4640 John Deere case goes up to the Court of Appeal

I previously wrote about a small claims case in Saskatchewan where a man had bid $18,000 at auction to purchase a 4640 John Deere (with loader) but had mistakenly been allowed to pay only $1,800.  The cashier had entered the bid amount incorrectly, missing the last zero in the price.  The purchaser refused to pay any additional amount and claimed that $1,800 was the bid amount.  The Court did not allow the purchaser to take advantage of the mistake and ordered payment of the balance of the $18,000 on the basis of unjust enrichment.

Well, the decision was appealed by the purchaser (who referred to the trial as a "mockery of the judicial system) and has made its way up to the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan.  I invite you to read the Court of Appeal's reasons for dismissing the purchaser's application for leave to appeal (leave to appeal a decision by the Court of Queen's Bench that dismissed an initial appeal), which set out the various interesting grounds of appeal, but here is the conclusion:

[The Purchaser] fails to come to grips with a very simple issue—he was found on the evidence to owe money to pay for farm equipment he purchased at an auction. He had the opportunity at trial to explain why he should not have to pay and passed on the opportunity. His arguments have nothing to do with the fundamental issue, i.e. he did not pay his bid price for equipment because of the mistake of fact and he owes the money. One can only surmise that his actions and his whole argument are simply an attempt to avoid payment.
He has raised no question of law and the appeal has no merit in any event.
The application for leave is dismissed with costs in the usual manner.

Auction sale error - John Deere 4640 goes for $1,800 - Court fixes mistake

The Provincial Court of Saskatchewan has granted judgment to an auctioneer to correct a 10x mistake in the price paid for a John Deere 4640 tractor at auction.  Evidence from attendees at farm auction testified that the winning bid for the tractor was $18,000, but the successful bidder paid only $1,800 to the auctioneer.  The clerk for the auctioneer had made a clerical error and listed $1,800 on the invoice issued to the successful bidder, who provided payment in that amount and took possession of the tractor. 

Although the successful bidder was contacted by the farm owners about the mistake, he refused to pay the difference between the $18,000 bid and the $1,800 had had already paid.  At trial, the successful bidder called no evidence, but did cross-examine the witnesses from the auctioneer "in an apparent effort to challenge their credibility".  During his testimony, the auctioneer explained that he had paid out the $18,000 to the farm owners after the mistake made by his clerk was discovered.

The Court found that there was a clerical error made, the purchase price of the tractor was actually $18,000, and the successful bidder "seized on the mistake, to obtain a benefit he knew or ought to have known that he was not entitled in law to have."

Read the decision at: Ukrainetz (Ukrainetz Auctioneering) v Borowski.