Legal Position of a Business Owner
Nazeem is the owner of Elite Moters, a car dealership specialising in the sale of large 4x4 cars In decembr 2013 Nazeem deceided to book a 10 day family ski-ing trip over Christmas and early New Yearand asked hhis nephew,Kirit, a university student, if he would “keep an eye on his business” while he awas away. Nazeem said Elite Motors would be closed anyway on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and that on the other days, buissness would be slow. Kirit said he would be happy to help out as he had nothing planned that the experience would be good to put on his CV When Nazeem returned from his holiday on 5th January 2014 he thanked Kirit for his favour. Stuart visited Elite Motors on 11th January 2014. Stuart asked Nazeem if he could do a bulk deal for two cars. He said he was looking for a Jep Cherokee for his wife and a Porshche Cayenne for himself. Nazeem said he had a Jeep Cherokee(£38,000) and a Porsche Cayenne 3.0 Diesel 5 Door (£46,300) in stock which he could offer to Struan at the knok down price of £83,000 if he bought both of the. Struan asked if he could think about it overnight. The following morning Struan sent an email from his Blackberry at 9am, saying “would you consider including UConnect Phoes at £82,000?” Nazeem read the email straight away,but he waas too busy to reply. Getting no reply, Struan rang Elite Motors at 927am. There was an anserphone that said “Please leave a message and we will deal with it by 11am”.Struan left a message on the answerphone saying he was accepting Nazeems original offer. At 930am, Paul visited Elite Motors and asked about the Jeep Cherokee. Nazeem offered to sell it to him at £38,000. Paul said he would like some time to think about it., but that if Nazeem did not hear back from him that day he should consider it sold to him. At 940am Rupert visited Elite Motors. He offered £46,000 for the Porsche Cayenne 3.0 V6 Diesel 5 door. Nazeem accepted Ruperts offer. At 1050amNazeem sent a text to Struan revoking his offerto sell the Jeep Cherokee and Porsche Cayenne V6 5 door Deisel for £83,000. At 1115am|Nazeem listened to Struans answerphon e message .Struan did not read Nazeems text until 1130am On 13th January 2014 Rupert paid for and collected the Porsche Cayenne. At 1pm Struan turned up at Elite moteors to pay £83,000 for the Jeep Chherokee and Porsche Cayenne V6 Diesel 5 door but was told both cars had already been sold. The next day Nazem rang Paul about the Jeep Cherokee. Paul said he was no longer interested in the car as he had negotiated a better deal elsewhere. Also, to make matters worse, Kirit is now demanding Nazeem pay him for the time he put in at Elite Motors while nazeem was away ski-ingg. A- Advise Nazeem as to his legal position, as owner of Elite Motors, in relation to Struan, Paul and Kirit.
LEGAL POSITION OF A BUSINESS OWNER
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When running a business, one may need to know the legal positions regarding agreements between themselves and the customers. Customers may sometimes deliberately default to agreements. Business sales representatives should therefore, decide who to sell their services to and at their own volition. They can also reverse a sale should a better deal come up.
Nazeem, a motorcar dealer specialises in the sale of large 4x4 cars at Elite Motors. Besides being the owner, he is also responsible for all the sales made by the firm. During the 2013 December holidays, he decided to go for a 10-day family skiing trip up to the early New Year 2014. All the while, his shop would remain closed. He asks his nephew Kirit to watch over the business while he is away. Even though the shop would close on the Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Kirit, who apparently had not planned for the holiday gladly offers to take the position. He sees it as an experience that would be good to put on his CV.
Nazeem thanks Kirit for the favour when he returns on 5th Jan 2014. On 11th Jan 2014, Struan visits Elite Motors looking for a Jeep Cherokee for his wife and a Porsche Cayenne for himself. Nazeem agrees to sell him the Jeep Cherokee at £38,000 and the Porsche Cayenne 3.0 Diesel 5 Door at £46,000. He however, would sell them to him at a discounted price if he buys them at once for £83,000. Struan asks for an overnight thought.
Struan sends a message the next morning at 9.00am with a new price of £82,000 inclusive of Uconnet Phones. He does not get a reply as Nazeem is busy and calls the shop at 9.27am ready to accept the initial offer of £83,000. The answer machine on the other end tells him that he will get a response by 11.00am.
At 9.30am, Paul, another customer comes for the Jeep Cherokee at the same price of £38,000 that he agrees to sell even though Paul says he needs to think about it overnight. Nazeem cautions Paul that if he does not hear from him, he should consider it sold. Ten minutes later, at 9.40am Rupert, a different customer, offers £46,000 for the Porsche Cayenne 3.0 V6 Diesel 5 Door – which Nazeem accepts. Nazeem later at 10.50am sends a text to Struan – the first customer, to revoke the two cars. He listens to Struan’s message at 11.15am and Struan on the other hand does not read Nazeem’s up until 11.30am.
On the 13th Jan 2014, Rupert pays and collects his Porsche Cayenne. Later at 1.00pm is when Struan turns up to collect the Porsche Cayenne and the Jeep Cherokee but Nazeem tells him that he has sold them both. He calls Paul the next day about the Jeep Cherokee but he had found a better deal elsewhere and forgot Nazeem’s. As all this happens, Kirit is also demanding for pay for the 10 days he watched over the business.
Nazeem as a business owner has legal positions that allow him to effectively deal and explain his actions on the three; Struan the first customer, Paul the second customer and Kirit the nephew.
In the case of Struan, Nazeem, albeit of making a deal with Struan, realizes that he would actually get back the discounted profit if he sells the cars to someone else. Thus, as it is his right to make a profit, he decides to ignore the other deal and goes for the deal that would be convenient for him. In the other case of Kirit, they had agreed that it was a favour that he was doing Nazeem. During the period, he was away in fact there seems to have been no sales made and none is mentioned.
In this position, Nazeem has gone ahead to sell the car that Struan had ordered despite him having accepted the original price of £83000. According to American Business Owners Bill of Rights, as a business owner, we have the “right to run our businesses the way we want as long as we do not infract local or national laws.1 Therefore, Nazeem has acted legally when he dismisses the offer he made ear...