chwee kin keong v digilandmall high court
It seems to me that he was trying to tailor his evidence to fit neatly within the legal parameters of the plaintiffs case. The point is, there is a chasm between a clarification amendment and a new or distinct issue being raised at a later stage. HIGH COURT. SingletonJ held at 568: The offer was wrongly expressed, and the defendants by their evidence, and by the correspondence, have satisfied me that the plaintiff could not reasonably have supposed that that offer contained the offerers real intention. I note that Chitty at para5-089, fn25 sagely opines that Taylor v Johnson does not represent English law, at least, where the other party knows that a mistake has been made. Has an agreement been reached or not? Borneo United Sawmills Sdn Bhd v. MUI Continental Insurance Bhd (Marine insurance - Loss of goods - Claim for loss of goods under Marine Cargo Policy) [2009] 8 CLJ 217. [2005] 1 SLR(R) Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall Pte Ltd 521. whether constructive knowledge by a non-mistaken party of the mistake would suffice to vitiate the contract ab initio. He is currently employed as an accountant in an accounting firm, Ernst & Young. It appears to suggest that even if an offer is snapped up, the contract is not void. The elements of an offer and acceptance are ex facie satisfied in every transaction asserted in the plaintiffs claims. This gives their courts a broad and elastic jurisdiction to deal with commercially inappropriate behaviour. He claims visiting, 62 Like the second plaintiff, the fifth plaintiff played a pivotal role in the events leading to these proceedings. 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! 76 On Monday, 13January 2003, at about 9.15am, an employee of the defendant received a call from a prospective customer inquiring whether the defendant was aware of the posted price of $66 for the laser printers on the HP website. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:47 wasnt greedy before I tok to u. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:47 yeah.. S$1 mio then no need to work liao?? But it is difficult to see how that can apply here. After referring to a series of leading cases, including the often quoted decision of ThomsonJ in McMaster University v Wilchar Construction Ltd (1971), 22DLR(3d) 9 (Ont HCJ), Chief Justice McLachlin said at p37: One circumstance falling clearly within the equitable jurisdiction of the Court to relieve against mistake is that where one party, knowing of the others mistake as to the terms of an offer, remains silent and concludes a contract on the mistaken terms: Solle, supra; Belle River Community Arena v WJC Kaufman Co (1978), 20OR(2d) 447, 4 BLR 231, 87DLR(3d) 761 (CA). Indeed, in difficult cases, the courts in several common law jurisdictions have gone to extraordinary lengths to conjure up consideration. 27 The first plaintiff obviously took the view that the advertisement should be acted upon urgently. 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. Web Communication: A Review Of Chwee Kin Keong And Others v. Digilandmall.com pte ltd by Rokiah Kadir [2009] 8 CLJ xxi. The prospective buyer has to make an offer to purchase which is then accepted by the merchant. The essential point remains: will prejudice be caused and/or are any policy considerations called into play. To confine this exception to instances of fraud would make the concept of unilateral mistake redundant. Abstract. Clout issue 43. After placing his second order, he admitted making further searches on the Internet to fortify my view that the price of the $66 per printer was not a mistake He was also the only plaintiff who placed an order on the Digilandmall website. The rules of offer and acceptance are satisfied and the parties are of one mind. 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. This was also the practice in the trade. Plaintiffs counsel indicated that they wanted to further particularise the sixth plaintiffs purchase orders. Landmark decision on unilateral mistake of fact in respect of the price of product listed on an online mall and the purchases made thereon . I have carefully considered the issue of costs and have noted that the defendant had, in the process of mounting a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claim, pursued some unmeritorious contentions. Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. The object of the exercise is to determine what each party intended, or must be deemed to have intended. 78 In a Channel NewsAsia report datelined 15January 2003, it was reported that: Two of the customers, Mark Yeow and Malcolm Tan, have already spoken to their lawyers. Here are some examples of case citations for other jurisdictions. It would be fair to say that such a person should not have any legitimate expectation that the contract in question will be either respected or sanctioned by court. 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. In that sense, it is akin to ordinary posting. While this is the general principle for shop displays, it is open to a merchant to offer by way of an advertisement the mechanics of a unilateral or bilateral contract. Despite the general views expressed in. 141 In so far as the sixth plaintiff is concerned, I emphasise that his knowledge and/or conduct of should be equated with that of the third plaintiff. 35 In addition to these conversations, the second plaintiff also accessed the Epinions website and sent a related e-mail to the first plaintiff. The leading Canadian decision in this area is the case of McMaster University v Wilchar Construction Ltd (1971) 22DLR(3d) 9 which, incidentally, was cited with approval by the Australian High Court in Taylor v Johnson. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:47 u make me greedy, Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:47 ok lor if you insist . 