Commercial Law: Emily
Emily owns a store, called ‘PC Empire’, selling PC hardware.
Zak calls Emily and, on the phone, agrees to buy a new 27″ Super Gaming monitor for £150 which Emily still has in store from last year in Portsmouth. Zak and Emily agree that the monitor will be delivered to Zak’s home address in Bristol and payment will be made on delivery. After a week, Emily has not delivered the monitor and Zak phones Emily, and she tells him that, vandals broke into the delivery van and damaged, among other products, the monitor. Zak does not want the monitor anymore, but wants to cancel the agreement.
Emily sells 10 PC cases to Thornton Office Supplies Ltd. The contract price is £1200. One week later, Emily delivers the PC cases to Thornton’s premises. On delivery, 5 of the PC cases are damaged during transport and are no longer safe to be sold, due to sharp edges in the metal. When Brandon, an employee of Thornton Office Supplies Ltd, phones Emily, she refers to a highlighted and clearly visible clause in the written standard contract excluding any liability which might arise under sections 13-15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. The agreement was not signed and Thornton Office Supplies Ltd have not conducted business with Emily before. Thornton Office Supplies Ltd now want to claim for damages.
Emily sells 10 Avus X100 desktop PCs for £3500 to Thornton Office Supplies Ltd. The contract of sale contains a clause stating that ownership of the PCs will not pass to Thornton Office Supplies Ltd until the full price is paid to Emily. Thornton Office Supplies Ltd have not made any payment for the PCs, as they are short on money but have already sold 5 of the PCs to customers. Emily has found a new potential buyer and wants all the 10 Avus X100 desktop PCs back.
Advise the parties.
