I even went to both the HP Web-Site as well as the DigilandMall Web-site to see if the prices were the same. COURT. 107 As the law now stands, mistakes that are not fundamental or which do not relate to an essential term do not vitiate consent. In such cases, where the purchaser has readily accessible means from the very same computer screen, to ascertain through a simple search whether a mistake has taken place, the onus could be upon him to exonerate himself of imputed knowledge of the mistake. All previous discussions and negotiations between the parties proceeded on the basis of the price being fixed at so much per piece. There cannot be any legitimate expectation of enforcement on the part of the non-mistaken party seeking to take advantage of appearances. The essential point remains: will prejudice be caused and/or are any policy considerations called into play. A typical but not essential defining characteristic of conduct of this nature is the haste or urgency with which the non-mistaken party seeks to conclude a contract; the haste is induced by a latent anxiety that the mistaken party may learn of the error and as a result correct the error or change its mind about entering into the contract. I do not know if this is an error or whether HP will honour this purchase. Court reference 202 of 2003. He was opportunistic in effecting his purchases, active in co-ordinating with the other plaintiffs on the eventful morning, and economical with the truth in his evidence. 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. This is to be contrasted with: Hare, Inequitable Mistake (2003) 62CLJ 29, Chandler et al, Common Mistake: Theoretical Justification and Remedial Inflexibility [2004] JBL 34. This is essentially a matter of language and intention, objectively ascertained. 106 In the Singapore context, the first port of call when confronted with issues of contract law is inevitably Professor Andrew Phangs treatise on Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmstons Law of Contract (2nd Singapore and Malaysian Ed, 1998). He appears to have been in constant communication with the second plaintiff and to have received and read the mass e-mail from the first plaintiff after he placed his first purchase order. When giving evidence, he struck me as cautious, taking great pains to convey the impression that his numerous online enquiries that morning were routinely carried out without any real inkling that an error had occurred. He received this information through an sms message. There was no element of surprise or prejudice to the plaintiffs as the points raised had already been developed by the defendant and addressed by the plaintiffs. 4, 1971, p. 331. When the defendant learnt of the error, it promptly removed the advertisement from its websites, and informed the plaintiffs as well as 778 others who had placed orders for a total of 4,086 laser printers that the price posting was an unfortunate error, and that it would therefore not be meeting the orders. So its going to be our reputation at stake, we thought we had a successful transaction.. In-house law team, Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502, Contract unilateral mistake Internet Contract Consensus ad Idem Meeting of the Minds Acceptance Offer Void Error. The current general approach is correctly stated in Professor Jeffrey Pinslers Singapore Court Practice 2003 (LexisNexis, 2003) at para20/5/7: An amendment may be allowed even after both parties have made their closing submissions. I do not accept that there were no discussions between them on the price posting being an error. 74 Under product description on each webpage, instead of the actual description of the laser printer which in this case should have been HP9660A Color LaserJet 4600, only the numerals 55 appeared: this was the result of Samuel Teos earlier inadvertent input. He opted to pay for all his purchases by cash on delivery. As part of its business, it operates a website owned by Hewlett Packard (HP) at http://www.buyhp.com.sg (the HP website) where only HP products are sold. 93 Website advertisement is in principle no different from a billboard outside a shop or an advertisement in a newspaper or periodical. The Instantaneous Transmission of Acceptances. Having expressed my views on consideration, I should also add for good measure that, in any event, there is ample consideration. 145 If the price of a product is so absurdly low in relation to its known market value, it stands to reason that a reasonable man would harbour a real suspicion that the price may not be correct or that there may be some troubling underlying basis for such a pricing. The law will have to organically adapt itself to respond to new challenges without compromising on certainty and fairness. [emphasis added]. Thus, 119 It is apparent from this overview that the Canadian courts have integrated through their equitable jurisdiction the concept of common law mistake within the rubric of unconscionability. This is an area that needs to be rationalised in a coherent and structured manner. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. 3 All six plaintiffs are graduates, conversant with the usage of the Internet and its practices and endowed with more than an adequate understanding of business and commercial practices. , In unilateral mistake, only one of the parties is mistaken. The jurisdiction asserted in the former case has not developed. Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502; [2005] SGCA 2. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:33 as many as I can! In the Singapore context a similar approach has been adopted by the Court of Appeal in, 105 It is not only reasonable but right that the objective appearance of a contract should not operate in favour of a party who is aware, in the eyes of the law, of the true state of affairs when, for instance, there is real misapprehension on the part of the mistaken party and when the actual reality of the situation is starkly obvious. 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. Alternatively, knowledge may be readily inferred from what would be regarded as commonly known or notorious facts in the context of the transaction. As the reports contradict portions of their present evidence, they have indirectly tried to cast doubt on the accuracy of the reports in so far as the reports referred to them. The caption in each of the e-mails Successful Purchase Confirmation from HP online says it all. Basic principles of contract law continue to prevail in contracts made on the Internet. 10 News of the rather extraordinary laser printer pricing began to spread like wildfire within the local Internet community. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd Case No.s Suit 202/2003/E (for the first instance), CA/30/2004 (for the appeal) Name and level of courts High Court of Singapore(at first instance), Singapore Court of Appeal Member of courts VK Rajah, JC (for the first instance), Chao Hick Tin JA, Kan Ting Chiu J, Yong Pung How CJ Desmond: 13/01/20 01:24 just ordered 3 colour lazer printer for S$66.00 each. It is important not to force into a Procrustean bed principles that have to be modified or discarded when considering novel aspects of the Internet. This is an inane argument. A prospective purchaser is entitled to rely on the terms of the web advertisement. I accept that this is capable of including circumstances in which a person refrains from or simply fails to make enquiries for which the situation reasonably calls and which would have led to discovery of the mistake. Delivery was merely a timing issue. . In some unusual circumstances where a unilateral mistake exists, the law can find a contract on terms intended by the mistaken party. 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. After receiving the e-mail from the first plaintiff, he visited the relevant HP website pages. Consideration was less than executory and non-existent. 59 Upon duly accessing the HP website through the hyperlink sent to him by the second plaintiff, the fifth plaintiff ascertained that the laser printer was priced at $66. In addition, Tan Cheng Peng, the girlfriend and business associate of the third plaintiff, filed an affidavit detailing her communications with him. v . u think this is the 1970s?? Though both of them admit to having had discussions about the website terms and conditions governing the purchases, they deny that there was any discussion between them on even the possibility of an error having taken place. 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. 25 The mass e-mail at 2.58am is cursorily dismissed by counsel for the plaintiffs as poor use of language that ought not to be taken literally in light of the early hours of the morning. The preface I do not know in no way detracts from this; the e-mail being addressed to a large group of 54 persons, the first plaintiff would simply not have wanted to commit himself by saying I know. It appears that he was also in touch with the fifth plaintiff as evidenced by an e-mail sent later that morning by the fifth plaintiff to both him and the second plaintiff containing research, 52 He then called the second plaintiff on his handphone and informed him that he intended to purchase 50 laser printers. 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. Someone referred me to the HP website which shows the price of this HP Colour LaserJet 4600 Series as S$66.00. 30th Sep 2021 I agree that this exception should be kept within a very narrow compass. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades, 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. 81 Plaintiffs counsel thereafter responded somewhat curiously. The third plaintiff informed him that laser printers were being sold at $66 each and that these laser printers could be sold at a much higher price about a thousand plus. The e-mails sent at 2.34am were also captioned Go load it now! 36 The second plaintiff was the key person and pivotal in the entire chain of events. If he was prepared to commit this view in writing to a larger circle of 54 friends and business associates after his communication with the second and third plaintiffs, he would certainly have shared this view with his close friends with even greater candour and detail. He is currently self-employed and is intimately involved in the multi-level marketing sales of aromatherapy products under the Bel-Air label. 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. The contract stands according to the natural meaning of the words used.
