Regarding the acceptance of an offer, which statement is FALSE?

• A. An offeree cannot accept an offer directed to someone else.
• B. Unless the offer is open to all, the offeree must know about the offer in order to accept it.
• C. An acceptance must generally be communicated to the offeror to be effective.
• D. An offeree who performs the act necessary to collect a reward must also know about the offered reward.

Answer: (B)

Acceptance happens when the offeree either promises to perform or actually performs the requested act, depending on the type of offer. The key distinction is between bilateral offers, where acceptance is a promise that must be communicated to form a contract, and unilateral offers, where acceptance comes through the performance of the requested act.

In a unilateral, or public reward-type offer, acceptance is achieved by performing the act, and you don’t need to know about the offer beforehand to be entitled to the reward. That means knowledge of the offer is not a prerequisite for acceptance in that setting. The statement that knowledge is required unless the offer is open to all tries to describe a blanket rule, but it doesn’t capture this important exception: acceptance by performance can occur even without prior knowledge in unilateral, public-offer situations.

The other points align with the general principles. An offer directed to a specific person cannot be accepted by someone else, since acceptance must come from the person to whom the offer is addressed. For most offers, at least some form of communication of acceptance to the offeror is needed to make the contract effective. And for a reward-type situation, the act that collects the reward is the acceptance, even though it might not hinge on the offeree’s knowledge of the offer.