37 The second plaintiff was insistent in his evidence that there was no communication from the first plaintiff alerting him to the likely existence of the mistake; he contends the first plaintiff merely apprised him of a good deal and sent him the weblink to the HP website. Offer and acceptances have to reach an intended recipient to be efective. Given that he left everything in the third plaintiffs hands, his legal position is, to that extent, identical to the third plaintiffs. There must be consensus ad idem. The unconstrained exchange that followed between the two is both revealing and compelling. When pressed why he asked MsToh to do this research, the fifth plaintiffs response was unsatisfactory. 60 Prior to placing his order, he was again contacted by the second plaintiff. 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. 131 In a number of cases, including the present, it may not really matter which view is preferred. The defendants argued this pricing was a unilateral mistake and that the complainants took advantage of this. The first plaintiffs riposte, should such a situation come to pass, was to sue them lor. 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. Slade, in a well reasoned article written not long after Solle v Butcher was decided, asserted: In general, it is submitted that there are no cases which support the proposition that in cases of unilateral mistake, V [the enforcing party] may obtain this relief where the contract is not void at law and there has been no misrepresentation. He has incorporated an Internet business Dreamcupid in which the second plaintiff has an interest. 109 This cautious statement by Chitty needs to be carefully reconsidered in the context of recent developments in this area of law. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. This is a disingenuous contention that desperately attempts to palliate their conduct in the subject transactions. 33 See the Singapore Court of Appeal decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd[2005] 1 SLR 502 (noted by Yeo, TM ' Great Peace: a distant disturbance ' (2005) 121 Law Quarterly Review 393 Google Scholar; KFK Low 'Unilateral mistake at common law and in equity' [2005] Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 423; and PW . The Instantaneous Transmission of Acceptances. The law may not imply a condition precedent as to the availability of stock simply to bail out an Internet merchant from a bad bargain, 104 The creases over the theoretical approach to adopt in determining the existence of contracts have for some time now been decisively ironed out in favour of the objective theory. 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. Section11 of the ETA expressly provides that offers and acceptances may be made electronically. 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. 143 The stark gaping difference between the price posting and the market price of the laser printer would have made it obvious to any objective person that something was seriously amiss. The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall. In turn, the ICQ chat session involving the first plaintiff and the respective plaintiffs exchange of e-mails played a significant role in undermining their credibility and claims. He confirmed through these searches that the usual price of the laser printers was in the region of US$2,000. [emphasis added]. The first issue dealt with references made by the plaintiffs to certain embargoed material. 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. 112 Phang ([106] supra, at 418) rightly observes: It must be stressed that, in this context, a man is taken to have known what would have been obvious to a reasonable person in the light of the surrounding circumstances. Mistakes are usually synonymous with the existence of carelessness on the part of the mistaken party. I granted leave to both parties to file applications to amend the pleadings. Prior to being self-employed, he was a corporate banker with Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore, for four years. I found their attempts to play down the impact of the statements which they had, to all intents and purposes, willingly and deliberately made earlier, unconvincing. 19 Later in the morning, at about 4.15am, the fourth plaintiff sent the following e-mail to the first plaintiff, copied to the second plaintiff only: Subject: Re: IMPT HP Colour LaserJet going at only $66!! http://www.buy.hp.com.sg/hp/StandardProduct.cfm?prodid=HPC9960A. 92 The Electronics Transaction Act (Cap88, 1999Rev Ed) (ETA) places Internet contractual dealings on a firmer footing. The e-mail was given a high importance priority and captioned go load it now!!. 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 . The quintessential approach of the law is to preserve rather than to undermine contracts. 7191 RSS High Court Expand/Collapse. 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. 681) when the court had to decide the moment of contr act formation by post. 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. It is, in large measure, determined by making an objective appraisal of the exchanges between the parties. 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. Websites often provide a service where online purchases may be made. I do not accept that there were no discussions between them on the price posting being an error. Date of Verdicts: 12 April 2004, 13 January 2005. The transcript states that the third and the fifth plaintiffs saw a great opportunity and grabbed it. This was borne out by the case of Chwee Kin Keong and Others v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] SGHC 71 where an autogenerated email with "Successful Purchase Confirmation" in its subject .
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