The payment mode opted for was cash on delivery. At 4.16am he placed another order for one laser printer, by credit card, on the HP website. There can be no other reasonable explanation. This is an online dating and match-making service. They were clearly anxious to place their orders before the defendant took steps to correct the error. 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. 35 In addition to these conversations, the second plaintiff also accessed the Epinions website and sent a related e-mail to the first plaintiff. They proceeded to file their amendments to the statement of claim as if leave had already been given. Upon completing this sequence, each of the orders placed by the plaintiffs was confirmed by automated responses from the respective websites stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from HP online. 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. 129 The careful analysis of case law undertaken by that court yields a cogent and forceful argument that Lord DenningMR was plainly attempting to side-step Bell v Lever in a naked attempt to achieve equitable justice in the face of the poverty of the common law. After the second plaintiff read out some of the terms and conditions he had found, the fifth plaintiff told him that the contract was binding upon a successful purchase order being received. Be that as it may, the fifth plaintiff, soon after he received MsTohs research, shared the information with the second and third plaintiffs. I do not accept that there were no discussions between them on the price posting being an error. There was also no indication that the product was being sold on promotion. 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. 116 The term snapping up was aptly coined by JamesLJ in Tamplin v James (1880) 15ChD 215 at 221. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades Hartog v Colin & Shields still remains the locus classicus. He was also a partner in what is described as a printing business. When, however, the cases provoked by these factual situations are analysed, they will be seen to fall, not into three, but only two distinct legal categories. The common law has drawn the line in Bell v Lever Bros Ltd. The law of agency and that pertaining to the formation of contracts are expressly recognised in s13(8) of the ETA as continuing to apply to electronic transactions. I even went to both the HP Web-Site as well as the DigilandMall Web-site to see if the prices were the same. The web page entitled checkout order confirmation had a notation stating the earliest date on which we can deliver all the products to you is based on the longest estimated time of stock availability plus the delivery lead time. As with any normal contract, Internet merchants have to be cautious how they present an advertisement, since this determines whether the advertisement will be construed as an invitation to treat or a unilateral contract. In Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR (R) 594 (" Digilandmall.com "), the plaintiffs concerned placed orders over the Internet for a total of 1,606 Hewlett Packard commercial laser printers on the defendant (seller's) websites. Basic principles of contract law continue to prevail in contracts made on the Internet. 32 Satisfied with his enquiries in relation to the printer model, he returned to the HP website and placed an order for 100 laser printers at about 2.23am. Having ascertained the true market price, it would have appeared crystal clear, given the huge disparity in the pricing, that a manifest mistake had occurred. The plaintiffs orders were processed by the defendants automated system and confirmation notes were automatically despatched to the plaintiffs within a few minutes. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd,( [2005]SGCA 2 ) . China-Singapore "One Belt One Road" International Business Cases Digest Part 1 -"" () 457-463 (2020, published by the Singapore and People's Republic of China Supreme Courts . (c) the need to reach commercially sensible solutions while respecting traditional principles applicable to instances of genuine error or mistake. In the final stage of the process, after the payment mode was indicated, each of the plaintiffs was notified successful transaction your order and payment transaction has been processed. This may have created formatting or alignment issues. After the defendant intimated that it would not be delivering the laser printer, he sent an e-mail excoriating it, asserting, I felt that I had done all that was conceivably within my means to ensure that the Price was. He claims he then accessed the US HP website either through a Google web search engine or by abbreviating the url of the HP 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. This could account for the substantial number of Canadian cases in this area of the law. He is also part of the Bel-Air network. Looking for a flexible role? Sometimes this is made explicit by judges; more often it is the implied basis of the courts decision. While a court of law does not sit as a court of commercial morality, it cannot lose sight of this central objective of contract law. This view seems to suggest that principles of equity invariably