JOSEPH R. STEINER, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. MOBIL OIL CORPORATION, Defendant and Appellant, 20 Cal. 3d 90

Summary

Plaintiff service station operator made an offer to defendant corporation for a retail dealer contract, under which defendant was to supply the downpayment for plaintiff to purchase his station, and, in exchange, plaintiff was to purchase all gasoline from defendant for 10 years. Additionally, defendant was to provide a guaranteed competitive allowance reducing its price by 1.4 cents per gallon. Upon acceptance of the offer, plaintiff was not advised that the guaranteed allowance had been removed. Defendant subsequently reduced the competitive allowance, and plaintiff filed suit seeking declaratory and monetary relief. The trial court found for plaintiff, and defendant appealed. The court held that defendant's acceptance was not expressly conditional on plaintiff's assent to remove the guaranteed allowance. Thus, under Cal. Com. Code § 2207(1), a contract was formed. Under Cal. Com. Code §2207(2), defendant's revocable discount provision did not become part of the contract because ...