Going to Small Claims Court, advice?

[TB Rich]

Hi all,

I have had an issue with a company whereby they have refunded me the cost of a returned item but not the cost of the postage. I believe under the Distance Selling Regulations I am legally entitled to this postage refund but the company refuses.
They "don’t care" that it is the law and their attitude has really rubbed me up the wrong way I'm afraid

Anybody ever been to small claims court or had similar dealings to this? How do I go about doing it all, it is not the amount obviously that’s the issue, but its principle here (yes my I can see a long way up on this high horse )

The arrogant MD said as a final parting he doesn't want to hear from me again unless it is a letter from my solicitor, seems ludicrous to me especially as I think he is liable for all costs??

Appreciate any help or pointers on this matter

Rich

[edo]

how much is the postage - is it REALLY worth it?!

[joebongo]

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets...

Look at your documents carefully - they don't have to pay if they've stated they won't.

If they haven't stated then maybe you have a stronger case.

What are you returning? A car by Royal Mail?

[AndrewW-G]

If its via eBay, their rules mean (or at least did last time I looked) that a buyer stumps up the return postage costs, if returning a auction item.

As per others, if its just a few pounds, is it really worth the hassle that going through all the legal bks and then taking a day off work to attend court will bring you?

[jon-]

The MD is correct.

If your time is worth fighting over a few quid postage via small claims court go for it.

[DrTre]

joebongo said:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets...

Look at your documents carefully - they don't have to pay if they've stated they won't.

If they haven't stated then maybe you have a stronger case.

What are you returning? A car by Royal Mail?

This. If they stated that cost to return is the customers responsibility, then that's that.

[TB Rich]

joebongo said:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets...

Look at your documents carefully - they don't have to pay if they've stated they won't.

If they haven't stated then maybe you have a stronger case.

What are you returning? A car by Royal Mail?

I've read through that several times and yes I am entitled to the postage refunded. The contract amount includes the initial postage.
It states
"The retailer must refund the full amount including the delivery
costs as soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and in
any case within 30 days at the latest. You cannot insist on the
goods being received by you before you make a refund."

I know its not 'worth it', but the rude and dismissive attitude of this guy is appalling. So, in my mind that makes it 'worth it'!

It's not eBay either, its a very respected company in the motorsport industry. I really expected better, especially as these sort of small businesses must rely on strong word of mouth etc

To compare, I purchased a couple of bulbs of eBay recently, didnt open one of the boxes for a couple of weeks until I came to do the shoot. I found that one of them was broken when I did open it, so I emailed the company asking if its to late to ask royal mail about a claim, but otherwise I was prepared to buy a single bulb from them again. They had no issue with sending out another one free of charge and postage.
Which is why I so strongly object to this other chump not giving me what is actually legally mine - my money!!

[bazking69]

I sincerely hope this is over alot of money, not chimp change.

If not, it really isn't worth the effort for oneupmanship on someone you'll never see or hear from again IMO.

[Muzzer]

TB Rich said:

Anybody ever been to small claims court or had similar dealings to this?

1. Take a long, cold, hard look at how much money is involved.
2. Swallow your pride
3. Think law, not principle
4. Don't think you're guaranteed to win, no matter what case you have.
5. Decide properly if it's worth it.

Personally, for anything under £100, I personally wouldn't bother.

You may think you're guaranteed to win. You may think the other guy is a conman. You may think you have a moral obligation to pursue this so he doesn't rip other people off.

Throw all that in the bin and look at the money involved.

For reference, I was in Small Claims court a couple of weeks ago for the company I work for. It was a dispute over £700 that another company refused to pay.
It was clearly written in the law that he had no legal right to withhold payment.
The judge began by saying (in a nice way) that we should have sorted this out in a meeting beforehand before it ever got to court. He then acknowledged that, by law, my company was in the right.
He then said he'd probably end up splitting the owed amount and costs 50/50 and would we like to go into a quiet room by ourselves to thrash out an agreement without him getting involved? We went to said room and agreed a 50/50 split.

In conclusion OP I'd say your postage, depending on what the item was, was probably less than £50.

So stay at home and don't bother.

HTH.

[DrTre]

So it's the delivery (to you) costs you want, not the return costs (to which you may not be entitled)? My mistake, sorry.

[joebongo]

DrTre said:

So it's the delivery (to you) costs you want, not the return costs (to which you may not be entitled)? My mistake, sorry.

That's what I read by it. If they're not adhering to the DSR then I think there's another route you should get advice from prior to court - some helpline or something.

[Papa Hotel]

Must have been getting a V8 Supercar shipped over from Australia for this to be worthwhile.

[voicey]

Take it from me, the court looks unfavorably on petty claims. If I was you, I would type the claim form out together with the particulars of claim and send these directly to the company with a covering letter saying you'll file the papers in court if they don't pay what's owed in seven days. Saves you a load of hassle.

[falkster]

Principles!!

If it takes you longer than 10 mins to sort it out its not worth it. Dont do business with them again and move on.

[Plotloss]

On the costs point there will be no costs award on the small claims track.

The MAXIMUM they will have to pay is the postage refuted plus cost of the court case plus £50 MAX for one of your holiday days and that's only if its awarded.

Is your holiday day worth a measly £50?

[Jasandjules]

I am sorry to say that for such a small amount of money the court will be exceedingly unimpressed with you for issuing proceedings. Regardless of how right or wrong the situation is.

Have you threatened them with legal proceedings?

[Dave Dax builder]

Was there something wrong with the item that they sent to you?
Why did you return it?

[marshalla]

Trading Standards could be your best route. If the company makes a habit of doing this, TS will take action.

[Plotloss]

Also, if you turn up with a solicitor/barrister you will lose money.

I suspect if you even ask a solicitor to send a letter or fill out the court application you will lose money.

[eccles]

It wasn't a cheap second hand LG DVD player was it?