Purchase price agreed in writing - Company now not honoring the price

trixi67trixi

My son ordered a new front facia for his moped, the price was agreed for the new parts, when the parts arrived the decor was slighty damaged and the bike shop offered in writing and even e-mailed pictures through to show the slight scratch marks, they offered my son the choice of accepting these parts at half price £90.00 or they would order another new part.

On checking the photos my son agreed to take the parts with the scratches at a reduced price, the company offered to fit these last Friday but I was unable to collect him and it was then agreed for him to take his bike in this coming Friday, this is all on e-mail so I have it in writing.

Today I received an e-mail to say that they could no longer fit it at that price as Italy wanted the part back and he could have a new part fitted but at the higher full cost.

I asked the company what would they have done if they had fitted the parts last Friday as was originally planned? to which they chose not to answer that question and said if we wasn't happy we could go else where! great customer service!

I personnaly think the company has managed to sell them over the weekend for a higher price!

Do they have a legal obligation to supply the parts at the reduced cost as agreed in writing?

vuvuzela

trixi67trixi wrote: »

My son ordered a new front facia for his moped, the price was agreed for the new parts, when the parts arrived the decor was slighty damaged and the bike shop offered in writing and even e-mailed pictures through to show the slight scratch marks, they offered my son the choice of accepting these parts at half price £90.00 or they would order another new part.

On checking the photos my son agreed to take the parts with the scratches at a reduced price, the company offered to fit these last Friday but I was unable to collect him and it was then agreed for him to take his bike in this coming Friday, this is all on e-mail so I have it in writing.

Today I received an e-mail to say that they could no longer fit it at that price as Italy wanted the part back and he could have a new part fitted but at the higher full cost.

I asked the company what would they have done if they had fitted the parts last Friday as was originally planned? to which they chose not to answer that question and said if we wasn't happy we could go else where! great customer service!

I personnaly think the company has managed to sell them over the weekend for a higher price!

Do they have a legal obligation to supply the parts at the reduced cost as agreed in writing?

Short answer, no. If your son hasn't paid, he can't force them to do anything.

InsideInsurance

Until a payment is made there is no contract in place and so neither party are bound. A contract is formally made by an offer to contract, an acceptance and consideration (ie payment) with the exception of in Scotland where donation can also be used.

So unless your kid paid for the part then its down to the vendor if they want to continue to honour the offer or not

It is for this reasons that companies are sold for 1p or £1 rather than simply being given away when they are debt burdened etc

PILES

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Until a payment is made there is no contract in place and so neither party are bound. A contract is formally made by an offer to contract, an acceptance and consideration (ie payment) with the exception of in Scotland where donation can also be used.

So unless your kid paid for the part then its down to the vendor if they want to continue to honour the offer or not

It is for this reasons that companies are sold for 1p or £1 rather than simply being given away when they are debt burdened etc

Does a promise to pay count as consideration?

somethingcorporate

If you get a builder in to come and do work with payment on completion does that mean a contract does not exist? When you purchase a house you are bound at contract exchange when no money has actually changed hands...

The above responses are way off the mark in terms of content, payment does not have to change hands to have a valid contract. Promise of payment is enough consideration for contract formation.

Unfortunately any remedy will be far outweighed by the cost of trying to enforce them to supply the part or cough up for the difference between the cost of the damaged part and the new one.

InsideInsurance

Not to the best of my knowledge but then you are starting to get into the minutia of detail that goes beyond my 101 knowledge.

I have seen legal documents, namely NDAs, which talk about 1p having been considered to be paid and instantly paid back as an alleged way to ensure it is a formal contract without monies actually changing hands but I was slightly dubious about their validity and the company in question was more price than quality conscious in 99% of its supplier selection including legal services

Equaliser123

PILES wrote: »

Does a promise to pay count as consideration?

In a word - Yes!

Somethingcorporate has hit the nail upon the head.

Payment is performance of the contract. However, a contract is formed when the terms are agreed.

somethingcorporate

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Not to the best of my knowledge but then you are starting to get into the minutia of detail that goes beyond my 101 knowledge.

I have seen legal documents, namely NDAs, which talk about 1p having been considered to be paid and instantly paid back as an alleged way to ensure it is a formal contract without monies actually changing hands but I was slightly dubious about their validity and the company in question was more price than quality conscious in 99% of its supplier selection including legal services

The 1p was probably included as consideration as both parties to the contract have to give and receive. You often see this in large commercial transactions that are pretty much 1-sided as I guess an NDA could be.

Still, lots of everyday examples of where the promise of payment is enough to ensure there is a contract in place.

Equaliser123

the expressions is usually "In consideration of the payment of £1, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged..."

It is often put in as a belt and braces approach to ensure consideration is 'valuable' and to avoid a 'no contract' argument in future.

In a mutual NDA it is generally the exchange of promises which is the valuable consideration. In a one-way, the consideration is usually the disclosure of the confidential information in return for the promises to keep it confidential.

Fire_Fox

I would say the initial agreement to pay full price was the contract, this was then in the process of being renegotiated at a reduced price but the seller has decided not to amend the original contract.