Car Lease Contract Dispute

chr1shughes37

Hello All, grateful for any advice that you can share on the below:
I am looking to lease a new car for work, and this is my first time leasing. I found a great deal online for a Volvo S60 at leaseplan.com. The price was significantly lower than the same car anywhere else, so I thought this company must have some excess stock they want to shift. 

Over the next couple of days I had discussions with a salesperson, customising the quote and adding a couple of options, and it was still a very good quote that we agreed to proceed with this. Leaseplan drew up the contract/agreement, they signed it, and then sent it to me to sign. About half an hour later, and just before I was about to sign and return the contract to them, the salesperson called me to say that they had spotted an anomaly in the quote and he would have to speak to his manager. Immediately after this call I quickly signed the contract and returned it to them. A couple more days went by and he came back saying that they couldn't honour it anymore, as there was an error with the quote.

This is frustrating, and from my point of view the contract was signed by 3 different people, so they should have spotted this. But they signed the contract and committed themselves to the terms in there. They missed it so it's their fault. Do I have any grounds to hold them to this contract? Can they pull out after they've signed, but just before I've signed?

Aylesbury_Duck

chr1shughes37 said:

Hello All, grateful for any advice that you can share on the below:
I am looking to lease a new car for work, and this is my first time leasing. I found a great deal online for a Volvo S60 at leaseplan.com. The price was significantly lower than the same car anywhere else, so I thought this company must have some excess stock they want to shift. 

Over the next couple of days I had discussions with a salesperson, customising the quote and adding a couple of options, and it was still a very good quote that we agreed to proceed with this. Leaseplan drew up the contract/agreement, they signed it, and then sent it to me to sign. About half an hour later, and just before I was about to sign and return the contract to them, the salesperson called me to say that they had spotted an anomaly in the quote and he would have to speak to his manager. Immediately after this call I quickly signed the contract and returned it to them. A couple more days went by and he came back saying that they couldn't honour it anymore, as there was an error with the quote.

This is frustrating, and from my point of view the contract was signed by 3 different people, so they should have spotted this. But they signed the contract and committed themselves to the terms in there. They missed it so it's their fault. Do I have any grounds to hold them to this contract? Can they pull out after they've signed, but just before I've signed?

In short, yes they can.  Particularly since you signed after knowing there was an anomaly in the contract.

AdrianC

They told you not to sign, so you quickly did...

My sympathies are with them. Human errors happen. It was spotted before it was put into place, and withdrawn.

The_Rainmaker

chr1shughes37 said:
 Immediately after this call I quickly signed the contract and returned it to them.

Really?

You know you were trying to be smart, and now you come on here wanting some support when you knew there was an error.  

Grumpy_chap

They sent you the contract and you did not sign it immediately.

Contract is offer and acceptance.  They sent you the offer and withdrew the offer before you had accepted.  Once withdrawn, the offer is no longer there for acceptance, so you hurriedly signing and returning at that point means nothing.

Clive_Woody

AdrianC said:

They told you not to sign

Did they?

Mercdriver

Clive_Woody said:

AdrianC said:

They told you not to sign

Did they?

Does it matter?  Just because all parties have signed the contract doesn't necessarily mean it is active.

MinuteNoodles

Usually there'll be something in the terms and conditions giving them a get out or a blanket E & O.E. clause.

AdrianC

Clive_Woody said:

AdrianC said:

They told you not to sign

Did they?

It would be hard to interpret this any other way.

Leaseplan drew up the contract/agreement, they signed it, and then sent it to me to sign. About half an hour later, and just before I was about to sign and return the contract to them, the salesperson called me to say that they had spotted an anomaly in the quote and he would have to speak to his manager. Immediately after this call I quickly signed the contract and returned it to them. A couple more days went by and he came back saying that they couldn't honour it anymore, as there was an error with the quote.