In this assignment I will be giving advice to Rick’s girlfriend on whether she has a legal right to return the laptop that Rick bought for her. I will be analysing whether a valid contract was formed and who it was formed with. As Rick’s girlfriend didn’t buy the laptop and is under the age of 18 she wouldn’t be able to return the laptop as there has been no contract formed with her. However we can assume that her boyfriend is over the age of 18 and as he bought the laptop this means the contract was formed with Rick instead of Rick’s girlfriend.
The type of contract that was formed with Rick was a standard form contract this is a type of a contract is a legally binding contract between two or more parties, in which one side of the party has all the bargaining power and will use it to write the contract. In this contract Rick would have all the bargaining power as he is the one making the offer which the sop accepted. The type of contract that was formed with Rick was a standard form contract as Rick has all the bargaining power.
For a valid contract to be formed there must be an offer made which was seen in the case Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company [1893] in this case an offer was made to the whole world. Once offers has been made this will then have to be accepted, acceptance can be seen in the case Felthouse v Bindley (1862) in this case it was decided that silence cannot be classed as acceptance. But in this case the shop was accepting the offer made by Rick. The next step in making the contract valid would be consideration which is where there had be an exchange of something of value been given, promised or done in exchange by each party in the contract.
In this case the consideration was an exchange of money and the laptop as Rick gave money to the shop which was been given in exchange for the laptop. In this contract it was invitation to treat that happened as rick wanted to willing enter into negotiations where he hoped will lead into a contract at a later date, this did happen as Rick was able to buy the laptop. Invitation to treat can be seen in the case Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd [1953] as good were displayed with a price tag attached this is the same as Rick bought the laptop that was on display for a special offer.
Consideration was seen in this case as an exchange of something of value been given, promised or done in exchange by each party in the contract. Consideration can be seen in the case Chapel & co v nestle (1960), this case nestle offered the sale of gramophones for the exchange of 1s 6d and three wrappers of a nestle wrappers. The exchange in this case was the gramophones and the chocolate wrappers. We can relate consideration to Rick and his girlfriend case as the consideration was the exchange was the laptop and money, as the shop exchange the laptop for the Ricks money.
As I am analysing the terms of whether or not Rick’s girlfriend can return the laptop or not and I have advised that she cannot return the laptop but her boyfriend Rick can as the contract was formed with him, we need to look at capacity. As we are assuming that Rick is over the age of 18 this would mean that a valid contract was formed with him unless he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the contract been formed.
If Rick’s was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time there would no contract formed which would therefore mean he would not of been able to return the laptop. Rick and his girlfriend also need to consider what would happen if Rick was under the age of 18 as this would mean that the only way a valid contract could be formed would be if the item that Rick had bought was necessity or that it would benefit him when he had bought it.
Capacity can been seen in the case Nash v Inman (1908) as a tailor had made 11 fancy waistcoats for a minor ( under the age of 18) who had requested that they be made, the minor had refused to pay for the waistcoats. The tailor’s action for payment failed because as the minor was a Cambridge Undergraduate, it was proved that the minor was already supplied with enough clothing for his station in life. So the court held that the waistcoats were not a necessity and therefore there was no valid contract formed between the minor and tailor.
We can link this to Rick as when he bought the laptop, he intended to give the laptop to his girlfriend which means that when the contract was formed and if he was under the age of 18, the contract wouldn’t be valid due to the fact that the laptop is not a necessity to him neither does it benefit him as he isn’t using the laptop. But because we are assuming that Rick is over the age of 18 it would not matter whether the laptop was a necessity or a benefit to him as he can form a valid contract. When the contract was formed we are assuming that there was no misrepresentation.
Misrepresentation is where a false statement of fact or law which induces the representee to enter a contract. From the scenario we can assume that there has been no misrepresentation. But if there had been any misrepresentation we would assume that’s it innocent misrepresentation which is when the representor had reasonable grounds for believing that his or her false statement was true. But it is very unlikely that any had happened but if there had of been the shop wouldn’t have known this as the box was sealed the only people who could of know that the laptop was damaged would be manufacturers.
To conclude this assignment the advice I would give to Rick’s girlfriend would be that she would not be able to take back the laptop due to the fact that she didn’t purchase the laptop so this means that there was no contract formed with her. But instead she can get her boyfriend to return the laptop as he was the one who he formed the contract as he made the offer which the shop accepted. And as we can assume that he is the over age of 18 he wouldn’t need to that prove that the items is a necessity or a benefit to him as he would need to if he was under the age of 18.