Car parts not returned after 4 years - options?
Discussion
OK, this may sound a little bit strange, but here goes.
Around four years ago I left some rare side skirts with a lad I knew via one of the owners' clubs I was in at the time.
He was well known and seemed alright, if not disorganised. To cut a long story short, after leaving the parts with him and having given him small amounts for "paint/materials" he vanished.
I'd kind of forgotten about the whole affair for a long while as I had been waiting for him to resurface as I thought he would, but this never happened.
Having thought about this a little bit recently, I decided to try and play detective and as a result I found him posting on a site looking for advice because someone had issued a CCJ against him, ironically!
He no longer lives at the address I had for him, but I do now know that he is attending university and I know which one. But that's essentially all I have.
I'd be interested to know what my best option would be regarding pursuing him. I'm almost certain that the police would have no interest as me giving him the parts willingly would make it a civil matter? So from what I can see, it's a CCJ or a small claim for the value of the parts.
But how on earth do you file such things against someone you have very little detail about?
For the record, I did actually try to PM him on the site he'd been posting on as I thought direct contact would be the best way forward initially. Unfortunately you need a certain number of posts before you can use the PM system
Around four years ago I left some rare side skirts with a lad I knew via one of the owners' clubs I was in at the time.
He was well known and seemed alright, if not disorganised. To cut a long story short, after leaving the parts with him and having given him small amounts for "paint/materials" he vanished.
I'd kind of forgotten about the whole affair for a long while as I had been waiting for him to resurface as I thought he would, but this never happened.
Having thought about this a little bit recently, I decided to try and play detective and as a result I found him posting on a site looking for advice because someone had issued a CCJ against him, ironically!
He no longer lives at the address I had for him, but I do now know that he is attending university and I know which one. But that's essentially all I have.
I'd be interested to know what my best option would be regarding pursuing him. I'm almost certain that the police would have no interest as me giving him the parts willingly would make it a civil matter? So from what I can see, it's a CCJ or a small claim for the value of the parts.
But how on earth do you file such things against someone you have very little detail about?
For the record, I did actually try to PM him on the site he'd been posting on as I thought direct contact would be the best way forward initially. Unfortunately you need a certain number of posts before you can use the PM system
Personally, I'd move on and forget about it.
I've left stuff in places before and thought about them years later and TBH if you've taken 4 years to think about them (have you been prompted by them suddenly being worth more?/more rare?) then you couldn't have been that bothered in the first place shirley?
I've left stuff in places before and thought about them years later and TBH if you've taken 4 years to think about them (have you been prompted by them suddenly being worth more?/more rare?) then you couldn't have been that bothered in the first place shirley?
TroubledSoul said:
I don't have the car anymore and I'm pretty sure they would have been sold on a long time ago.
Well what you need to know what you want out of this fresh contact. As with Butter Face I have many bits and bobs that I have loaned to people over the years that I have never seen back. The one that particularly bugs is a wood burner that I gave away having stored for myself for 10 years (I will have a house that needs one one day!!!) that the recipients then sold as it was bigger than they needed (mutter, mutter, grumble).
The best choice I have found is to let it lie, or at least not get stressed over it and just have some fun making the 'guilty' party squirm a little.
TroubledSoul said:
You're probably right TBH. It just stings a bit when I think about him getting away with it.
I'll keep my eyes and ears open and if an opportunity to speak to him face to face comes up, I will take it. See what he has to say.
This is the best option.I'll keep my eyes and ears open and if an opportunity to speak to him face to face comes up, I will take it. See what he has to say.
I've lost count of the number of times I've lent something to someone and never seen it again. Me and member of another forum ordered some parts from America as you couldn't find them in the UK, we originally set up a small group buy but a number of the 'buyers' dropped out so we were left to foot the bill.
As postage was so expensive we ordered more than we needed with the plan to sell on the extras to gain some of that money back.
We were both rather rubbish at organizing this and I had left the extra parts at his storage unit as they were originally delivered to him. To cut a long story short that was two years ago and I never saw the extra parts or money.
I don't blame anyone, for all I know he still has the parts! In your case he sounds like a known scammer, but four years have passed, I'd let it lie.
Nickyboy said:
I'd forget about it tbh, at the time i would have been pissed off but its 4 years later, you've not got the car and you'll likely have no proof you gave him the stuff in the first place if you took it to court.
"I gave him the stuff in the first place" is proof if the court accepts that statement as true. This is not a case for suing, but I am always struck by the curious notion that some people appear to have that personal testimony is not evidence. Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff