Contractual terms and conditions
Discuss the importance of contractual terms and conditions and consumer issues.
Case Study 1
Thang entered a car park operated by ABC Parking Ltd. At the barrier was an automatic ticket-issuing machine that issued a ticket. Thank took the ticket and drove her car into the car park. The ticket contained the words, “Issued subject to conditions displayed on the premises.” There were several notices inside the car park containing printed condition s but these were not visible from the entrance. One such condition excluded the parking station from liability for personal injury. Thang was injured in the car park in an accident in which the owner of the car park was partly to blame. Thang sued and the car park owner relied upon the exclusion clause.
Discuss.
Case Study 2
When the Very Clean Laundry ordered a new boiler from a manufacturer, Commercial Machine Industries, it explained that it needed the boiler urgently to service its strong and growing market. The boiler was damaged whilst being delivered and was not installed until five months after the contracted date.
Very Clean Laundry claimed damages for lost profits from:
• its usual laundry business and
• a large dyeing contract it was unable to win because of the delay.
The Laundry had not advised Commercial Machine Industries that it had been negotiating to win this business.
Discuss and explain your answer in detail. Students are required to refer to court decisions in support of their answer.
Case Study 3
General Cash Chemists conducted a self-service chemist shop. Pharmaceutical supplies, including drugs, were displayed on the shop shelves. The shopping procedure was that the customer would select an item from the shelves and take it to the cash register inside the shop. A registered pharmacist was present at the cash register who was authorized to stop any particular sale if necessary. General Cash Chemists was prosecuted under a law which provided that the sale of certain poisons was unlawful unless the sale occurred under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. The prosecution in this case alleged that putting the goods on the shelves with prices marked was an offer by the chemist to sell the goods and the customer accepted the offer by taking them from the shelf. A sale therefore occurred at this point in time as the sale took place without being under the immediate supervision of a pharmacist. General Cash Chemists argued that the display of the drugs on its shelves an mere an invitation to treat and the customer in fact made the offer to buy by taking the goods of the shelf and taking them to the cash register.
Discuss referring to the common law cases and the rules regarding offer and acceptance.