance, the policy considerations in refusing to enforce mistaken agreements militate against attaching undue weight to the carelessness involved in spawning the mistake. It is essential that the law be perceived as embodying rationality and fairness while respecting the commercial imperative of certainty. An e-mail, while bearing some similarity to a postal communication, is in some aspects fundamentally different. Adopting an objective standard, executory contracts have in fact been entered into and concluded between the parties. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:33 as many as I can! [The Myth of Mistake in the English Law of Contract (1954) 70LQR 385 at 396]. The defendant also sells HP products on its own website at http://www.digiland.com (the Digilandmall website). In my view this further undermines the essence of the plaintiffs case that they never contemplated that the pricing was a mistake. Quite apart from this singularly precise timing, his exchange with Ms Toh is noteworthy for the following reason: when he told her about the various concluded purchases of the laser printers, she immediately thought it was a mistake and that HP would not honour the contracts. The caption in each of the e-mails Successful Purchase Confirmation from HP online says it all. The quintessential approach of the law is to preserve rather than to undermine contracts. The rigour in limiting this scope is also critical to protect innocent third party rights that may have been acquired directly or indirectly. ! with its importance set at high. Such conduct is akin to that of an unscrupulous commercial predator seeking to take advantage of an error by an unsuspecting prey by pouncing upon it before the latter has an opportunity to react or raise a shield of defence. Web Communication: A Review Of Chwee Kin Keong And Others v. Digilandmall.com pte ltd by Rokiah Kadir [2009] 8 CLJ xxi. Their reference to arbitraging was a nebulous fig leaf designed to legitimise their conduct in a cloak of legal and commercial respectability. The first plaintiff introduced him to the other plaintiffs. Whether the parties have reached agreement on the terms is not determined by evidence of the subjective intention of each party. This is one of the first prominent case that deals with the issue of web based contract. CHWEE KIN KEONG v DIGILANDMALL.COM Pte Ltd (2005) SGCA 2. 94 Historically, the common law has recognised an anomaly in the contractual features pertaining to a display of goods for sale. It is set in the context of internet contracting. Sometimes this is made explicit by judges; more often it is the implied basis of the courts decision. A particular class of case which illustrates unilateral mistake as to the terms intended, known to the other party, is that in which an offer which would be very advantageous to the offeree is snapped up by the offeree. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:33 how many u intend to get? 155 The Internet has revolutionised commerce and radically altered the manner in which commercial interaction currently takes place. A contract is normally concluded when an offer made by one party (the offeror) is accepted by the party to whom the offer has been made (the offeree). http://www.epinions.com/HP_Color_LaserJet_4600_Series_Printer_Printers. Yong Pung HowCJ in Tribune Investment Trust Inc v Soosan Trading Co Ltd [2000] 3 SLR 405 at [40] opined: [T]he function of the court is to try as far as practical experience allows, to ensure that the reasonable expectations of honest men are not disappointed. Evidence was given that if phone calls were indeed placed, they would from time to time limit the number of sales. This view seems to suggest that principles of equity invariably provide an equally strong but more elastic second string to the bow. He conducted the searches to ascertain what the laser printers true price was. Case Summary The e-mails sent at 2.34am were also captioned Go load it now! 73 The sixth plaintiffs orders did not receive matching confirmations from the defendant as his e-mail box was full. Vincent. [emphasis added]. In accordance with s15(1) of the ETA, acceptance would be effective the moment the offer enters that node of the network outside the control of the originator. There is however much to be said in favour of rationalising the law of mistake under a single doctrine incorporating the best elements of common law and equity. The Vienna Sales Convention (the Convention) applies in Singapore as a consequence of the Sale of Goods (United Nations Convention) Act (Cap283A, 1996Rev Ed). His revelation that he did not know if this is an error or whether HP will honour this purchase, not to mention the articulation of his hope that by the time you see this email, the price is still at S$66.00 coz they might change it anytime, are all compelling in reflecting his state of mind and awareness that an error had occurred. Samuel Teo had used all these notional numerals on the training template. Caveat emptor remains a cornerstone of the law of contract and business relationships. But there would have, at least, to be some real reason to suppose the existence of a mistake before it could be incumbent on one party to question whether another party meant what he or she said. When pressed why he asked MsToh to do this research, the fifth plaintiffs response was unsatisfactory. Soon after, the second, third and fifth plaintiffs took their claims to the media. In short, where does the justice reside? These statements are not to be interpreted as a clarion call to rewrite commercial agreements because of a partys unreasonable or ignoble behaviour. Because it was simply a matter of time before the error would inevitably be noticed and the pricing inevitably corrected. Who bears the risk of such mistakes? It had consciously not inserted any limits to the number of products a buyer could purchase again, quite clearly, to solicit more business. Given his professional and business background, he must have realised that the $66 price posting on the HP website was an error. One of the few cases on electronic contract formation in Singapore was Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall. If this rule applies to international sales, is it sensible to have a different rule for domestic sales? 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. 