Business Law Case Study: Tullula Investments Ltd

Tullula Investments Ltd is a large South Australian company, which owns and operates many hotel and restaurants throughout Australia. Italian Cuisine Ltd, a food and catering business whose headquarters are in Brisbane, supplies goods commonly used by businesses such as Tullula Investments Ltd. On September 1, 2000, Italian Cuisine Ltd sent a fax to Tullula Investments Ltd, which read:
"Can offer latest 'Speedy Rice Cookers' at $100 each."
On October 1, 2000, Tullula Investments Ltd faxed a reply stating: "Will have four dozen. Need delivery by November 1, 2000." Upon receiving the fax Italian Cuisine Ltd then wrote back to Tullula Investments Ltd saying "thank you for your fax which is receiving our attention".
Subsequently and prior to November 1, 2000, Italian Cuisine Ltd packed the rice cookers and loaded them on a van for delivery to Tullula Investments Ltd, but before the van set out, Tullula Investments Ltd phoned
An acceptance is an agreement to be bound to the terms of an offer. The fax by Tallula is actually an offer to buy the cookers at $100 (see Harvey v Facey ).
Italian Cuisine's response to the Tallula Investments' fax 'receiving attention' is not an acceptance to the offer. An acceptance must be clear and unqualified to be binding. It can be argued that Italian Cuisine is actually 'silent' on the issue of acceptance an silence is not acceptance (see Felthouse v Bindley ).
We must now look at the issue of the revocation and decide whether Tallula Investments is required to take delivery and pay for the cookers. Since Tallula made the offer to Italian Cuisine which was not actually accepted, they are entitled to revoke that offer. An offer can be revoked by an offeror before communication of acceptance by the offeree (see Goldsborough Mort & Co v