What are the limits on implicit contracts? We all know that when you sit down at a restaurant and order dinner, there are prices on the menu, but generally no actual statement that says “you will have to pay this amount”. Indeed, there are very few situations where services are sold without at least some sort of price listing beforehand. That said, this low level of notification may be merely the result of state interference.
Let us say there is no state. I walk by a stand where Swedish meatballs are arrayed in little cups next to a restaurant. No price is posted, but a sign does say “Swedish Foodguild”. The person manning the stand walks up to me and hands me one. When I’ve eaten it, he says, “Twenty dollars please.” Should I be obligated to pay?
Let us say I refuse, saying that he needed to let me know he would charge me for the meatball before I accepted it. He replies, “No, that sign says Foodguild! Can’t you read?”
“Yes,” I reply, “but I was not aware that it was anything but a funny name.”
“Too bad for you,” he says, “Foodguild policy states that if you accept food from us, you have to pay for it, even if you didn’t agree beforehand.”
“How was I supposed to know that?” I ask, growing steadily more annoyed.
“It’s your responsibility to find out what our policies are before you interact with us,” he says, snickering, “They’re up on our website.”
“Oh,” I say, remembering a detail that would be helpful, “Well, y’know, it’s my policy, stated on my website, that if you sell me something without an explicit contract, I cannot be held liable to pay. I know you saw my lapel pin with my name on it.”
And so on and so forth. Someone (GilesStratton, wannabe feudal lord at large) said that limited liability in corporations is an implied contract, and that it was my responsibility to know their policies before doing business with them. My question then is, why can’t that work both ways? If you say that it is because of convention, who gets to decide what qualifies as conventional?