On Wednesday , Tom , a vintage car dealer , placed an advertisement in a weekly motor sports magazine offering to sell a Triumph TR6 for 10,000 , cheque accepted . Chris saw the advertisement on Thursday and immediately posted a letter to Tom saying that he would be willing to pay 8,000 cash and leaving his work mobile number . On Friday morning , Tom called Chris on his mobile number . Chris did not answer , so Tom left a message which said : ' 1'd prefer a cheque for the advertised amount . So the car's yours for that unless I hear back from you to the contrary , Chris picked up the message and posted a cheque for 10,000 . However , at 6.45 p.m. on Friday evening Tom decided not to sell the car to Chris so he called him back on his mobile and left another message . Chris did not use his work mobile over the weekend and had left it in the office which had closed for the weekend when Tom called . Chris did not pick up the new message until early Monday morning . Chris's letter arrived at Tom's address on Saturday but was not opened by him until late Monday morning . On Saturday , Tom sold the car to Sam for 8,000 in cash . Chris now claims that Tom is in breach of contract . Advise Chris of his legal position .