LLb Law, Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

LLb Law, Contract - Essay Example The general rule pertaining to advertisements is that an advertisement is not an offer to provide goods but only an invitation to treat. In the case of Spencer and Harding (1870), this rule was deemed valid even if the word â€Å"offer† was used in an advertisement and the customer is regarded as making the offer when he shows an intention to buy the goods, which a retailer has the right to accept of reject. The classical will theory of contract is based upon the notion that all obligations of the contract arise out of the individual will of the parties contracting freely. Such a contract is enforced because it represents a bargain made between the parties on the basis of an exchange of goods having taken place. Therefore, in the case of Allsports sales to its customers, there has been an exchange of goods – the customers have purchased 200 pounds worth of goods in exchange for which they are to receive free tickets to the next test match between England and Australia i n Melbourne. But applying the principle of the advertisement being only an invitation to treat, no breach of law can be said to have taken place, as was established in the case of Pharmaceutical Society of GB v Boots Cash chemists 1952. A contract represents an exchange whereby an offer is made by one party which is accepted by another party. In this case, Allsports has made an offer to its customers which has been accepted by them. The advertisement placed by Allsports in the National Press in effect, makes a promise to a customer purchasing more than 200 pounds worth of goods, a free ticket to the test match. According to Charles Fried, a person who makes a promise is morally bound to keep it because that person has "intentionally invoked a convention whose function it is to give grounds - moral grounds - for another to expect the promised performance." (Fried, 1982, p16), thereby summarizing the concept of contract as a legally enforceable promise (Williston, 1920). The central