Cengage Advantage Books: Fundamentals of Business Law Today 10th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller

تمرين 17

FACTS U.S. Golf Tennis Centers, Inc., operates two retail sporting goods stores that specialize in golf and tennis equipment. U.S. Golf agreed to buy 96,000 golf balls from Wilson Sporting Goods Company for a total price of $20,000. The parties negotiated the agreement via fax, and Wilson affirmed that U.S. Golf was receiving the lowest price ($5 per two dozen unit) "that Wilson offered to any one in the market." Wilson shipped golf balls to U.S. Golf that conformed to the contract in quantity and quality, but it did not receive payment.
U.S. Golf claimed that it had learned that Wilson had sold the product for $2 a unit to another buyer and asked Wilson to reduce the contract price of the balls to $4 per unit (for a total of $16,000). Wilson refused and filed a suit to collect the $20,000. The trial court entered judgment in favor of Wilson for $33,099.28, which included the contract price, interest, attorneys' fees, and certain allowable expenses. U.S. Golf appealed.
ISSUE When a seller has tendered conforming goods, can the buyer reject the goods and cancel the contract?
DECISION No. The state appellate court affirmed the lower court's judgment in favor of Wilson. When a seller tenders conforming goods, the buyer is obligated to accept and pay for the goods.
REASON Because it was undisputed that the shipment of golf balls conformed in quantity and quality to the contract specifications, U.S. Golf was obligated to accept the goods and pay the agreed-on price. U.S. Golf argued that Wilson had breached the contract by misrepresenting the price of the golf balls as its lowest price, but the court was not convinced.
Evidence showed that the parties had agreed on a price of $20,000. U.S. Golf did not present any evidence to contradict the price term in the parties' agreement or to establish that Wilson had engaged in misrepresentation. Therefore, the perfect tender rule applied, and U.S. Golf was not entitled to reject the goods or cancel the contract.
WHAT IF THE FACTS WERE DIFFERENT? Suppose that U.S. Golf had presented as evidence a contract between Wilson and another buyer a month after this shipment was delivered to U.S. Golf. In that contract, Wilson agreed to sell the same golf balls for $4 per unit to a different buyer. Would the court have ruled differently in this dispute? Why or why not?