Com Law

BA105: Introduction to Commercial Law

Assignment 1/1

Question 1

This case is regarding a situation whereby Jennifer made a booking online for a holiday after told verbally over the phone by the receptionist that an alternative trip would be arranged should there be a natural disaster in Bali.

i. Whether there is a contract;

A contract has been established, the invitation to treat was made when Jennifer saw the advertisement for the trip to Bali. The acceptance of offer was established when she made the booking online. The consideration was the 50% deposit she placed upon the booking according to the terms and conditions on the website of the travel agent. Intention to create legal relations is evident due to the situation being a commercial relation.

ii. When the contract was formed;

The contract was formed when she made the booking online.

iii. If there is an implied clause in the contract;

Yes, the terms and conditions state that the travel agent would send an itinerary confirmation was a booking has been successfully processed, Of the travel agent is unable to process the booking, the deposit would be refunded. Hence, the court can imply that for all unsuccessful booking processing, the deposit would be refunded.

iv. If there is an exemption clause applicable and if so: whether the exemption clause is reasonable;

Yes, there is a clause, which stated that, “in the event of a disaster, there will be no refund of any and all amounts paid by the customer” In this situation, the clause is unreasonable. The reason being, the travel agent had not made any bookings with airline or hotels on Jennifer’s behalf, hence, service has not been rendered and Jennifer’s deposit should be refunded.

In general, the clause is necessary for business efficacy because in successful bookings, they may have paid the airlines or hotels in advance so they might not have the money to refund customers in a natural disaster. Under Section 2(2) of the Unfair Contract...