As a new sales representative for Misco Equipment Corporation, you take a customer out to dinner. Before dinner is over, you have shaken hands on a deal to sell the customer nearly a -half-million dollars worth of industrial equipment. In writing up the formal contract the next morning, you discover that you misfigured the equipments price. Your error could cost Misco $60,000. You telephone your customer and explain the situation.

Is the “deal” you made an enforceable contract?

Does the mistake you made permit you to get out of an enforceable contract?

What do you think will happen in this situation?

If you were the attorney for Misco, what if any are your best arguments? What would be the best solution in our legal opinion?

Is the “deal” you made an enforceable contract?

What do you think will happen in this situation?


Hello Odessa:

The verbal "deal" is NOT enforcable. That ends the legal discussion.

However, if you want to save the customer, call him up and tell him the truth. You're certainly not going to save the deal by lying to them.

excon

Such deals are usually not fully binding since you did not have the full information available. Its usually understood that such a deal is pending confirmation of the terms in writing.

So what do you do, you go to your supervisor, explain the error and decide how to deal with the customer. It may be that you can find some savings somewhere else to mitigate the loss.

Guys, this is a homework question. A good indicator of a homework question is that they usually give the name of a fictional company.

To the original poster: If you are in the US then I suggest that you first check and see if the Statute of Frauds or UCC applies to your question.