Date of Verdicts: 12 April 2004, 13 January 2005. 95 The known availability of stock could be an important distinguishing factor between a physical sale and an Internet transaction. Media reports after the discovery of the mistake. This constituted more than a quarter of the total number of laser printers ordered. To assert that as a rule, leave to amend particulars will be refused, is both illogical and incorrect. 134 It is not really in issue that contracts can be effectively concluded over the Internet and that programmed computers sending out automated responses can bind the sender. The sixth plaintiff is precluded from asserting his ignorance. The purpose of the amendments was merely to regularise the pleadings and indeed they went no further than to summarise evidence and submissions that had already been raised. CLARK, B. I was neither impressed nor convinced. The relevant text reads: WHILE surfing the Net at about 2am on Monday, MrTan Wei Teck stumbled upon an offer he could not believe $66 for a Hewlett Packard laserjet printer that normally sells for $3,854 before GST. If there appears to be no reasonable explanation for an absurd price discrepancy, it is axiomatic that any hasty conduct, such as the plaintiffs, in snapping up products, should be punctiliously scrutinised and dissected. When pressed why he asked MsToh to do this research, the fifth plaintiffs response was unsatisfactory. How come got such thing? The plaintiffs assert they were not aware of the defendants mistake when they placed their orders, and had believed the offer was genuine. It is therefore incumbent on the web merchant to protect himself, as he has both the means to do so and knowledge relating to the availability of any product that is being marketed. It has been pithily said that the rules of procedure should be viewed as a handmaiden and not a mistress, to be slavishly followed. 151 The claims by the plaintiffs are audacious, opportunistic and contrived. In Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd , 1 one of the defendant's employees mistakenly uploaded the contents of a training template onto the defendant's website, resulting in the retail price of S$3,854 for a commercial laser printer on the website being replaced with the figure S$66. Quoine was operating as a market-maker on their own platform. The following excerpt is particularly significant and compelling: 23 The subsequent exchange further clarifies that the first plaintiff was fully conscious of the potential profit element arising from the purchase of a substantial number of the laser printers. This is one of the first prominent case that deals with the issue of web based contract. There cannot be any legitimate expectation of enforcement on the part of the non-mistaken party seeking to take advantage of appearances. It is plain that the defendant had given careful consideration to this issue and was prepared to contract on the basis that it would be able to comply with any orders hence, there was no reference to any order being subject to stock availability. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades, 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. This can be before or during the trial, or after judgment or on appeal. This new template was designed to facilitate instantaneous price changes allowing them to be simultaneously reflected in the relevant Internet web pages. Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] SGCA 2 Civil Procedure Costs , Civil Procedure Pleadings , Contract Mistake Decision Date: 13 Jan 2005 . The transcript states that the third and the fifth plaintiffs saw a great opportunity and grabbed it. They proceeded to file their amendments to the statement of claim as if leave had already been given. What amounts to snapping up is a question of degree that will incorporate a spectrum of contextual factors: what is objectively and subjectively known, the magnitude of the transaction(s), the circumstances in which the orders are placed and whether any unusual factors are apparent. It is set in the context of internet contracting. He admitted in cross-examination to being the lawyer for this group of people when they had questions like these in the present proceedings. This provision acknowledges that the essential framework of an electronic contract needs to be considered in the usual manner; in other words, principles of contract formation, consideration, terms and conditions, choice of law and jurisdictional issues need to be examined. From time to time they communicate with each other via the Internet and the short messaging system (sms). The decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in 25659 BC Ltd v 456795 BC Ltd (1999) 171DLR(4th) 470 at [25] to [26], is instructive: 25 The law of mistake was discussed in depth by McLachlinCJBC in First City Capital Ltd v BC Building Corp (1989), 43BLR 29 (SC). 154 Interestingly, of the 784 persons who placed 1,008 orders for 4,086 laser printers, only these six plaintiffs have attempted to enforce their purported contractual rights. He had left everything to his brother. He conducted the searches to ascertain what the laser printers true price was. As part of its business, it operates a website owned by Hewlett Packard (HP) at, 16 When the first plaintiff eventually succeeded in accessing the HP website, he immediately placed an order for 100 laser printers at about, 17 Having called the second and third plaintiffs at about. The first and fifth appellants each ordered a hundred printers, while the other appellants ordered more than a hundred printers each. To my mind, the confirmation through the subsequent searches that the actual price of the laser printer was, in fact, US$2,000 would, if anything, have affirmed his belief that an error had occurred. . The phrase call to enquire, it is contended, was in effect a condition precedent. While they did not invariably admit that their searches were made prior to each of the respective transactions, it was plain that they did not tell the whole truth about, 149 It is clear from the authorities reviewed that such a contract, if entered into by a party with actual or presumed knowledge of an error, is void from the outset. In the eyes of Singapore law, purported contracts entered into in similar circumstances are void ab initio. This is a matter perhaps best left to law reform rather than to incremental judge-made law which may sow the seeds of confusion and harvest the returns of uncertainty. (c) the need to reach commercially sensible solutions while respecting traditional principles applicable to instances of genuine error or mistake. 