Opinion ID: 680002
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Timely Revocation

Text: 20 Section 1-204(2) of the UCC indicates that what is a reasonable time for revocation depends on the nature, purpose and circumstances of the transaction. 810 ILCS 5/1-204(2). In particular, the period where revocation is allowable may be extended where the seller gives continuous assurances, GNP Commodities, 51 Ill.Dec. at 252, 420 N.E.2d at 666, and where the seller fails, after repeated attempts, to repair defects of which the buyer complains, Smith v. Navistar Int'l Transp. Corp., 714 F.Supp. 303, 309 (N.D.Ill.1989), aff'd, 957 F.2d 1439 (7th Cir.1992). Here, there is substantial evidence that Hopkins made express written and oral assurances, with respect to both the loaned prototype MVS and the permanent system that arrived in August, 1989. These assurances--and Hopkins' failure to make good on them--were sufficient both to cause concern at Hopkins and to induce NAL to continue working with Hopkins to upgrade the system. NAL's responsiveness to such inducement was reasonable for much the same reason that NAL's acceptance of the system was reasonable: NAL could reasonably defer to Hopkins' superior expertise with the device's technology until the promised software upgrades failed to make the device viable. That NAL did not seek to revoke during the several months between delivery of the permanent system and the upgrades attests, perhaps, to NAL's desperation to find a more economical method of satisfying its due care obligations, but such delay did not make NAL's revocation untimely given Hopkins repeated assurances and the other facts of this case. We reject Hopkins' argument that NAL could not revoke simply because it used the MVS. Consistent with the Code, Illinois courts have rejected the notion that any use by the buyer constitutes an irrevocable acceptance by the buyer, hav[ing] tempered [this] absolute rule of acceptance with a consideration for the reasonableness of the buyer's conduct. Alden Press, 123 Ill.Dec. at 34, 527 N.E.2d at 497. It would be inequitable to require NAL to pay for the MVS in full if it reasonably delayed revocation in order to allow Hopkins to make good on its promises. Indeed, given the clear evidence that Hopkins assured NAL that the system could be adapted for due care purposes, Hopkins' product use argument comes dangerously close to suggesting a rule that would allow sellers to lock in purchasers of goods by promising them the moon--only to bring them back to earth when they attempted to revoke the acceptance that they were persuaded to give because of their failure to understand fully a substantial defect. Thus, there was timely revocation of acceptance here.