Commercial Law Assignment新西兰理工学院留学生论文代写(3)

Explain the difference between an Agreement and a Contract.         (1 mark)

PART TWO               OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE                                   20 MARKS

Question One       

Derek decided to organise a surprise birthday party for his partner Amanda. He contacted Bubble and Squeak Cuisine who advised that they could provide a buffet meal for $30 per head.
After numerous phone calls Derek established that 60 friends thought they would be able to come to the party, so he contacted Bubble and Squeak Cuisine and asked them if they could take up to 60 diners. They responded by saying that they would close the restaurant to the public that evening as 60 was the maximum number of diners they could accommodate.

Over the next few weeks a number of friends contacted Derek to tell him that they were no longer able to come to the party. Derek contacted Bubble and Squeak Cuisine to advise them that only 40 people would be attending. They said they would make the appropriate arrangements.

On the night of the party only 30 people attended, so the restaurant allowed several other casual diners to also participate in the buffet. At the end of the evening, each of the guests paid Derek their $30 and he went to pay the ($30 x 30) $900 to the restaurant. They however insisted that the amount owing was ($30 x 60) $1,800. There was a heated argument between Derek and the restaurant manager which embarrassed Amanda and she expressed her displeasure on the way home. By the time they got home Derek was into his second heated argument for the evening.
Required

(a) Use the rules of offer and acceptance and any appropriate precedents, to explain which amount should have been paid to Bubble and Squeak Cuisine.
(6 marks)

(b) Explain what the situation would have been if, when Derek contacted the restaurant they said that they were only prepared to charge $30 if a minimum number of 40 guests attended. If a lower number attended then the charge would be $35 per head.

If only 30 guests attended, explain how the rules of offer and acceptance would apply.
(2 marks)

Question Two       

On 16 February 2000, Quentin Cumberpatch (known to his friends as “Cucumber”), a market gardener, sent a letter to John Seed, an horticultural contractor asking if he would again be available in the third week of October to plant 100,000 lettuce plants $0.12 per plant.  On 17 February, John sent a circular to all of his last year’s customers to let them know that the price for the coming year would be $0.16 per plant.  With the circular sent to Quentin he put a note explaining that as Quentin had been a valued customer for the past ten years he would be prepared to hold the price at $0.12 per head as in the previous year.  He also wrote that he would be there in the third week in October as in the past, and that he would contact him a week before to confirm the exact date that he would be arriving.