Knowee
Questions
Features
Study Tools

Mary is based in Queensland and manufactures tractors and farm equipment. She has sold products over many years to many farmers in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Mary intends to market a new tractor with special novel features. She emails all former customers describing the tractor and offering it for sale for $130,000. The email legally amounts to a contractual offer. The latest "Farmers Journal" contains an advertisement for a similar tractor from a competitor for only $110,000.Beatrice resides in Bundaberg (Queensland) and is a long-standing customer of Mary. On Friday 1 September at 8.00 pm Beatrice sent an email to Mary accepting the offer for one tractor. Beatrice's leading farm hand, James, believes that the farm could use two tractors, so he used Beatrice's computer and Beatrice's email account to accept the offer for the purchase of a second tractor. He "signed" the email "Beatrice". Over, over the weekend, Beatrice read the advertisement in the Farmers Journal. On Sunday 3 September, Beatrice personally telephoned Mary. Beatrice established that Mary had not read her email, as she would not be expected to check her business emails until Monday morning. Beatrice then states that she withdraws her acceptance and that her email should be ignored.Is there any binding contract(s)? If so, with whom? Explain the application and rationale for the applicable law.

Question

Mary is based in Queensland and manufactures tractors and farm equipment. She has sold products over many years to many farmers in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Mary intends to market a new tractor with special novel features. She emails all former customers describing the tractor and offering it for sale for 130,000.Theemaillegallyamountstoacontractualoffer.Thelatest"FarmersJournal"containsanadvertisementforasimilartractorfromacompetitorforonly130,000. The email legally amounts to a contractual offer. The latest "Farmers Journal" contains an advertisement for a similar tractor from a competitor for only 110,000.Beatrice resides in Bundaberg (Queensland) and is a long-standing customer of Mary. On Friday 1 September at 8.00 pm Beatrice sent an email to Mary accepting the offer for one tractor. Beatrice's leading farm hand, James, believes that the farm could use two tractors, so he used Beatrice's computer and Beatrice's email account to accept the offer for the purchase of a second tractor. He "signed" the email "Beatrice". Over, over the weekend, Beatrice read the advertisement in the Farmers Journal. On Sunday 3 September, Beatrice personally telephoned Mary. Beatrice established that Mary had not read her email, as she would not be expected to check her business emails until Monday morning. Beatrice then states that she withdraws her acceptance and that her email should be ignored.Is there any binding contract(s)? If so, with whom? Explain the application and rationale for the applicable law.

...expand
🧐 Not the exact question you are looking for?Go ask a question

Solution

In this scenario, there are a few key legal principles at play.

Firstly, the principle of offer and acceptance in contract law. An offer is a clear statement of the terms on which one party is prepared to do business with another. An acceptance is a final and unqualified acceptance of the terms of an offer. In this case, Mary made an offer to sell her new tractor to her former customers, including Beatrice. Beatrice then sent an email accepting this offer, which would typically form a binding contract.

However, there are a few complicating factors. Firstly, James, Beatrice's farm hand, also sent an email accepting the offer for a second tractor. This could potentially form a second contract, but it would depend on whether James had the authority to make such a decision on Beatrice's behalf. If he did not, then this acceptance may not be valid.

Secondly, Beatrice attempted to withdraw her acceptance before Mary had read her email. The general rule is that an acceptance is effective when communicated to the offeror. In this case, it could be argued that Beatrice's acceptance was not effectively communicated until Mary read her email on Monday morning. If this is the case, then Beatrice's withdrawal of her acceptance on Sunday would be effective, and there would be no contract.

However, this would depend on the specific laws in Queensland, as well as any previous business practices between Mary and Beatrice. If it was customary for them to conduct business over email and for acceptances to be effective once sent, then Beatrice's acceptance may still be valid.

In conclusion, there is potentially one binding contract between Mary and Beatrice for the purchase of one tractor, depending on the specific circumstances and laws in Queensland. There may also be a second contract for the purchase of a second tractor, but this would depend on whether James had the authority to accept the offer on Beatrice's behalf.

This problem has been solved

Similar Questions

Sally purchased a new tractor from a large dealership, after being told by a sales representative that it had features making it the most powerful tractor on the Australian market selling for under $100,000. Unfortunately, the sales representative had made an honest mistake about the capabilities of various tractors and what he told Sally was incorrect. When Sally complained about this, after purchasing the tractor, the dealership pointed out that in the contract of sale she had signed, there was an exclusion clause. That clause provided that there was no guarantee made about the accuracy of any statements of the dealership's representatives. Although Sally agreed that she had signed this contract, she said that she had not read this clause. Which of the following statements is CORRECT? Select one: a. The dealership is protected by the contract that Sally signed and therefore it cannot be responsible for what the representative said about the tractor. b. Sally has no claim against the representative or the dealership as the mistake was an honest one. c. The dealership is responsible for its employee's statement and has engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct (s 18), and it also made a false representation (s 29(1)(a)), for which it is liable to Sally. d. Sally has a claim against the sales representative, but not the dealership, as it was the representative that made the incorrect statement.

Mary works at a large logistics company based in Caulfield, which services areas all over Australia. Her position is division manager. Mary is responsible for all the drivers, designating the trucks to the drivers, and ensuring all the trucks are serviced and maintained. Tom, one of the drivers, is just about to leave for Brisbane in his favourite truck, which he affectionately calls Elvis. Mary tells Tom he cannot take Elvis, as Elvis is due for an important service and Tom is very unhappy. Mary can tell Tom which truck to take, because she has which kind of power in this situation? Question 1Select one:Information powerLegitimate powerExpert powerReward power

Greenscape Landscaping purchased a tractor at a cost of $38,000 and sold it three years later for $19,300. Greenscape recorded depreciation using the straight-line method, a five-year service life, and a $2,500 residual value. Tractors are included in the Equipment account.Exercise 7-17 (Algo) Part 1Required:1. Record the sale. (If no entry is required for a particular transaction/event, select "No Journal Entry Required" in the first account field.)

Greenscape Landscaping purchased a tractor at a cost of $38,000 and sold it three years later for $19,300. Greenscape recorded depreciation using the straight-line method, a five-year service life, and a $2,500 residual value. Tractors are included in the Equipment account.Exercise 7-17 (Algo) Part 22. Assume the tractor was sold for $12,100 instead of $19,300. Record the sale. (If no entry is required for a particular transaction/event, select "No Journal Entry Required" in the first account field.)

Nia reviews her company’s expenses. She notices the $200,000 cost of a tractor the company purchased has been spread out over two years, which is the total number of accounting periods in which the tractor is expected to be used. This special type of expense is known asMultiple Choiceliquidity.equity.depreciation.isolationism.

1/1

Upgrade your grade with Knowee

Get personalized homework help. Review tough concepts in more detail, or go deeper into your topic by exploring other relevant questions.