PDF CISG-online | CISG-online.org It is germane to observe that none of the cases purporting to follow Solle v Butcher [1950] 1 KB 671 have with any degree of clarity defined the parameters of equitable mistake in contradistinction to a common law mistake. In a physical sale, the merchant can immediately turn down an offer to purchase a product that has been advertised; otherwise he may be inundated with offers he cannot justify. However, at the actual hearing of the applications, plaintiffs counsel opposed any amendments whatsoever to the defence and sought leave to withdraw the plaintiffs earlier unilateral amendments. 26 I respectfully agree with the reasoning of ShawJ in Can-Dive Services Ltd v Pacific Coast Energy Corp (1995), 21CLR(2d) 39 (BCSC), where he said at 69-70 that: While I agree with what Madam Justice Mclachlin said so far as it goes, I do not believe she intended to imply that there must be a conscious taking advantage by one party of the other in all cases. The law ought to take a practical approach in dealing with such cases if it appears that by exercising reasonable care the true facts ought to be known. 118 The Canadian courts have been the most active common law courts explicating and developing this area of the law. From time to time they communicate with each other via the Internet and the short messaging system (sms). Examples of such mistakes would include (a)human error (b)programming of software errors and (c)transmission problems in the communication systems. The affidavits did not add anything new. He in effect forwarded the first plaintiffs e-mail to them.
Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd | India Contract Law 142 The plaintiffs were bound by personal relationships as well as past and present common commercial interests. Where common mistake is pleaded, the presence of agreement is admitted. It has been pointed out that the pedigree of these decisions is dubious, to say the least (see [128] and [129] infra). Philip Fong Yeng Fatt and Doris Chia Ming Lai (Harry Elias Partnership) for defendant, Chwee Kin Keong; Tan Wei Teck; Yeow Kinn Keong Mark; Ow Eng Hwee; Tan Chun Chuen Malcolm; Yeow Kinn Oei
The shopping cart website page carried the insertion call to enquire under the heading Availability of product. 48 The third plaintiff annexed to his affidavit the transcript of the Channel NewsAsia report where he was quoted. No harm trying right? The following excerpt is particularly significant and compelling: 23 The subsequent exchange further clarifies that the first plaintiff was fully conscious of the potential profit element arising from the purchase of a substantial number of the laser printers. Placing an advertisement on the Internet is essentially advertising or holding out to the world at large. Being fully conscious of the pivotal nature of this point, I have duly accorded particular attention to the evidence and credibility of each of the plaintiffs. To determine the profit potential, the second plaintiff had to take steps to ascertain the true market price of the laser printer which he did. Nor should parties regard pleadings as assuming an amoeba-like nature, susceptible to constant reshaping. 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. The recipients of this e-mail included the second, fourth, fifth plaintiffs and Tan Cheng Peng, the third plaintiffs girlfriend. Media reports after the discovery of the mistake. Mistakes are usually synonymous with the existence of carelessness on the part of the mistaken party. Arrival can also be immaterial unless a recipient accesses the e-mail, but in this respect e-mail does not really differ from mail that has to be opened. In Chwee Kin Keong and ors v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, 5 VK Rajah JC, as His Honour then was, decided against the rule-based approach in Moss v Malings.
A-Z of Cases | Carlil & Carbolic - Law Study Resources When notified and satisfied that this transaction was successful as well, he placed a final order at 4.21am for ten laser printers on the HP website, charging this to his credit card. This can be before or during the trial, or after judgment or on appeal. Furthermore, they relied on a passage from, At the trial leave to amend particulars will as a rule be refused (, 84 It is axiomatic that a court will generally be cautious if not reluctant to effect any amendments once the hearing has commenced; even more so once the evidential phase of the proceedings has been completed. The very foundations of predictability, certainty and efficacy, underpinning contractual dealings, will be undermined if the law and/or equity expands the scope of the mistake exception with alacrity or uncertainty. This rationalised the law and gives the court a broad discretion to fashion the applicable relief. be rebutted" (per Salmon LJ in Jones v. Padavatton (1969)).
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