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Question
Xavier was about to send his extensive car collection to be sold at auction, but before doing so he sent his uncle Yorick an e-mail offering to sell his vintage Morris Minor for £50,000, knowing that Yorick had always admired it. Yorick replied by first class post, saying ‘I will take it, as long as you are able to deliver it to me. If I don’t hear anything from you, I will assume we have a deal.’ Later the same day, Yorick sent Xavier an e-mail saying, ‘Sorry, change of heart, I don’t want the car after all.’ Unfortunately, because of a problem with Xavier’s internet connection, he did not receive Xavier’s e-mail, but Yorick’s letter was delivered the following morning. Happy to deliver the car to Yorick, Xavier assumed they had a deal and removed it from his collection of cars that were taken away and sold at auction later that day. However, when he contacted Yorick two weeks later to arrange to deliver the car to him, Xavier learnt of Yorick’s change of heart; in the meantime, there had been a dramatic fall in the value of vintage Morris Minors. Advise Xavier.
Answer guidance
Remember you are asked to advise Xavier - he wants to know whether he had a valid contract with Yorick for the sale of the vintage Morris minor. Why? Because he wants damages from Yorick for breaching that contract, by failing to take delivery of the car and pay the price. This has caused considerable loss, because the market price of the car has since fallen way below the contract price (see chapters 16 and 17 for remedial issues, such as whether specific performance might be available as it is a rare vintage car). But is there a contract in the first place? First, you need to analyse the status of Yorick’s letter - is it an acceptance or a counter-offer? If it is an acceptance, apply the postal rule (assuming an emailed offer can be accepted by post?), but consider the effect of an attempt to revoke an acceptance by a faster mode (email). But of course here, the email does not reach Xavier, what difference does that make? If Yorick’s letter is a counter-offer, what is the effect of the last sentence, ‘If I don’t hear anything from you, I will assume we have a deal’? This should make you speculate about what the outcome would have been if, in Felthouse v Bindley, the auctioneer had removed the horse from the auction, but the uncle later refused to take delivery of it from the nephew, seeking to rely on a supposed rule that there was no contract because there was no acceptance.