provide an equally strong but more elastic second string to the bow. In Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, the Singapore Court of Appeal was asked to consider if the decision in Great Peace Shipping also had the effect of excluding equity's jurisdiction . reference was made by the court to "fraud or a very high degree of misconduct" before the non- mistaken party could be . In this case, Defendant was selling IT products over internet in Singapore. Where either mutual or unilateral mistake is pleaded, the very existence of agreement is denied. The individualistic ethic seeks to maximise individual goals and the community ethic seeks to set norms for commercial morality and to ensure that fair dealing and community cohesiveness are observed and maintained. http://www.epinions.com/HP_Color_LaserJet_4600_Series_Printer_Printers. 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. The price of the laser printer, prior to 3.36pm on 8January 2003, was stipulated as $3,854 (exclusive of GST) on both the Digilandmall and HP websites (the websites), and as $3,448 on the Digiland commerce website. By their own admission, they made Internet searches through various search engines to ascertain the profits they could make. It is simply inconceivable that when he entered into the purchase transaction, he did not know, or at the very least did not have a real and abiding belief that the price posting was an error. The non-mistaken partys appreciation that there is no real offer on the contracts literal terms undermines the basis of the objective theory and necessarily imports the lack of subjective intention on the part of the mistaken party. Singapore Court of Appeal. After all, what would he do with 100 obsolete commercial laser printers? Unlike instances of fraud, where it is said fraud unravels the existing contract, in instances of unilateral mistake, the very existence of the contract is negatived there is no consensus. It can be persuasively argued that e-mails involving transactions embraced by the Convention are only effective on reaching the recipient. This price was much lower than the actual retail price, and had been posted on the defendant's website by mistake. 82 The plaintiffs strenuously opposed the defendants amendments principally on the ground it was made at a late juncture. The issue could be critical where third party rights are in issue as in. A real product number HP9660A was inserted in the new template as the prototype for which fictional prices were to be changed on the three relevant websites. It presents a textbook example of offer and acceptance. It is pertinent to note that she placed orders for 32 laser printers including 20 units she ordered on behalf of her sister. As part of its business, it operates a website owned by Hewlett Packard (HP) at, 16 When the first plaintiff eventually succeeded in accessing the HP website, he immediately placed an order for 100 laser printers at about, 17 Having called the second and third plaintiffs at about. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:25 ok but how come got such a good deal? 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. The quintessential approach of the law is to, 106 In the Singapore context, the first port of call when confronted with issues of contract law is inevitably Professor Andrew Phangs treatise on. In these proceedings, it appears that the purchases made by the sixth plaintiff were not accompanied by a corresponding receipt of acceptances, as his e-mail inbox was full. After the defendant intimated that it would not be delivering the laser printer, he sent an e-mail excoriating it, asserting, inter alia: Myself, and other people who have been disappointed by you decision, will definitely spread word of the companys lack of honour and integrity to everyone we know and all over the internet! Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. 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. Case name. They stoutly assert that they were too preoccupied with the realisation of potential profits through a so-called arbitrage position between different markets to contemplate that an error had been made. (See for example the approach in Williams v Roffey Bros & Nicholls (Contractors) Ltd [1990] 1AllER 512.) Desmond further informed the first plaintiff that the sale price of each laser printer was in the region of $3,000 to $4,000. Most telling of all, I note that the first to fifth plaintiffs exhibited identical reports in each of their affidavits without any qualification whatsoever. The rationale for this is that a court will not sanction a contract where there is no, 150 The plaintiffs have contended that this court ought to follow the decision in, A thread runs through our contract law that effect must be given to, 152 This view has also found support in the Singapore context. Consideration was less than executory and non-existent. I reject this. 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 bites, however, may taste quite different and cause different sensations. Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd [1947] KB 130 Chapelton v Barry UDC [1940] 1 KB 532 Chaplin v Hicks [1911] 2 KB 786 Chappell v Nestl [1960] AC 87 Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com [2006] 1 LRC 37 CIBC Mortgages v Pitt [1994] 1 AC 200 - Undue . The defendants wanted to sell some hare skins to the plaintiffs. He was also involved in initiating the Channel NewsAsia report (see [78] and [79], 77 Soon after the defendant informed the plaintiffs that they did not intend to deliver the laser printers, the plaintiffs took their claims to the press. 102 Inevitably mistakes will occur in the course of electronic transmissions. The e-mails had all the characteristics of an unequivocal acceptance. Before retiring for the night, the first plaintiff had a further discussion with the second plaintiff on how to store the laser printers they had ordered. There could be different considerations. To confine this exception to instances of fraud would make the concept of unilateral mistake redundant. I must add that I did not really think this was necessary and subsequent events confirmed my perception. His evidence pertaining to the material points of knowledge and his communications with the other plaintiffs lacked credibility. This was also the practice in the trade. If the defendant were right, they maintain, uncertainty would prevail in the commercial world and more particularly in Internet transactions. 113 The English Court of Appeal in Commission for the New Towns v Cooper (Great Britain) Ltd [1995] Ch 259, a case of common mistake, imported the concept of Nelsonian knowledge and applied the framework of various categories of knowledge outlined by Peter GibsonJ in Baden v Societe Generale pour Favoriser le Developpement du Commerce et de lIndustrie en FranceSA [1993] 1 WLR 509. A contract will not be concluded unless the parties are agreed as to its material terms. 53 He claimed that seeing the same price on the Digilandmall website confirmed his view that there had been no mistake. 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. He claimed that he had not asked her to do the research and that she had done it independently. Chwee Kin Keong decision - Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594; - Studocu Caso chwee kin keong and others digilandmall.com pte ltd slr sghc 71 suit no: suit decision 12 apr 2004 date: court: coram: counsel: high court rajah jc tan sok IgnorarExperimenta 'Pergunta a um Especialista' Pergunta a um especialista His credibility on the material points was dubious, at best. Samuel Teo had used all these notional numerals on the training template. It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. There are two types of orders relevant: market orders and limit orders. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. The following excerpts are particularly relevant: Desmond: 13/01/20 01:17 go hp online now. u think this is the 1970s?? Desmond: 13/01/20 01:24 just ordered 3 colour lazer printer for S$66.00 each. In Chwee Kin Keong v . There is however much to be said in favour of rationalising the law of mistake under a single doctrine incorporating the best elements of common law and equity. The decision ofV.K. , In mutual mistake, the parties misunderstand each other and are at cross-purposes. The defendants argued this pricing was a unilateral mistake and that the complainants took advantage of this. 97 Different rules may apply to e-mail transactions and worldwide web transactions. From time to time they communicate with each other via the Internet and the short messaging system (sms). In the fifth plaintiffs affidavit evidence, he asserted emphatically and unequivocally that at no point did I ever think that the price of the printers were a mistake. The CISG has currently been adopted by 95 Contracting States world-wide. 69 The sixth plaintiff was awakened by his brother, the third plaintiff, at about 3.00am. This e-mail was sent only, 29 The first plaintiff struck me as an opportunistic entrepreneur. He appeared distinctly uncomfortable during several phases of his cross-examination and his answers on crucial points were evasive and often vague.. His evidence in relation to the level and nature of communications he had with the second and third plaintiffs on the morning in question lacked candour. I find it inconceivable, to say the least, that the fifth plaintiff would have placed an order for 100 laser printers without the conviction that it was in fact a current market model with a real and substantial resale value. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:25 I think one of the wrong posted price, Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:25 damn dont tell me they realised their error already, Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:32 shiok can make a quick profit by selling them cheap shd buy more. Indeed, upon re-examination, he attempted to distance himself from the portion of his affidavit suggesting that the possibility of a genuine mistake had crossed his mind after the first transaction. The law will have to organically adapt itself to respond to new challenges without compromising on certainty and fairness. If he was prepared to commit this view in writing to a larger circle of 54 friends and business associates, 47 Not content with making his own purchases, he woke up his brother and transacted 330 units on his behalf. 