Williams had been paying monthly installments for several years, before finally defaulting on a payment after purchasing a stereo.

The contract that Williams had signed with Walker-Thomas stipulated that the purchaser cannot own any item until their entire balance has been paid off.

Did each party to the contract, considering his obvious education or lack of it, have a reasonable opportunity to understand the terms of the contract, or were the important terms hidden in a maze of fine print and minimized by deceptive sales practices?

Ordinarily, one who signs an agreement without full knowledge of its terms might be held to assume the risk that he has entered a one-sided bargain.

In such a case the usual rule that the terms of the agreement are not to be questioned should be abandoned and the court should consider whether the terms of the contract are so unfair that enforcement should be withheld.This case is often used by legal professors in the United States to question their students' ideology or presumptions.