# Money Claim Online



## .Griff. (Apr 24, 2015)

Has anyone got a personal experience of using this to try and recover funds owed to them?

It is NOT my intention to name and shame so I won't be discussing who/what/where/why. I will say that it relates to a detailer and there are posts on here about said detailer also ignoring other customers. That is all I will say. 

It's not the biggest amount in the world, "only" £60. Taking into account it would cost £25 to process the claim the best outcome I'm looking at is recovering £35 but it's got to the stage where I'm tempted to do it out of principle.

I know the company/person is still trading and they are active and promoting their service on Facebook. However, despite assurances the money would be sent back he's stopped reading my messages and emails sent to his two email addresses have gone ignored.

It's not feasible for me to merely "pop round" and see him as I've moved some distance away recently. 

Proceed with a claim or shrug it off and put it down to a bad experience?


----------



## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

Your system in England differs from that we have in Scotland, but afaik a successful
action for recovery in your County Courts will usually award costs in your favour too.


----------



## Taxboy (Aug 23, 2006)

Depends how you feel about it. I made a claim against an antiques dealer, very straightforward as they didn't dispute the claim so had the CCJ awarded. They only made one payment before defaulting but as they had no assets and I discovered they owed money elsewhere I didn't take enforcement action but at least had the satisfaction of making it more difficult to get credit in he future.

BTW your claim include the fees so if you are successful you won't be out of pocket..... providing they pay up !!

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk


----------



## .Griff. (Apr 24, 2015)

Thanks for the replies. I didn't appreciate that they'd have to pay the £25 fee if found in my favour.

I'm still hoping he replies. I've exhausted all contact avenues so I'll sleep on it.

Part of me doesn't want to resort to this and it might seem a bit extreme for what some would consider a tiny amount but then again if he's active and simply ignoring me why should he get away with it...

I'll update if I take action.


----------



## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

If you decide to go for it, maybe write to him first giving 7 days to pay in full or you will refer the matter to the small claims court. The threat of a CCJ is sometimes enough to push people into action. 

If doesn't act on it, then start the court proceedings.


----------



## Njs71 (Aug 29, 2017)

I say go for it. 

To many of these sh1t bags about & getting away with ripping people off. 

I'm on a motorcycle forum also and we have a name and shame section for subscribed members. It helps a lot to keep us members safe-ish from rip off merchants. 

You say only £60, to me it's still theft if it's owed and not paid. 
If you went into a bank and just took £60 from the till they wouldn't say ahh doesn't matter its only X amount. You'd be arrested and locked up.


----------



## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

As Shiny says, let him know in writing giving 7 days notice of what you intend to do. After 7 days do it, don't hesitate. £60 like you say is not a lot so hopefully he'll just repay you to avoid the hassle. £60 though is £600 if he does it to 10 customers and they all let him off.


----------



## .Griff. (Apr 24, 2015)

Thanks, guys.

Regarding the 7 day warning. 

He agreed in person to refund me on May 1st (yes that long ago) and again in writing on 4th June. 

Since then I have -

PM'd him on Facebook via his official page six times (this is where the original work was discussed and agreed etc)

Emailed his personal and work email addresses multiple times.

Messaged his official Twitter account.

Filled out the "Contact us" section on his website.

Replied to his recent "Here's a car we did recently..." posts on Facebook begging him to acknowledge me.

Telephoned the business. This is where it gets odd. He only has a "0345" number listed. When the call was answered by "reception" the girl said she had no idea where he was and no access to his diary. She denied it was a generic answering service and insisted she was in reception. She obviously doesn't know I've been to the premises more than once. There is no reception.

I think I'll follow the advice and send a recorded delivery letter(s) to the business address and directors home address as listed in companies house.

If I don't at least get an acknowledgement after a week I'll start proceedings.


----------



## .Griff. (Apr 24, 2015)

I've had no choice but to issue proceedings.

I've made four telephone calls into the business in the last 72 hours. Each time the individual concerned isn't there.

They are refusing to confirm if they are actually answering calls at the premises or are a generic answering service and they are refusing to confirm what address I should write to. 

As a result, I've issued a claim against the address I believe he's still trading from and will wait to hear what happens next 

It really didn't need to go this far!


----------



## Njs71 (Aug 29, 2017)

A pain in the rear, but good on you for taking it further.

Good luck with it.


----------



## .Griff. (Apr 24, 2015)

In case anyone is interested in the circumstances - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=387460

I wasn't going to name the detailer but the treatment I've received in the last 72 hours has changed my mind.


----------



## .Griff. (Apr 24, 2015)

Resolved. Refund and costs refunded to me.


----------



## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Embarrassing that it's required shaming again to get some action. Not exactly worth getting his name dragged through the mud again for £60.

I'm glad it's sorted.


----------



## Overdoser (Oct 25, 2010)

Glad you got your money back, shame it took all this effort.


----------



## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Great news, worth going after but like I said earlier, I wonder how much he's making because many people would just give up?


----------



## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

shame they didnt do the right thing straight away


----------



## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Good on you for pursuing this. I would definitely have done the same. If it had cost me £120 to get £60 back, I'd have done it purely out of principle. 

Well done.

Cooks


----------



## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

Cookies said:


> Good on you for pursuing this. I would definitely have done the same. If it had cost me £120 to get £60 back, I'd have done it purely out of principle.
> 
> Well done.
> 
> Cooks


To be fair you'd always recover the cost of pursuing a small claim in addition to the claim itself, as long as you weren't seeking anything unreasonable like your own time charged at a rate of £200.00 per hour :lol:


----------



## NMH (Apr 25, 2012)

Its taken HOW LONG to get back £60?!! What a way to ruin his reputation! Glad you got your money back mate.


----------



## wayne451 (Aug 15, 2016)

millns84 said:


> To be fair you'd always recover the cost of pursuing a small claim in addition to the claim itself, as long as you weren't seeking anything unreasonable like your own time charged at a rate of £200.00 per hour :lol:


This. To an extent.

I got shafted by some guy on RTOC about 12 years ago. The 'member' of the site (you had to be paid up to sell etc) was selling on behalf of his friend from Devon. I'd melted my big spec R5 in a daft way. He had a head for £35 plus P&P. I bought and paid via PayPal, got all his details and spoke to him in advance.

Nothing turned up.

I started texting/calling him. Eventually he started ignoring me.

I sent a letter. Again, ignored.

I issued court proceedings. I did it purely out of principle. I claimed my time, IIRC I was limited to 10 hours?

He didn't turn up at Stockport court (as expected) so it was found in my favour by default.

Still didn't pay.

I pushed it to the bailiffs. In the end I made 10 times what it cost me. 🤣


----------

