Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

Quote Validity

A colleague gave a quote to a company for storage, testing and extended warranty. The written quote was given in May of this year. We regularly supplies to this company with the product, but have never quoted storage or extended warranty. When reviewing the quote, it was found that there was no validity date or �offer good until� date. We also found that the risks of extending the warranty could far exceed the price offered. There was no contingency or risk priced into the quote. Although the product is very reliable, there are shelf life issues for parts of the product that would increase the cost of storage and increase warranty claims not known to my colleague at the time of the initial quote.

My questions are: can we legally rescind this quote? How long are we bound by a quote without a written validity date? More importantly, how can we keep this customer happy and still reduce our exposure to the cost overruns we now know are going to happen and the large warranty risks that could happen?


Asked on 7/19/02, 9:03 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Re: Quote Validity

I agree with Geralds quote, and wish to add a few comments. An atty review of the offer should be done, but I offer a few general comments based upon the limited information presented in your question.

Your question does not indicate if the offer was accepted, or materials based upon that offer were made. If they were, you must honor the offer. In any event, I would suggest trying a novel approach... BE HONEST. Call someone appropriate at the customer's office, hopefully someone you have a good rapore with. Tell them that they are important to your company, but that you folks screwed up regarding what was reasonable with regard to the warranty, etc.. Explain what the problem is (try to be brief). They are business people. They may not like what you have to say, but they should understand. VEBALLY WITHDRAW THE OFFER, then fax and mail the recission. Start your letter, Dear Bob, As per our discussion today, we must recind or offer, dated ____ , for storage, testing and extended warranty. As I explained to you today, your business is important to us, but because of internal errors in calculating the costs for storage, testing and extended warranty, we grossly underestimated the costs associated with these additio0nal services."

I am not your atty., as I have not been retained by you. These comments are just general comments based upon the limited information in your posting.

Good luck to you.

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Answered on 7/19/02, 2:04 pm
Gerald Hershenson Law Office of Gerald M. Hershenson

Re: Quote Validity

In order to be accurate in any answer to your question, the exact language of the quote must be reviewed. If the quote was not accepted, then it may be revoked. As long as the delivery of the goods has not taken place, I believe that your quote can be revoked within a reasonable time if not accepted. However, if the goods have been shipped you are bound by the quote. I would be happy to review the situation for a nominal fee if you can supply more detailed information. You should be warned that this message is not intended to provide legal advice and is for informational purposes only. Gerald Hershenson 215-579-9390

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Answered on 7/19/02, 10:12 am


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