75 Each of the automated confirmatory e-mail responses carried under Availability of product the notation call to enquire. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:17 what hp online?? Clout issue 43. I do not know if this is an error or whether HP will honour this purchase. They have taken into account both the English and Australian authorities in distilling the jurisprudence in this area. They even discussed the possible scenario of the defendant not honouring the transactions. 1 In the early hours of the morning of 13January 2003, six friends, the plaintiffs in this case, placed orders over the Internet for 1,606 sophisticated Hewlett Packard commercial laser printers (the laser printer(s)). Desmond: 13/01/20 01:43 coz the HP laser colour printer sells for at least 3 to 4k outside, Desmond 13/01/20 01:44 from US I heard is about USD 2k, Desmond 13/01/20 01:44 its HP and Laser and Coloured. The plaintiffs were not being candid when they portrayed very limited exchanges between themselves, dealing allegedly with only the profits to be made and their ability to resell the laser printers. Offer and acceptances have to reach an intended recipient to be efective. 43 After receiving a call from the first plaintiff at about 2.00am informing him that he had found an opportunity to make money as there was an arbitrage position to be achieved for some Hewlett Packard printers, the third plaintiff duly accessed his e-mail and visited the HP website. 99 Like the somewhat arbitrary selection of the postal rule for ordinary mail, in the ultimate analysis, a default rule should be implemented for certainty, while accepting that such a rule should be applied flexibly to minimise unjustness. 14 The first, second and fourth plaintiffs became acquainted with each other when they studied at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Certainly, none of them had ever been induced to conduct transactions on such a scale on the Internet for any product, let alone sophisticated commercial laser printers. Put another way, that decision seems to indicate that the effect of a unilateral mistake is only to render a contract unenforceable rather than void. The recipient rule is therefore more convenient and relevant in the context of both instantaneous or near instantaneous communications. Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004 . The defendant, on the other hand, contends that the law should not penalise a party who has unwittingly and genuinely made a unilateral mistake which was known or ought to have been known by the plaintiffs. After further sms exchanges, the second plaintiff contacted the fifth plaintiff on his mobile phone, urging him to return home to access the e-mail message he had just sent. In Associated Japanese Bank (International) Ltd v Credit du NordSA [1989] 1 WLR 255 at 266, Lord DenningMRs views were doubted and described as reflecting an individual opinion by SteynJ (as he then was). 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. They are tainted and unenforceable. 58 The fifth plaintiff was first informed by the second plaintiff at about 2.30am about cheap laser printers being available for purchase. The rigour in limiting this scope is also critical to protect innocent third party rights that may have been acquired directly or indirectly. We can understand why the decision in Bell v Lever Bros Ltd did not find favour with Lord DenningMR. An equitable jurisdiction to grant rescission on terms where a common fundamental mistake has induced a contract gives greater flexibility than a doctrine of common law which holds the contract void in such circumstances. Although a mistaken party will not often be able to discharge the onus of showing that the other party knew or must have known that he or she intended terms different from the terms of the offer or acceptance, it is not a necessary element that the party seeking to enforce the contract has actively contributed to the others mistake. . This gives their courts a broad and elastic jurisdiction to deal with commercially inappropriate behaviour. There are persuasive arguments against extending the litmus test of unconscionability to all mistake-type situations. 152 This view has also found support in the Singapore context. 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). [emphasis added]. To assert that as a rule, leave to amend particulars will be refused, is both illogical and incorrect. If the offeree knows that the offeror does not intend the terms of the offer to be those that the natural meaning of the words would suggest, he cannot, by purporting to accept the offer, bind the offeror to a contract: Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3All ER 566; Smith v Hughes (1871) LR6 QB 597. 86 In cases where the facts raised in the proposed amendments have been addressed during the evidence and submissions and, particularly, where the opposing side has also had an opportunity to address the very same points, there can hardly ever be any real prejudice. