QUESTION:

High-profile in vitro technology specialist Jim Austin was storing cryogenic materials at his clinic on the Central Coast, near Sydney. His clinic offers both scientific preservation and protection services for his clients. Jim’s freezing technology equipment does have alarms and warning systems that alert staff when there is a temperature change.

During the recent energy crises and power shortages in NSW, Jim’s equipment was compromised. The equipment has a low tolerance for power outages so he decided to contact Energy Australia for more information. After many attempts he found that they could not help him. Jim had no choice but to purchase a backup generator online from Hugg Pty Ltd.

The sales representative at Hugg Pty Ltd guaranteed a delivery time of 6 weeks, by email. Due to the war in the Ukraine (a supervening event), supply chains had been affected and after 12 weeks of waiting Jim tried to cancel his order and refund the purchase price.