Star Group Est Pte Ltd v Willsoon (FE) Pte Ltd – High Ct (Tan Lee Meng SJ) [2020] SGHC 185 – 2 September 2020

Sale of goods – Sale of vacuum tanker – Whether breach of description – Whether breach de minimis – Whether buyer entitled to reject goods – Whether buyer entitled to refund of advance payment

In July 2016 the defendant buyer (Star Group) required a machine that dislodged silt and material clogging sewers and drains with high pressure jets of water, and then vacuumed the waste into a storage tank for disposal elsewhere. Such a machine was usually mounted on a truck, which Star Group had to procure separately, so Star Group ordered a truck from Triangle Auto Pte Ltd (T Auto) on 30 August 2016, and paid a deposit of S$10,000.