Instructions:carefully read the following scenario and answer the problem question.
You must:
·clearly identify the relevant legal issues
·support your answer by reference to relevant legal principle and authority
Your answer should be in a short essay format, using headings relating to each advice you are providingand present a consistent and coherent argument.
You must upload either a word or PDF document.
Scenario:
Ryan contacts a painter to paint his house both inside and out.
The initial quote for the painting work is $3,000 to paint outside the house and $7,000 to paint inside. The quote is given to Ryan by Dave, who introduces himself as 'the business owner.' The quote is verbal and Ryan says "I will think about it."
About a week after Ryan meets the painter, he receives an email from "Verven Pty Ltd" which says: "We refer to the quote provided to you. Please confirm when you are ready to proceed." Ryan emails back a couple of days later: "Yes, ready to go ahead, as discussed. Can you start Friday?"
A few men arrive on Friday morning and get started painting the outside of the house. One of the men, Andrew, approach Ryan and ask him to sign a form and to pay a $500 deposit. Ryan looks at the form, which is blank apart from his details. It looks to him like a confirmation that the men commenced work. He signs it and hands it back and gives Andrew $500 cash. He doesn't notice the terms on the back of the paper.
Ryan is really pleased with the progress of the painting work and after about three days, then men appear to be nearly finished outside.
Dave comes to the house unexpectedly on the fourth day and says to Ryan, "Look, I really underquoted this job. You will need to pay an additional $1,000 for the outside and $3,000 for the inside."
Ryan can't really afford this, so he says "No, I will pay what you quoted for the outside and I will have to think about the inside." Ryan had to leave to go to work. When he got home later that day, it appeared like the painters had simply dropped everything and left that morning. He called Dave who said "I'll come in the morning to talk about the quote."
The following morning, Ryan hands Dave a cheque for $2,500, which he takes without looking at it. Dave says "I am just here to collect the gear and I'm off to another job." Ryan asks "Are you going to finish outside." Dave says "No, it's all done. Let me know when you are ready to go ahead with inside." It doesn't look finished to Ryan.
After he is gone, Ryan notices that Dave also took all of the leftover paint with him.
A couple of days later, Ryan receives a letter of demand from a solicitor, saying "Pay $1,500 within 7 days for the painting outside of your house." Attached to the letter is a copy of the paper Ryan signed.
One of the clauses on the back of the paper says "The company Verven Pty Ltd expressly denies any verbal quote provided by any person on behalf of Verven Pty Ltd.The customer acknowledges that verbal quotes can be subject to change and should be regarded as a minimum cost for the project. The customer shall be liable for any price variation."
Ryan also notices that one clause says "The customer shall be entitled to retain all leftover paint."
About a week later, Ryan has to get a plumber to come to the house. It costs $2,000 to clean all of the paint out of the drains.
Advise Ryan about his rights and obligations under the law of contractin relation to Andrew, Dave and Verven Pty Ltd.