Felston Tile Company Ltd v Winget Ltd     Hire-purchase – Agreement on printed form – Conditions on printed form varied by previous
correspondence – Hire-purchase as agreement for sale – Contract of Sale – Conditions and
warranties implied – Sale of Goods Act 1893 (c 71), ss 1, 14.
The plaintiffs negotiated by letter with the defendants for the purchase of a certain machine.
A letter from the defendants, which contained an estimate, stated that the estimate was
subject to conditions printed thereon. One of the conditions provided that: “In lieu of any
warranty or condition implied by law, we guarantee that the materials … are of the best
quality,” and that the defendants would replace any part broken or unduly worn within 12
months. After further negotiations the defendants sent to the plaintiff a hire-purchase
agreement expressed in a covering letter to be drawn up in accordance with the terms stated
in the letter above mentioned. The hire-purchase agreement provided that: “This agreement
embodies the entire agreement as to the hiring of the machinery.” There was in the agreement
no exclusion of any warranty or condition. The hire-purchase agreement was duly entered
into. The machine proved unsatisfactory and the plaintiffs brought an action for breach of
warranty. The judge held that the correspondence formed no part of the contract between the
parties and he gave judgment for the plaintiffs:—