Partridge V Crittenden Case Study

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On Advising Sarah, the issue that arises is that will she be able to take legal action of breach of contract. We must first establish the elements of a contract; whether or not the agreement between the two parties had voluntarily intended to be legally bound; if there is a breach; and if she should pursue legal action.

A contract can be known as an agreement between two or more parties consisting of an offer and acceptance. Can be done either orally or written but must be present to fulfil the formation of a contract. How the offer is made and the acceptance is important so we can establish a contract. Consideration must be present when selling goods, promise will be fulfilled when in exchange of something worth the product such as money
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General advertisements or goods in a shop are normally invitations to treat, merely inviting negotiations of offer unless it is a unilateral advertisement (to the world) which is specific advertisements involving a reward, in this case, does not apply as it is for one purpose and did not have all details of the bike such as a price. In case Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 1 WLR 1204, as there was not sufficient information like how many birds were for sale it did not amount to an offer but merely an invitation to treat. As said above did not have all information of the bike such as …show more content…
Ellen has not agreed or accepted Sarah’s offer which is a form of instantaneous communication which means you cannot accept through this and postal rule of acceptance does not apply to modern ways. In case Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation [1955] 2 QB 327, acceptance will not be present unless the acceptance is communicated to the offeror.

After Ellen spoke with her friend Jack, she learnt that the bike in fact was more than 100 pounds and decided to telephone Sarah leaving a voicemail stating she was now offering to sell the bike for 200 pounds. This is now a counter offer which eliminates Sarah’s original offer, Sarah has not accepted this offer. Later they had met and Sarah’s argument was that she heard the voicemail but ignored it as she though there was a contract.

In conclusion, as Sarah and Ellen never actually had a contract, Sarah will not be able to pursue legal action. It was merely an invitation to treat in the beginning and Sarah whom to be the offeror. It was up to Ellen whether she wanted to accept it or not. As Ellen was silent this was not acceptance. However, still would not be sufficient as they were using instantaneous communication which does not amount to a form of acceptance as it must be both communicated and received for a contract to be formed. Thus, Ellen does not need to sell her bicycle nor was she in a breach of contract. All I can advise

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