Acceptance

Question 1

acceptance rules

Answer 1

• The offeror is the master of the offer. Acceptance must meet the offeror’s requirements as to:
  1. Time (Eliason, Shatford)
  2. Manner (Eliason, Manchester)
  3. Notification of offeror (Larkin, Dominion Building Corp.)
  4. Formalization requirement (Contra British American Timber dicta)

Question 2

acceptance & ambiguity

Answer 2

Acceptance must be
unambiguous (Larkin, Storer)

Question 3

acceptance & silence

Answer 3

• Acceptance ≠ silence/inaction (Wheeler, Felthouse)
• Wheeler exception: You can sometimes have silence mean that you accept because of the course of dealings of the parties

Question 4

“meeting the offer”

Answer 4

• Acceptance must “meet the offer.”
• Contemporaneous and in response to the offer (Felthouse, Tinn, Dickinson)
• Cannot contain new terms; otherwise, it’s a counteroffer (Hyde)

Question 5

Shatford v. BC Wine Growers Ltd.

Answer 5

• Facts: An offer for perishable loganberries was mailed on April 21, but the plaintiff delayed signing and mailing the acceptance until April 30.
• Rule: To constitute an acceptance, the offeree must respond within a reasonable timeframe.

Question 6

Larkin v. Gardiner

Answer 6

• Facts: The plaintiff signed an agreement to sell land but kept it with her agent. She never communicated the acceptance to the defendant before he withdrew his offer.
• Rule: The mere signature of the plaintiff, without more, does not constitute an acceptance.

Question 7

Dominion Building Corporation Ltd. v. The King

Answer 7

• Facts: An offer stipulated that acceptance would be the making of an Order in Council. The Order was made, but no written acceptance was communicated to the plaintiff.
• Rule: When an offer prescribes a particular mode of acceptance, compliance with that mode suffices without further communication.

Question 8

Dickinson v. Dodds

Answer 8

• Facts: The defendant gave the plaintiff until Friday 9 am to accept an offer. On Thursday, the plaintiff learned the defendant sold the property to someone else, but still tried to accept on Friday morning.
• Rule: To constitute a contract, the two minds must meet at the same moment.

Question 9

Felthouse v. Bindley

Answer 9

• Facts: An uncle offered to buy a horse, writing, “If I hear no more, I consider the horse mine”. The nephew didn’t reply to the uncle but told the auctioneer not to sell it, though the auctioneer mistakenly sold it anyway.
• Rule: Silence cannot constitute acceptance of an offer.

Question 10

Wheeler v. Klaholt

Answer 10

• Facts: Shoes were sent to the defendants, who had previous dealings with the plaintiffs. The defendants retained the goods without returning them immediately while trying to negotiate the price.
• Rule: Where parties are not strangers, retention of goods without timely return may warrant a finding of acceptance (exception to the silence rule).

Question 11

Eliason v. Henshaw

Answer 11

• Facts: The plaintiff offered to buy flour, requiring an answer “by the return of the wagon”. The defendants accepted but sent their answer back via a different route.
• Rule: Where an offer prescribes a particular mode of acceptance, no contract arises unless acceptance is made in that prescribed manner