Ming runs a hair salon called Australian Hairlines (Hairlines). Ming decides to promote the business by advertising a ‘special offer’ in the local paper. The advertisement he places in the local newspaper states that, on the production by the customer of the advertisement, ‘Hairlines’ will give that customer a haircut at the low price of $10. The day after the advertisement is published, some 50 people arrive at the salon asking for the special haircut at $10. Ming is overwhelmed by the response and realises that the salon will lose a lot of money if this promotion continues. Ming decides to put up a sign in the salon’s window that states: THE OFFER OF HAIRCUTS AS ADVERTISED HAS NOW FINISHED. Explain the law as it applies to the following persons: Forty customers produce the advertisement before the notice goes up in the window. Are these customers able to enforce any legal agreement? (Explain with specific reference to contract law.
Page 1 of 4 Assessment 1: Problem Solving Exercise Problem-solving Exercise COML 5009 Commercial Law M SP2/2022 (Confidential) Question 1 – Offer to Contract(20%) Ming runs a hair salon called Australian Hairlines (Hairlines). Ming decides to promote the business by advertising a ‘special offer’ in the local paper. The advertisement he places in the local newspaper states that, on the production by the customer of the advertisement, ‘Hairlines’ will give that customer a haircut at the low price of $10. The day after the advertisement is published, some 50 people arrive at the salon asking for the special haircut at $10. Ming is overwhelmed by the response and realises that the salon will lose a lot of money if this promotion continues. Ming decides to put up a sign in the salon’s window that states: THE OFFER OF HAIRCUTS AS ADVERTISED HAS NOW FINISHED. Explain the law as it applies to the following persons: Forty customers produce the advertisement before the notice goes up in the window. Are these customers able to enforce any legal agreement? (Explain with specific reference to contract law.) QUESTION 2 – contract terms (Exclusion Clause) (40%) Adam and Betty book a bus tour going from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley wine region for a short holiday with Galwler Busline. They purchase their tickets from the local travel agent, and the tickets are to be collected at the point of departure. Just before getting on the bus, when they are collecting their tickets, they are asked to sign a document that confirms their personal details. They think it is simply a receipt for the tickets. As they travel out of Gawler, Betty takes off her seat belt and goes to the baggage compartment to collect a book she is reading. Just as she is doing this, the bus brakes suddenly, Betty falls, breaks her wrist, and suffers nervous shock, which all but ruins the holiday. When Betty sues Gawler Busline for damages for her injury and the loss of enjoyment of her holiday, the company draws Betty’s attention to a clause in the printed form that she had signed that stated that Gawler Busline was not liable for any injury, however that injury is caused, to passengers not wearing a seat belt. Page 2 of 4 Advise Betty whether she can successfully sue the Gawler Busline for damages for her injury and the loss of enjoyment of her holiday. QUESTION 3 – contract discharge (40%) In November 2020 Jack, the owner of two large transport trucks designed to carry ten cars each, made a contract with the owners of Acme Cars Australia Co Ltd to carry 40 cars a week between Adelaide and Melbourne for the next two years. The agreed contract price was $800 per car per week. At the time of signing the contract Jack’s weekly fuel cost was $6,000 and wages and other costs totaled $16,000. By June 2021 Jack’s fuel costs had risen to $8,500 and his other costs had increased to $20,000. On July 1, 2021 Jack contacted Acme asking that the contract carrying price per car be increased from $800 to $900 per car per week. Acme declined on the grounds that the contract price was fixed in November 2020 for two years. Jack replied to the effect that the original contract had been ended by the totally unexpected huge increases in oil prices, brought about by cyclones and floods, which had caused the increases in fuel and other costs and therefore a new contract was now required. Using cases to support your reasons, discuss the legal arguments which both sides will raise and conclude which is the stronger. IMPORTANT: • The questions are based on the content you have learned from week 1 to week 4. • Due date: 10 April 2022, 11:00 PM; • Length (excluding reference list or bibliography): 2,400 words or less; and your answer should never exceed 2,640 words. Note also, 2% penalty for excessive 100 words if your answer exceeds the maximum 2,640 words limit. • Your answer should be submitted via Gradebook; Please note ‘traffic jams’ sometimes happen with Gradebook close to the closing time and prevent submissions, making them late. You are advised to submit well within time. • A penalty of 2% per day will be applied to late submissions; • A formal extension request must be submitted on learnonline, and students are required to submit supporting documentation for making an extension request; Page 3 of 4 • Please use Harvard or AGLC referencing. You can find a link for information on both here https://lo.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=3839 • Please use IRAC model to answer questions and please use intext reference instead of footnotes. For example: Issue: Is there an offer? How long will the offer remain open? Rules: Ramsgate Victoria Hotel v Montefiore (1866): an offer will lapse after a reasonable amount of time; Application: When A agrees to B’s request for time it is not for any specified time and therefore a “reasonable time” would be implied. ... Because A has not expressly revoked his offer to sell it is still open when B purportedly accepts - unless it has otherwise terminated. However, …. Here, especially given the wasting nature of the subject matter, 10 days would have been an unreasonable amount of time to expect the offer to remain open and, accordingly, it will have lapsed.[Ramsgate Victoria Hotel v Montefiore (1866)] Conclusion: It is likely that offer has lapsed due to lapse of reasonable amount of time. Please note that the highlighted references in the brackets are intext references. • Academic Integrity: An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas, and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously. Students should make sure that you should not copy from others’ work or even purchase work from others. The consequence is very serious. When you submit your assignment, Turnitin automatically generates a similarity report which is used to report students to the Academic Integrity Officer. You are advised to take note of any high percentages and to make sure you have not plagiarized by referencing appropriately. • Note: a copy of the Assessment Feedback sheet is attached here. Assignment Feedback Form https://lo.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=3839 Page 4 of 4 Problem-Solving Exercise Commercial Law M (2,400 words; value 40%) Graduate Qualities of UniSA: 1 operate effectively with & upon a body of knowledge 2 are prepared for lifelong learning 3 are effective problem solvers 4 can work both autonomously and collaboratively 5 are committed to ethical action & social responsibility 6 communicate effectively 7 demonstrate an international perspective Qualities assessed by this assignment: 1, 2,3,4. 5, 6 Legal Problem Solving Application of IRAC system Performance excellent good fair satisfactory poor v. poor unacceptable Issue(s): Correctly identified the key legal issue/s. Succinctly & accurately described the issue/s. Rule(s): Relevant legal principles identified & stated. Accurate legal definitions provided. Application: Applied the law to facts of the problem. Balanced view/ arguments for & against provided. Conclusions: Provided a logical conclusion based on the arguments presented. Answers the question. General criteria Performance excellent good fair satisfactory poor v. poor unacceptable Contains evidence of research & material relevant to the field Strong & consistent argument Clear articulation of ideas & concepts Clear & accurate referencing, legal authorities provided Overall quality& presentation (word limit respected, logical sequence, in prose, use of headings) Comments Grade Notation % Grade description Assignment grade High distinction HD 85–100 An exceptional piece of work in every regard Grade Distinction D 75–84 A good attempt exhibiting high quality work in most areas Credit C 65–74 A sound attempt exhibiting high quality work in some areas Pass level 1 P1 55–64 A sound attempt Pass level 2 P2 50–54 Just passable Fail level 1 F1 40–49 Not passable - some areas requiring improvement Fail level 2 F2 below 40 Not passable - most areas requiring improvement This form meets the 2022 requirements of UniSA’s Code of Good Practice: Student Assessment