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:44 if they dont honor it Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:45 sell me one lah name your price ;-) sue them lor , Desmond: 13/01/20 01:45 I think they will give vouchers or special deals. There is no question, however, that he placed the orders, that these orders were received by the HP website and that the same automated response sent to the other plaintiffs was sent out to him. If an offeree understands an offer in accordance with its natural meaning and accepts it, the offeror cannot be heard to say that he intended the words of his offer to have a different meaning. This rationalised the law and gives the court a broad discretion to fashion the applicable relief. The most recent and authoritative pronouncement in this area (. 16 When the first plaintiff eventually succeeded in accessing the HP website, he immediately placed an order for 100 laser printers at about 2.05am, charging the transaction to his credit card. The payment mode selected by the third plaintiff was cash on delivery. Cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and undue influence, are all catered for under other existing and uncontentious equitable rules. 4 The defendant is a company that sells information technology (IT) related products over the Internet to consumers. There is therefore no pre-condition in law for a mistaken party to show an absence of carelessness to avail himself of this defence; the law precludes a person from seeking to gain an advantage improperly in such circumstances. At the very least, it has been forcefully asserted that even when a mistake does not result in voiding a contract through the application of common law principles, there remains an independent doctrine of mistake founded in equity which justifies judicial intervention. 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. Why? Daniel was previously a partner and head of the technology practice at Messrs Rajah & Tann. Please refer to the PDF copy for a print-friendly version. It is set in the context of internet contracting. As a matter of fairness, allowing amendments at a late stage should usually go hand in hand with granting leave to the other party to adduce further evidence, if necessary. Administration law is the actions made by a government, which adversely affects an individual. This is much closer to the truth than the picture he has tried to paint in these proceedings. Cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and undue influence, are all catered for under other existing and uncontentious equitable rules. He received this information through an sms message. He tried to convey the impression that it never struck him that a mistake in the price posting of the laser printer could have occurred. This is one of the first prominent case that deals with the issue of web based contract. I hope by the time you see this email, the price is still at S$66.00 coz they might change it anytime. 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. There are, however, other sound reasons to argue against such a rule in favour of the recipient rule. In the absence of proper and full arguments on the issue of which rule is to be preferred, I do not think it is appropriate for me to give any definitive views in these proceedings on this very important issue. It is, in large measure, determined by making an objective appraisal of the exchanges between the parties. 117 It should be emphasised that this stream of authority is consistently recognised by all the major common law jurisdictions. 83 The defendant maintained that there was no element of surprise and/or prejudice arising from the amendments. The only court judgement on the theme is Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, a judgement of the Singapore High Court. The court found that parties when . 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. He is currently self-employed and is intimately involved in the multi-level marketing sales of aromatherapy products under the Bel-Air label. 63 It is pertinent he too made web searches using the Google search engine. In the Singapore context a similar approach has been adopted by the Court of Appeal in Aircharter World Pte Ltd v Kontena Nasional Bhd [1999] 3 SLR 1 at [30] and [31], and Projection Pte Ltd v The Tai Ping Insurance Co Ltd [2001] 2 SLR 399 at [15]. 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. The issue in this case was whether the pricing was a mistake and if the contract would be fulfilled. Chwee Kin K eong and others . The answer on the authorities is a mistake by one party of which the other, 111 This approach appears to have been endorsed by Judith PrakashJ in, 114 For good measure, I should allude that the plaintiffs in their written submissions concede that in order to establish that mistake is operative at common law, the defendant has to show in this instant case that the plaintiffs each had, 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. Certain Internet service providers provide the technology to inform a sender that a message has not been properly routed. As a lawyer, he appears to have been indispensable in the plaintiffs attempts to hold the defendant to the bargain.
Williams Field High School Campus Map, Average Arm Length 6 Foot Male, How To Become A Private Lender Earning Huge Returns, Graduation Date For Class Of 2022, Articles C