Contract; performance; discharge; delivery of specific goods sold.
Facts: Hall owned a quantity of chaff which was on railway trucks at Lucindale Railway Station. McFarlane wanted chaff and was told by Hall's agent that Hall had some good chaff for sale. McFarlane and the agent went together to see the chaff and the agent cut open a couple of bags, showing McFarlane a handful of the contents. McFarlane then said he would buy the chaff. After delivery, large parts of the chaff were found to be rotten.
Issue: Had the seller promised to supply good chaff?
Decision: Where a buyer has inspected particular goods, and then purchases them by description as belonging to a particular class of goods (such as 'chaff'), the seller is only obliged to deliver those particular goods and is not liable for their quality.
Reason: This was a sale of a specific chattel, described as chaff. The seller's obligation was to deliver those agreed goods. The seller gave no warranty as to the quality of the chaff, leaving it to the buyer to form his own opinion by inspecting it. The buyer chose to be satisfied with a less than thorough inspection. The sale of goods legislation does not impose minimum requirements of quality in such cases. The maxim 'caveat emptor' (let the buyer beware) applies in such circumstances and the buyer should make sure that the goods they choose are of an acceptable quality.