Is it worth going to court to claim 80£?

Sicily_2

Hello,
I need your advice.
Our fridge stopped working a few weeks ago. I phoned an engineer, and asked him to give me an estimate how much it would cost to repair it. He said it would be 30£ for call out and 30£ for one hour work. He came, looked at the fridge and started cleaning the dust of the back of the fridge. There was not that much dust there, but he kept saying, that the dust was the cause of the fridge fault. He did not do anything else, as far as I could see. I thought it was not too much work and he spent only 15 min at my house. I hoped he would not charge me more that £30-40, but he asked me to pay £80! I was shocked, but gave him the money. He didn't give me an invoice, promised to send it to me next day (have not received it yet). Well, I thought, if the fridge starts working that's fine, never mind those 80£. The fridge DID NOT start working. I phoned him next day, he said, oh your fridge needs gas. I asked him to come again. This time he didn't come straight away. I had to call him 5 times. Finally he promised to come at 7 pm, but a few minutes before 7 he phoned to say he would not be coming as he didn't have gas. He promised to come next day, Next day I phoned him, but he didn't pick up his phone.
I called Consumer Direct and was adviced to send him written letter. I did that, gave him 7 days to come and repair the fridge. He didn't respond. I wrote another letter, and now 7 days have gone, no reply and obviously he is not bothered that he took the money, but didn't do the job. My question is, is it worth it taking him to court and would I get my 80£ (plus court expenses) back? Do I have a legal right to request money back? Would I win this case?
I feel so stupid for letting him fool me. (I'm normaly quite a clever girl :P)
Thanks for your advice!

BargainGalore

If you got his name/address report him tax place I wouldn't be at all surprised if he is on the make

KeithP

BargainGalore wrote: »

If you got his name/address report him tax place I wouldn't be at all surprised if he is on the make

How does that help the OP?

Or do HMRC pay rewards for information now?

BargainGalore

I never said it would only sounds a little dodgy and report them to inland revenue probably evading paying tax

Where is your advice then?

KeithP wrote: »

How does that help the OP?

Or do HMRC pay rewards for information now?

cleo1299

Sicily wrote: »

My question is, is it worth it taking him to court and would I get my 80£ (plus court expenses) back? Do I have a legal right to request money back? Would I win this case?

The Trading Standards Institute has a little factsheet on this (http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/ifyouareindispute-sum5.cfm). One of the things it says is:

"There is ... little point in suing if the other party is unlikely to be able to pay or unwilling to do so."

This guy sounds very much like he might not pay up.

Did you get back to Consumer Direct when the letter didn't work? That might be your best bet.

savemoney

In order to take them to small claims court you need there name/address and also as it does costs although not much you need to assure yourself that person has the money

It just sounds very dubious to me and some cowboy outfit not dong job properly and evading your calls

Dont feel stupid we all make mistakes

Sicily_2

I think it's a no win situation for me... I don't have his full name, only company name, address and his first name... Consumer direct suggested I go to small claims court, but they can't advice if I would win. I guess £80 is not worth the hassle. That will be an expensive lesson not to trust any cowboy traders. Next time when I ask someone to fix something at my house, I will look at their Id's, make a copy of their passport, take a photograph of their scruffy face and only then let them do the work. I won't pay if they don't give me invoice. I should have done this... but too late now.

Thanks guys...