115 There is a distinct line of cases within the narrow confines of unilateral mistake where the common law has been resolutely disinclined to enforce apparent contracts. It may be impractical and unjust to demand that the mistaken party actually prove the knowledge of a substantial number of people who effect numerous purchases. Singapore Court of Appeal. 128 The most significant judicial pronouncement supporting this view emanates from the recent English Court of Appeal in Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd [2003] QB 679, a case of common mistake. He tried to convey the impression that it never struck him that a mistake in the price posting of the laser printer could have occurred. He appeared to be consummately familiar with Internet practices and was forced to concede that he thought it was weird and unusual when he saw the number 55 on the relevant webpages in place of the actual product description. The law may not imply a condition precedent as to the availability of stock simply to bail out an Internet merchant from a bad bargain, a fortiori in the sale of information and probably services, as the same constraints as to availability and supply may not usually apply to such sales. 80 Upon the conclusion of submissions, I directed counsel to appear before me. Homestead Assets Sdn Bhd v. Contramec . In Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, one of the defendant's employees mistakenly uploaded the contents of a training template onto the defendant's website, resulting in the retail price of S$3,854 for a commercial laser printer on the website being replaced with the figure S$66. In summary therefore, the equitable jurisdiction of the Courts to relieve against mistake in contract comprehends situations where one party, who knows or ought to know of anothers mistake in a fundamental term, remains silent and snaps at the offer, seeking to take advantage of the others mistake. Has an agreement been reached or not? 72 To effect the purchase transactions on the respective websites, the plaintiffs had to navigate through several web pages. By their own admission, they made Internet searches through various search engines to ascertain the profits they could make. The sixth plaintiff told his brother to order some for him, without specifying how many laser printers he wanted or how he intended to pay for the laser printers. Notwithstanding some real differences with posting, it could be argued cogently that the postal rule should apply to e-mail acceptances; in other words, that the acceptance is made the instant the offer is sent. Ltd.1 has the makings of a student's classic for several reasons: it presents a textbook example of offer and acceptance; it is set in the context of internet contracting; it involves the use in evidence of email, instantaneous messaging, and short messaging system (SMS); and it . The second issue was raised by me and touched upon contentions made by both parties in their written submissions. How could one seek to calculate the profit margin before finding out the true market price of the laser printer? They deny having had any communications amongst themselves about the possibility, let alone probability, that the price posting on the website could have been a mistake. If an offeree understands an offer in accordance with its natural meaning and accepts it, the offeror cannot be heard to say that he intended the words of his offer to have a different meaning. 83 The defendant maintained that there was no element of surprise and/or prejudice arising from the amendments. They even discussed the possible scenario of the defendant not honouring the transactions. Unilateral Mistake at . The reach of and potential response(s) to such an advertisement are however radically different. If there appears to be no reasonable explanation for an absurd price discrepancy, it is axiomatic that any hasty conduct, such as the plaintiffs, in snapping up products, should be punctiliously scrutinised and dissected. A prospective purchaser is entitled to rely on the terms of the web advertisement. How come got such thing? In effect the Internet conveniently integrates into a single screen traditional advertising, catalogues, shop displays/windows and physical shopping. 86 In cases where the facts raised in the proposed amendments have been addressed during the evidence and submissions and, particularly, where the opposing side has also had an opportunity to address the very same points, there can hardly ever be any real prejudice. But it is difficult to see how that can apply here. Normally the contract is only concluded when the acceptance is communicated by the offeree to the offeror. The most recent and authoritative pronouncement in this area (per Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers in Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson [2003] 3 WLR 1371 at [123]) states: A contract is normally concluded when an offer made by one party (the offeror) is accepted by the party to whom the offer has been made (the offeree). He also claimed to have talked to buyers in the market about reselling the laser printers and that the failure to procure the units would tarnish his reputation. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. It is not necessary to prove actual knowledge on the part of the non-mistaken party in order to ground relief, as in this context one is taken to have known what would have been obvious to a reasonable person in the light of the surrounding circumstances: Hartog v Colin and Shields [1939] AllER 566 (KBD); McMaster University; Stepps Investments, supra; Taylor, supra. The element of constructive knowledge based upon what a reasonable person ought to know is premised upon that person not being conscious of the error. After receiving the e-mail from the first plaintiff, he visited the relevant HP website pages. He claimed that he had not asked her to do the research and that she had done it independently. The amounts ordered and the hurried and hasty manner in which the orders were executed are of cardinal importance. The defendant is therefore entitled to recover in full its taxed costs from the plaintiffs. In addition, he despatched e-mails to the fourth and fifth plaintiffs attaching a hyperlink to the HP website. The modern approach in contract law requires very little to find the existence of consideration. This cannot be right. From time to time there will be cases where this is an overriding consideration. I granted leave to both parties to file applications to amend the pleadings. He opted to pay for all his purchases by cash on delivery. margaritaville fort myers beach news,

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