Darwin went to Extra Money Limited (EML), a financial education company based in Singapore, to enquire about their courses on personal finance management. He wanted to learn about the different types of personal finance investments so that he can better manage his finances. He met Eddie, a sales person at EML.
Eddie told him that EML was the "best financial education company with the most innovative financial management methods". Darwin kept asking about the prices as he was concerned about the cost. Eddie assured him that "EML's courses are the cheapest in Singapore" and "based on independent surveys, participants in EML's courses managed to grow their personal wealth by more than 200% within the first two months of the lessons". Eddie also showed him the various certificates of achievement issued to EML's trainers and told him that the trainers were qualified to teach the courses.
As Darwin was still hesitating about signing up for a course, Eddie went one step further and told him that EML offers a money-back guarantee - if Darwin was not satisfied with the course after attending all the lessons, EML will refund the entire course fee to Darwin. Upon hearing that, Darwin immediately signed up for a 6-month course. At the bottom of the contract was Clause 31 which stated "all participants must make payment for each lesson at least 5 minutes before the lesson".
For a few lessons, Darwin was late by about 5 to 10 minutes. Hence, he only made payment at the end of the lesson. Towards the end of the course, he found out that the trainer has not completed his Finance degree programme at a local university. Darwin felt that the trainer was not qualified to teach financial management. He also heard from friends that there are other companies offering similar courses at lower rates. For three months after completing the course, Darwin was making losses on his investments. He was becoming disillusioned with EML and wanted to sue EML for breach of contract.
(a) Identify the pre-contractual statements made by Eddie (on behalf of EML) and determine the nature of such statements. Advise Darwin on whether he can sue EML for breach of contract.
(b) Analyse whether Clause 31 of the contract is a condition, warranty or innominate term Based on your analysis, explain the legal consequences of Darwin's delay in payment for some of the lessons.