Sales v Purchasing Ts&Cs

hubert1946

Hi

Can anybody tell me if there is a precedence for resolving this type of problem:

The seller issues an invoice with "sellers standard terms and conditions"
The purchaser issues an order with "purchasers standard terms and conditions"

In my experience for run of the mill purchases these two sets of Ts&Cs are not checked for compatibility. Ordinarily, when everything goes smoothly, any incompatibility between these Ts&Cs is never discovered. On the infrequent occasion that there is a conflict which set of terms has priority?

Unless there is a precedence of always choosing either buyer or seller then I can't see a logical way out? Any thoughts???


Many Thanks

Hubert.

Peterdalkey

Provided the sellers T&Cs are properly worded, they invariably take precedence over the purchasers, unless the vendor specifically agrees to a definite change of his terms. By accepting the vendors offer to treat, the purchaser de facto accepts the vendor terms. The full steps are normally as below in a fully documented scenario

1. Vendor issues/publishes offer with T&Cs.
2. Purchaser issues Purchase Order with their own T&Cs
3. Vendor issues order confirmation with their own T&Cs.
Last set of undisputed T&Cs wins!!

QED!

hubert1946

Peterdalkey wrote: »

Provided the sellers T&Cs are properly worded, they invariably take precedence over the purchasers, unless the vendor specifically agrees to a definite change of his terms. By accepting the vendors offer to treat, the purchaser de facto accepts the vendor terms. The full steps are normally as below in a fully documented scenario

1. Vendor issues/publishes offer with T&Cs.
2. Purchaser issues Purchase Order with their own T&Cs
3. Vendor issues order confirmation with their own T&Cs.
Last set of undisputed T&Cs wins!!

QED!

Thanks for the reply. What if the sequence is:

Informal enquiry from purchaser.
Proforma invoice from seller
Order from purchaser.

In this case the purchaser has the last word, if that is all that matters!

Thanks, H

Peterdalkey

hubert1946 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. What if the sequence is:

Informal enquiry from purchaser.
Proforma invoice from seller
Order from purchaser.

In this case the purchaser has the last word, if that is all that matters!

Thanks, H

Incomplete information but still a simple answer, it depends!! Depends on whether full T&Cs were on all documents, were the communications by post, fax or email etc etc? and of course on the individual T&Cs. The specific answer will require specific information with the full documentation etc presented. You need a commercial lawyer to ascertain the legal position and even then you may need a judge to finally decide.

Sometimes free advice is worth just that, in the end you often just have to put your money down. All you can get here is some guidance, not legal solutions.


cheers

Peter