Lost over £2000 buying dodgy engine, please help

swfk

Hi,

I brought a reconditioned engine in july 2008 and it was faulty. I brought it off a company in oldham (i live in newcastle) and once it was fitted there was clearly something wrong with it (it made a dodgy noise).

Ive asked for a refund and they would not give it to me (even though its got a 1 year warranty). Ive asked for them to fix it for me, but they would only do it if i get the car down to oldham, or if i pay the mechanic another 500 to take the engine out and send it to them (which they WILL NOT reimburse).

Now ive sent it to small claims and the warrant has gone through. However they have asked for the judgemtn to be set aside as they claim they have not received any documents form the court.

The date for the hearing was in december and they did not turn up and the application for the judgement to be set aside was struck out.

Now i have reissued that warrant and nothing has been heard Ive spoken to the bailiffs and they said the company have said they havent filled the form in properly. That was about a month ago.

What else can i do? It looks like i have wasted my time and money trying to get my money back.


Also this company has taken money out of my account because they claim to have sold me the engine on an exchange basis (they sell me their engine for an exchange of my old engine.) I was not told about this till they took the money out, even at the point of sale. I am looking to take them to small claims for this as well but i understand that there cannot be two warrants issued at one time. I have asked them for recordings of the conversation, which im eligible under data protection act, when i brought the engine and they are unwilling to provide a copy.

Any advice please. I have not gone through a solicitor as i can not really afford it plus i was under the impression the small claims procedure was so that solicitors were not required. I think i am in way over my head and any advice to get my money back asap would be appreciated.

Thanks

KILL_BILL

some of the balliffs are crap and some are good - a warrant has been issued and so they need to enforce it by collecting goods from the company concerned to pay off the debt.

speak to the court manager and gett hem to put you in touch with the head balliff if nessecary

dacouch

It is common when buying a re con engine for the price to be subject to them exchanging with your engine. They then recon your old engine or use it as parts and resell it to someone else and so on.

The obvious thing is to look at their adverts or terms and conditions to see if it was included

swfk

Hi, when i brought the engine i was not informed of this. I brought the engine over the phone, that is why i requested a copy/transcript of the phone call which they have not provided. they told me that the conditions of the sale was on the onvoice and warranty that they sent out, but i did not receive any of these until the money was taken out of my account. (I even sent them letters requesting the invoice/warranty on several occasions, all letters kept).

When i spoke to the baillifs, they said there wasnt much they could collect, as the office is like a scrapyard. Maybe this is why they are dragging their heels.

Does anyone know anything about a garnishee order?

Brooker_Dave

swfk wrote: »

Ive asked for a refund and they would not give it to me (even though its got a 1 year warranty). Ive asked for them to fix it for me, but they would only do it if i get the car down to oldham, or if i pay the mechanic another 500 to take the engine out and send it to them (which they WILL NOT reimburse).

Also this company has taken money out of my account because they claim to have sold me the engine on an exchange basis (they sell me their engine for an exchange of my old engine.)

So they offered to fix it, but you declined their offer??

And you didn't send back your old unit and you lost your surcharge?

advent1122

They offered to repair the engine - you refused.
You will lose the court case and pay their costs.

Next please.

[Deleted User]

advent1122 wrote: »

They offered to repair the engine - you refused.
You will lose the court case and pay their costs.

Next please.

Bad advice which is extremely unhelpful. :mad:

If you read the above, the OP has WON the court case; and his only problem is enforcing the judgement.

OP: You could issue a second claim in this case re: the money they've stolen from your account. But: how did they take money from your account? Did they use your credit/debit card for a second charge without your permission? If so, give your bank a ring and say someone has taken money from your account without permission. They'll almost certainly claw back the money.

As for enforcing the judgement; you have plenty of options.

I suggest you initially speak to the bailiff, and ask him to go around again and seize their property to sell. They must have something of value he can sell, surely.

If that doesn't work then you have plenty of other options. You could find out their bank details (you would be able to get a court order requiring the company's bank to hand them over) and then you could get an order requiring the bank to pay you back directly from their bank account. You'd have to pay a few court fees but you'd get it all back (or almost all) in the end so may be worth pursuing.

If you can find out any details on where the company is based (look up the company on www.companieshouse.gov.uk) then the bailiff can chase them too at other addresses.

If the owner hasn't protected himself by setting up a registered company he is personally liable for the debt, so you could send the bailiffs round to the owner's house and take away his stuff (if you can find out where he lives).

If the owner earns a salary, you could get an attachment against earnings order which requires some of his salary to be paid to you each money until the debt is repaid. If the owner refuses to provide his salary details he may be arrested!

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_factsheets/attachment_of_earnings_order.php#3

Finally, if you're really struggling to find out where the owner lives, then you can do some (lawful) espionage. Either follow the owner home and find out where he lives (being careful to avoid confrontation!!), do a search on the electoral register / phone books (look up how to do this on the internet), or in extremis you could use a tracing agent (which is what law firms do when people try and run away). For about £50 these guys will usually be able to find out someone's home address in a couple of days. Once you know where the owner lives, send the bailiffs around and you're in the money!

Good luck. :beer:

advent1122

Deleted_User wrote: »

Bad advice which is extremely unhelpful. :mad:

I offer bad advice as a hobby, it is due to too much time on my hands and a juvenile mind.
Go on - ask me something else.
I bet I will spout extremely unhelpful b0ll0cks again.
In fact, I am starting to get on my own nerves so gawd knows what it must be like for my many listeners.

swfk

thanks jimster,

They took the money out of my account via direct debit card details. I told the bank but they refused to do anything because there was permission to take the money as i gave them the details.

I already have the details for the company as i have requested for their latest returns to companies house. I will contact the bailiffs tommorow.

The company is a limited company. So does this mean i can't get the money from the director, but the most probable way of getting my money is from their bank directly.

I am planning on taking them to court over the money that was taken out of my bank account. If i get my money back, i will return the engine and i will request they refund me the money that was taken out of my bank account. If they don't then i will start court procedures again.

markelock

i had a problem like this a few years ago.

bought an engine to replace a failed head gasket. the head gasket was also shot on the replacement.

it's an ideal scenario for the seller, because even when you do return the engine, they deny it's theirs.

best of luck, I ended up going somewhere else and getting a reconditioned engine.

Brooker_Dave

Deleted_User wrote: »

Bad advice which is extremely unhelpful.

follow the owner home and find out where he lives

Good advice being to stalk someone???????????