Acceptance

• Concept that acceptance cannot take place through silence

  • courts have stated that when dealing with acceptance they take a subjective approach,
  • But in practice they are using a objective approach, as in the case of Felthouse v Bindley
  • this case the court stated that from an objective point the nephew had no communicated acceptance, but he had called the auctioneer to take the horse out of the auction
• Unsolicited Good and Service Act 1971

  • states that where goods are received without request, there can be no contract unless acceptance is communicated to the sender
  • this means that an individual can benefit from such an item and the business may lose out
• Postal rules

  • postal rules are unfair to the offerror who may never recieve a letter of acceptance
  • this means they are in contract without ever knowing it
  • but the postal rule does not apply to any other methods of communcation as the courts may think it is outdated an the offerree should take reasonable stepts to ensure acceptance is recieved
• Failure to provide key information

  • there is no contract if the seller has failed to provide key information to the consumer, but the seller may have still recieved payment and it may be difficult for the consumer to regain that payment
• but,

  • Article 11 of the electronic commerce regulations 2002, sets out when acceptance takes place
  • this is the reason many online businesses say, "your order has been received and is being processed" rather than your order has been accepted, so that the seller is not obliged to accept it at that point
• Overall

  • question therefore arises on when does acceptance take place, and when can the seller take money from the buyers account?