It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. CHWEE KIN KEONG and Others v DIGILANDMALL.COM Pte Ltd (2004) 2 SLR 594. The pleadings, in such instances, merely formalise what is already before the court. NZULR, vol. The defendant even had its terms and conditions posted on its website. 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 . However, not all principles will or can apply in the same manner that they apply to traditional paper-based and oral contracts. 53 He claimed that seeing the same price on the Digilandmall website confirmed his view that there had been no mistake. He placed another order for a further 150 printers at 3.14am, followed by two further orders for 300 printers each at about 3.56am and 3.59am. 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. Prior to being self-employed, he was a corporate banker with Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore, for four years. The first and fifth plaintiffs ordered exactly a hundred laser printers each. Having noted all this, I am nevertheless inclined towards the views expressed in the, 131 In a number of cases, including the present, it may not really matter which view is preferred. 12 The plaintiffs both collectively and individually maintained adamantly that while they thought that the price of $66 appeared to be a good deal they did not think that the website prices had been mistakenly placed or inserted. This was presumably to render the training more lifelike. They assert that spending only $105,996 to procure laser printers with an actual market value of $6,189,524 is wholly irrelevant; they are entitled to a good bargain. This price was much lower than the actual retail price, and had been posted on the defendant's website by mistake. 7191 RSS High Court Expand/Collapse. There was a promise to pay made by the plaintiffs in exchange for the delivery of the requisite laser printers. It is not in dispute that the defendant made a genuine error. 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. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:24 huh?? 101 The applicable rules in relation to transactions over the worldwide web appear to be clearer and less controversial. Doctrines and Institutions of Responsible Government. Looking for a flexible role? 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. Civil Procedure Pleadings . 60 Prior to placing his order, he was again contacted by the second plaintiff. The elements of an offer and acceptance are ex facie satisfied in every transaction asserted in the plaintiffs claims. High Court Suit No 202 of 2003. He would make some basic enquiries to ascertain whether there is anything faulty with the product in an attempt to seek an explanation for or understanding of the basis for the price discrepancy; he might alternatively try and ascertain whether perhaps the price differential is part of some spectacular promotional exercise. 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 then carried out some checks on the Yahoo search engine to ascertain whether the printer model existed and whether the laser printer could be sold at more than $66. Basic principles of contract law continue to prevail in contracts made on the Internet. This provision acknowledges that the essential framework of an electronic contract needs to be considered in the usual manner; in other words, principles of contract formation, consideration, terms and conditions, choice of law and jurisdictional issues need to be examined. He graduated from NTU as a bachelor of business studies, specialising in financial analysis. So there is a contract and therefore the defendant is liable in breach of contract. Court name Singapore High Court. No harm trying right? Such errors can be magnified almost instantaneously and may be harder to detect than if made in a face to face transaction or through physical document exchanges. 151 The claims by the plaintiffs are audacious, opportunistic and contrived. It is therefore incumbent on the web merchant to protect himself, as he has both the means to do so and knowledge relating to the availability of any product that is being marketed. 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. Whether the parties have reached agreement on the terms is not determined by evidence of the subjective intention of each party. , In mutual mistake, the parties misunderstand each other and are at cross-purposes. His own counsels description of him as careful and prudent only serves to corroborate this. David Baxter Edward Thomas and Peter Sandford Gander v BPE Solicitors (a firm) [2010] EWHC 306 (Ch) Dunlop v Higgins (1848) 1 HLC 381. The marrow of contractual relationships should be the parties intention to create a legal relationship. A prospective purchaser is entitled to rely on the terms of the web advertisement. If this rule applies to international sales, is it sensible to have a different rule for domestic sales? Their Pages 74 Ratings 100% (5) 5 out of 5 people found this document helpful; Their conduct in pursuing their claims cannot by any stretch of the imagination be characterised as having the slightest colour of being legitimate regardless of whether the subjective or objective theories are applied and whether common law or equity is applied in adjudicating this matter. There is no doubt that the plaintiffs acted with indecent haste in the dead of the night in placing as many orders as each of them felt their financial resources credibly permitted them to do. There must be consensus ad idem. 44 He made his first purchase of ten laser printers at about 2.42am. 13 The first plaintiff, Chwee Kin Keong, is 29 years old. Mistakes are usually synonymous with the existence of carelessness on the part of the mistaken party. This thread helps to rationalise the development of the common law but ought not to be viewed as supporting the existence of a general test of commercial morality tantamount to the test of unconscionability invoked by equity. It is pertinent to note that she placed orders for 32 laser printers including 20 units she ordered on behalf of her sister. From time to time they communicate with each other via the Internet and the short messaging system (sms). 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. 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. June Proctor, 1997, p. 13. This is much closer to the truth than the picture he has tried to paint in these proceedings. To that extent, his evidence that he subsequently dismissed the notion altogether is unacceptable. His credibility on the material points was dubious, at best. 121 While my views here are not central to my decision, the plaintiffs have adverted to this relationship in a misguided attempt to derail the defence on an arid pleading technicality. [emphasis added]. The phrase call to enquire, it is contended, was in effect a condition precedent. 82 The plaintiffs strenuously opposed the defendants amendments principally on the ground it was made at a late juncture. 