Yet in other aspects, he could recollect, with crystal clear precision and clarity, details of what had transpired. This was presumably to render the training more lifelike. He commenced practice in 2000 and currently practices with the law firm representing the plaintiffs in this action. Date of Verdicts: 12 April 2004, 13 January 2005. 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. The defendant was entitled to stake its entire defence on the basis of common law, though it would have been prudent ex abundanti cautela to have asserted the equitable position in the alternative. Acceptance sent through email; is the postal rule applicable? He subsequently sent the web link to the Epinions website to the first and second plaintiffs. Looking for a flexible role? 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. 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. . Chwee Kin Keong decision - Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall 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!! 98 Once an offer is sent over the Internet, the sender loses control over the route and delivery time of the message. 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. In the Singapore context a similar approach has been adopted by the Court of Appeal in, 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. (PDF) Intention to Create Legal Relations and the Reform of Contract In doing so, they appear to have also conflated equitable and common law concepts. - Rebutting presumption: "The question [whether or not there is a binding contract] must depend on the 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. Transactions over websites are almost invariably instantaneous and/or interactive. The bites, however, may taste quite different and cause different sensations. [emphasis added]. The rules of offer and acceptance are satisfied and the parties are of one mind. 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. 155 The Internet has revolutionised commerce and radically altered the manner in which commercial interaction currently takes place. He also claimed to have talked to buyers in the market about reselling the laser printers and that the failure to procure the units would tarnish his reputation. This is a disingenuous contention that desperately attempts to palliate their conduct in the subject transactions. At 4.15am, he sent an email to the first plaintiff, copied to the second plaintiff, with a happy emoticon following check out the prices here (see [19] supra). His revelation that he did not know if this is an error or whether HP will honour this purchase, not to mention the articulation of his hope that by the time you see this email, the price is still at S$66.00 coz they might change it anytime, are all compelling in reflecting his state of mind and awareness that an error had occurred. This is approved in a Singaporean case, Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd . Any information contained in this case summary does not constitute legal advice and should be treated as educational content only. The essence is not so much in the nature of the amendment but rather in the consequences flowing from any amendment to the pleadings. These statements are not to be interpreted as a clarion call to rewrite commercial agreements because of a partys unreasonable or ignoble behaviour. The jurisdiction asserted in the former case has not developed. This judgment text has undergone conversion so that it is mobile and web-friendly. When pressed as to whether he visited other websites, he said he could not confirm that one way or the other. With reference to the judgement, the case explores pricing mistakes by online stores. In Chwee Kin Keong and ors v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, 5 VK Rajah JC, as His Honour then was, decided against the rule-based approach in Moss v Malings. 102 Inevitably mistakes will occur in the course of electronic transmissions. He is also described as the sole proprietor and manager of two other businesses that provide business support and consultancy. From time to time they communicate with each other, 4 The defendant is a company that sells information technology (IT) related products over the Internet to consumers. It was found that the plaintiffs must have known or realised that the offer did not express the true intention of the defendants. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. 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. 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. He was also involved in initiating the Channel NewsAsia report (see [78] and [79] infra). 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). 63 It is pertinent he too made web searches using the Google search engine. 3. reference was made by the court to "fraud or a very high degree of misconduct" before the non- mistaken party could be . This is clearly a mistake as they could not possible be sold for an amount that in a commercial situation. Other Jurisdictions. They were selling a HP laser printer and an employee accidently made a mistake as to the price of the printer on their website.. Cases 14 The first, second and fourth plaintiffs became acquainted with each other when they studied at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). 40 When the fourth plaintiff responded to the first plaintiffs mass e-mail, he copied his response to the second plaintiff. The first, second and third plaintiffs have been friends for a long time and are bound by common business interests. 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. A steady stream of decisions from common law courts indicate a measured but nevertheless distinctly incremental willingness to extend the scope of the exception to not just actual knowledge, but deemed or constructive knowledge as well. The text of the e-mail further reinforces the point. 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. 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. It appears to suggest that even if an offer is snapped up, the contract is not void. Unilateral mistake in contracts - L'Avocat Law Litigation Singapore Lawyer, Doris Chia - David Lim & Partners LLP 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. He worked for a short period in the IT Project Development department of the Standard Chartered Bank, where he became acquainted with the first plaintiff. [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. 83 The defendant maintained that there was no element of surprise and/or prejudice arising from the amendments. The plaintiffs attempted to take advantage of the defendants mistake over the Internet. In terms of chronological sequence, the initial page accessed was the shopping cart, followed by checkout-order . 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. 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. He is 32 years old and conducts his own network marketing business. ! with its importance set at high. From time to time there will be cases where this is an overriding consideration. 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. It should be noted that while the common law jurisdictions continue to wrestle over this vexed issue, most civil law jurisdictions lean towards the recipient rule. The pleadings, in such instances, merely formalise what is already before the court.