Bayside replied to Rahul's email. They apologised for the confusion and said that they wanted to keep their customers happy, and the best deal they could do was $3000 for the three nights. Bayside explained that Rahul would need to notify them by the close of business that day to confirm he wanted to proceed with the booking and that a 50% deposit would need to be paid at the time of confirmation. Rahul called a few of his mates from the cycle club immediately to check what he should do, and it was agreed that Rahul should book the accommodation for $3,000.
Rahul called Bayside on Tuesday afternoon and left a voicemail message advising that he would like to proceed with the booking for the sum of $3,000. Bayside didn't listen to their voicemail messages until Wednesday morning. Bayside emailed Rahul stating that regretfully the deal had lapsed and the accommodation had been booked by another customer on Wednesday morning.
Does an agreement exist if Rahul accepted the offer but was unable to pay the deposit (due to Bayside not picking up)? What common law relates to this? What is the impact of the deposit on the agreement?