2 [2004] 2 SLR 594 ("the Digilandmall case") (The decision was very recently affirmed by the Singapore Court of Appeal in Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] SGCA 2, albeit on somewhat different grounds and where the focus was on the law of unilateral mistake rather than formation of contract.)]. Yet in other aspects, he could recollect, with crystal clear precision and clarity, details of what had transpired. 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 plaintiffs refute that the error exonerates the defendant; they insist that a concluded contract is sacrosanct and must be honoured. 124 A number of decisions over the last five decades emanating from several common law jurisdictions even go so far as to suggest that with the integration of the courts of common law and equity, equitable principles now hold sway and that earlier common law decisions need reinterpretation. In accordance with s15(1) of the ETA, acceptance would be effective the moment the offer enters that node of the network outside the control of the originator. This could account for the substantial number of Canadian cases in this area of the law. . 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. There are two types of orders relevant: market orders and limit orders. 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 . If the common law continues to take precedence, then an essential mistake would void a contract ab initio. In addition to the law of (especially, unilateral) mistake, issues relating to the formation of a contract will be considered (including the law relating to offer and . 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. 34 He also visited the Digilandmall website to familiarise himself with their standard terms and conditions. He opted to pay for all his purchases by cash on delivery. It cannot also be seriously argued that there was no intention to enter into a legal relationship. How come got such thing? 46 He was therefore aware, even before he made his first purchase, that the actual price of the laser printer was in the region of US$2,000. In the final analysis, it would appear that the likely existence of an internal error in pricing was clearly within his contemplation. 40 When the fourth plaintiff responded to the first plaintiffs mass e-mail, he copied his response to the second plaintiff. Because it was simply a matter of time before the error would inevitably be noticed and the pricing inevitably corrected. The evidence incontrovertibly indicates that the first plaintiff himself entertained this view for the entire period he was in communication with the second and third plaintiffs. Errors may incur wholly unexpected, and sometimes untoward, consequences as these proceedings so amply demonstrate. By their own admission, they made Internet searches through various search engines to ascertain the profits they could make. 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 actual or constructive knowledge of the mistaken pricing. It is postulated by many of the leading treatises that equity has a broad church incorporating a more elastic approach and a court of equity may rescind a contract, award damages or, in limited circumstances, fashion a remedy, to suit the justice of the matter. He is currently self-employed and is intimately involved in the multi-level marketing sales of aromatherapy products under the Bel-Air label. The decision of V.K. They were high-end commercial laser printers. 150 The plaintiffs have contended that this court ought to follow the decision in Taylor v Johnson and hold that the contract is not void under common law but voidable only in equity. Again he attempted to minimise the impact of these observations by saying his subsequent searches erased all such doubts. 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. There was no satisfactory reason for the genesis of this e-mail (see [67] infra). 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 rationalised the law and gives the court a broad discretion to fashion the applicable relief. Yong Pung HowCJ in Tribune Investment Trust Inc v Soosan Trading Co Ltd [2000] 3 SLR 405 at [40] opined: [T]he function of the court is to try as far as practical experience allows, to ensure that the reasonable expectations of honest men are not disappointed. 142 The plaintiffs were bound by personal relationships as well as past and present common commercial interests. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR(R) 594, Rajah JC (as . It would be illogical to have different approaches for different product sales over the Internet. He held that the Written Offer was accepted by the . 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. I was neither impressed nor convinced. He graduated from NTU as a bachelor of business studies, specialising in financial analysis. Merchants may find their contracts formed in foreign jurisdictions and therefore subject to foreign laws. Others do not. Taking into account the nature of the claims, the conduct of these proceedings by the plaintiffs and how the case for the plaintiffs unravelled, it would not, all things considered, be appropriate to interfere with the normal order of costs which ought to follow the result. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - LawTeacher is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Unilateral Mistake at . Where either mutual or unilateral mistake is pleaded, the very existence of agreement is denied. He too affirmed from his searches that the normal price of the laser printer was in the region of US$2,000. 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 web merchant, unless he qualifies his offer appropriately, by making it subject to the availability of stock or some other condition precedent, could be seen as making an offer to sell an infinite supply of goods. The web merchant, unless he qualifies his offer appropriately, by making it subject to the availability of stock or some other condition precedent, could be seen as making an offer to sell an infinite supply of goods. LOW, Kelvin Fatt Kin. I found his entire evidence relating to his communication with the first and other plaintiffs unsatisfactory and in many aspects incredulous. 30th Sep 2021 This gives their courts a broad and elastic jurisdiction to deal with commercially inappropriate behaviour. In doing so, they appear to have also conflated equitable and common law concepts. To my mind, the confirmation through the subsequent searches that the actual price of the laser printer was, in fact, US$2,000 would, if anything, have affirmed his belief that an error had occurred. This gives their courts a broad and elastic jurisdiction to deal with commercially inappropriate behaviour. Someone referred me to the HP website which shows the price of this HP Colour LaserJet 4600 Series as S$66.00. 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). Computer glitches can cause transmission failures, garbled information or even change the nature of the information transmitted. 