39 The sequence of orders placed by the second plaintiff in the short space of an hour and a half deserves some mention. The reason for this inconsistent conduct surfaced later. I have carefully considered the issue of costs and have noted that the defendant had, in the process of mounting a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claim, pursued some unmeritorious contentions. That is sufficient in these circumstances. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd Case No.s Suit 202/2003/E (for the first instance), CA/30/2004 (for the appeal) Name and level of courts High Court of Singapore(at first instance), Singapore Court of Appeal Member of courts VK Rajah, JC (for the first instance), Chao Hick Tin JA, Kan Ting Chiu J, Yong Pung How CJ Though the actual price of the laser printer was $3,854, the defendant had on 8January 2003 mistakenly posted the price at $66.00 on its websites. Web merchants ought to ensure that they either contract out of the receipt rule or expressly insert salient terms within the contract to deal with issues such as a choice of law, jurisdiction and other essential terms relating to the passing of risk and payment. If he was prepared to commit this view in writing to a larger circle of 54 friends and business associates after his communication with the second and third plaintiffs, he would certainly have shared this view with his close friends with even greater candour and detail. The issue in this case was whether the pricing was a mistake and if the contract would be fulfilled. The answer on the authorities is a mistake by one party of which the other knew or ought reasonably to have known. The law will have to organically adapt itself to respond to new challenges without compromising on certainty and fairness. Date of Verdicts: 12 April 2004, 13 January 2005. The shopping cart website page carried the insertion call to enquire under the heading Availability of product. VKR a j a hJ C. 27-30 January; 2-6, 9 February; 13 March; 12 April 2004. With reference to the judgement, the case explores pricing mistakes by online stores. It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. 153 These statements of jurisprudence are of cardinal importance in understanding and fashioning the law of contract. Is this a case of poetic justice? This is not a case about bargain hunting which is a time honoured and perfectly legitimate pursuit. 26 It is clear from the priority status accorded to the e-mail that the first plaintiff was sharing his knowledge of a good deal. The contract was held to be void because there was no consensus on the terms. 144 I find, in the alternative, that the plaintiffs, given each of their backgrounds, would in any event, each have separately realised and appreciated, before placing their purchase orders, that a manifest mistake had occurred even if no communications on the error had taken place between them. Having pointed out 6 that a court 'will generally be cautious if not reluctant to effect any amendments once the hearing has commenced; even more so once the evidential phase of the . The fact that it may have been negligent is not a relevant factor in these proceedings. In the High Court, the learned judge ("the Judge") decided, in the main, in favour of the Purchaser. The court found that parties when . This was also the practice in the trade. The e-mail was given a high importance priority and captioned go load it now!!. The E-Mail Acceptance Rule. The number of orders he placed was nothing short of brazen. Chwee Kin Keong and others v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd. [2004] SGHC 71. The very foundations of predictability, certainty and efficacy, underpinning contractual dealings, will be undermined if the law and/or equity expands the scope of the mistake exception with alacrity or uncertainty. 139 Next, the defendant contends that no consideration passed from the plaintiffs to them. But there would have, at least, to be some real reason to suppose the existence of a mistake before it could be incumbent on one party to question whether another party meant what he or she said. The second, third, fourth and sixth plaintiffs are the only individuals who ordered more than a hundred laser printers each. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. Abstract. He graduated with an accounting degree from NTU. He also participates in multi-level marketing of Bel-Air aromatherapy products. In the fifth plaintiffs affidavit evidence, he asserted emphatically and unequivocally that at no point did I ever think that the price of the printers were a mistake. 92 The Electronics Transaction Act (Cap88, 1999Rev Ed) (ETA) places Internet contractual dealings on a firmer footing. Prejudice is to be viewed broadly to encompass any injustice and embraces both procedural and substantive notions; (d) recognising that while a costs award against the party seeking late amendments can frequently alleviate any inconvenience caused, this may not always be appropriate; (e) taking into account policy considerations that require finality in proceedings and proper time management of the courts resources and scheduling. CISG-online is a research platform dedicated to the law and practice of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods adopted in Vienna on 11 April 1980 (CISG), as well as related areas of international commercial law. The essential point remains: will prejudice be caused and/or are any policy considerations called into play. Having noted all this, I am nevertheless inclined towards the views expressed in the Great Peace Shipping case for the reasons articulated by Lord PhillipsMR. I find it inconceivable, to say the least, that the fifth plaintiff would have placed an order for 100 laser printers without the conviction that it was in fact a current market model with a real and substantial resale value. 136 First, it was suggested that no contracts had been formed as all the contracts were subject to availability and that a failure to adhere to the directive call to enquire prevented the contracts from coming into existence. Ltd. has the makings of a student's classic for several reasons, including: 1. The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall.

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