Clarkson, who is dealing in the course of business, agreed to buy Car Engines from Hammond. When drafting the contract, the parties agreed that Clarkson would buy 500 V8 engines -11 inches in width, packed 5 to a crate and delivery to Clarkson's premises on 25th April. There was an exclusion clause incorporated into the contract which satisfied the requirement of reasonableness in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. The clause excluded liability for any breach of the statutory implied conditions as to satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose.

On 25 April, Hammond delivers the Car Engines to Clarkson. After inspecting the delivery, Clarkson noticed that 10% of the Car Engines are 12 inches in width. He also discovered that a number of the engines are older models and are therefore not of fair average quality. Moreover, the Car Engines are packed 10 to a crate and Hammond has delivered 540 engines.