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. Though the six plaintiffs accounted for only 18 of these purchase orders, they figure prominently among the 11 individuals who ordered more than 50 laser printers. . The fifth plaintiff, even if he had not been alerted by the second plaintiff, would have instinctively appreciated the existence of a manifest error without any prompting whatsoever. This is without basis. 327. 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 . u think this is the 1970s?? The question is what is capable of displacing that apparent agreement. In terms of chronological sequence, the initial page accessed was the shopping cart, followed by checkout-order particulars, checkout-order confirmation, check-out payment details and payment whether by cash on delivery or by credit card. After hearing their evidence, observing them and considering the submissions made on their behalf, there was no doubt in my mind that they were fully conscious that an unfortunate and egregious mistake had indeed been made by the defendant. I reject this. Whether the parties have reached agreement on the terms is not determined by evidence of the subjective intention of each party. 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. 4 The defendant is a company that sells information technology (IT) related products over the Internet to consumers. The effect of Solle v Butcher [1950] 1 KB 671 is not to supplement or mitigate the common law: it is to say that Bell v Lever Bros Ltd was wrongly decided. The contract stands according to the natural meaning of the words used. What is urged is that, owing to a common error as to some fundamental fact, the agreement is robbed of all efficacy. Hence the first plaintiffs cryptically worded but highly significant mass e-mail where he adverted to the fact that he did not know if the defendant would honour the contracts but in any event wished all the recipients good luck. Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, Whether amendment of particulars of pleadings at conclusion of submissions allowed, Facts raised in proposed amendments addressed during trial and submissions, Whether promise by buyer to pay for goods, in exchange for delivery of goods, constituted sufficient consideration, Electronic Transactions Act (Cap 88, 1999 Rev Ed), Whether automated e-mail responses from seller amounted to acceptance of buyer's offer, Seller's unilateral mistake as to price of goods posted on website, Whether online buyer entitled to enforce contract against seller, 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. 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. The plaintiffs attempted to take advantage of the defendants mistake over the Internet. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:33 as many as I can! 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. The evidence incontrovertibly indicates that the first plaintiff himself entertained this view for the entire period he was in communication with the second and third plaintiffs. It argues that the decision is both fair and economically grounded, and proposes an alternative view to that offered by classical contract law - one that sees fairness intertwined In a Straits Times report dated 15January 2003 captioned $66 printer error angry customers seek lawyers help, it was reported that the second plaintiff, described as a network marketer had on 13January at about 2.00am stumbled upon a offer he could not believe $66 for a Hewlett Packard laserjet printer that normally sells for $3,854 before GST. The quintessential approach of the law is to preserve rather than to undermine contracts. If the defendant were right, they maintain, uncertainty would prevail in the commercial world and more particularly in Internet transactions. The CISG has currently been adopted by 95 Contracting States world-wide. 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. It is, in large measure, determined by making an objective appraisal of the exchanges between the parties. Cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and undue influence, are all catered for under other existing and uncontentious equitable rules. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades, 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. 57 Malcolm Tan is 30 years old and a practising advocate and solicitor. Mutual promises, by all accounts, on the basis of existing case law, more than amply constitute consideration. He is currently employed as an accountant in an accounting firm, Ernst & Young. 120 The widening of jurisdiction to embrace a broad equitable jurisdiction could well encourage litigious behaviour and promote uncertainty. 67 MsToh subsequently did some research on how companies which had committed similar mistakes over the Internet handled the aftermath. 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. 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. The most recent and authoritative pronouncement in this area (per Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers in Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson [2003] 3 WLR 1371 at [123]) states: A contract is normally concluded when an offer made by one party (the offeror) is accepted by the party to whom the offer has been made (the offeree). The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall. The court has to be astute and adopt a pragmatic and judicious stance in resolving such issues. Clout issue 43. The fact that the acceptance was automatically generated by a computer software cannot in any manner exonerate the defendant from responsibility. It appears that in Convention transactions, the receipt rule applies unless there is a contrary intention. Their reference to arbitraging was a nebulous fig leaf designed to legitimise their conduct in a cloak of legal and commercial respectability. The complainants argued that they were not aware that this price was a mistake and wanted the binding contract to be fulfilled. A court is not likely to take a sympathetic view of such manner of amendment. No cash had been collected. Normally the contract is only concluded when the acceptance is communicated by the offeree to the offeror. I drew counsels attention to Halsburys Laws of Australia (Butterworths, 1992), vol6 at para 110-5550 which states: A particular class of case which illustrates unilateral mistake as to the terms intended, known to the other party, is that in which an offer which would be very advantageous to the offeree is snapped up by the offeree. The fourth plaintiff duly accessed the e-mail the second plaintiff had sent him pursuant to their conversation. The second, third, fourth and sixth plaintiffs are the only individuals who ordered more than a hundred laser printers each. 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. Altogether he sought to purchase 760 units, the largest number of orders placed by anyone between 8 and 13January 2003. 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.
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