Got this email from a client and I'm wondering if I should be worried?

JamesO

I admit, I couldn't fill there order. I custom make items and I've had a lot of trouble sourcing raw materials recently as one of my regular suppliers went out of business and an alternative supplier hiked their prices through the roof.

Added to this I've been ill my self - I had an accident at my forge which meant I nearly lost my arm completely.

I failed to keep in contact with the customer. I know this isn't acceptable, but he didn't email me for months and I forgot about him.

When he did contact me I apologised and offered to do a partial refund - this apparently wasn't good enough and I got this as a response. I don't know what to do. Is this legit and should I just pay, or should I tell him to take a running jump, I know I should refund him, but do I have to pay interest, compensation, to collect the items (they're custom so I doubt I can resell)?

I've taken out all the personal information.

Dear James,

I've spoken to my partner and I'm afraid we just aren't happy with the level of compensation you were suggesting there. We're starting to get fed up with the whole thing now.

You don’t seem to understand the degree of inconvenience and stress you have placed upon us over the last several months. I suffer from a documented mental health condition which has become significantly worse as a result of the worry and stress of having this order in limbo for such a long period as well as from your lack of responsiveness to multiple attempts at contact.

I do not believe that we will be able to amicably resolve this issue, and so we'd like to cancel order placed in Dec 2008. As per the Consumer Credit Act (1974 amended), this cancellation has been sent to your registered and public email address and so this cancellation becomes valid from the time it was sent.

All of the items that you have provided to date are available for your collection. I would advise you not to post any further items as I will class them as unsolicited goods and dispose of them.

The original packing boxes have been disposed of some time ago, but all of the items are in the condition you sent them in and complete with all components. If you wish I will source replacement packing boxes for the items at your cost. If we can agree a time and date for their collection I will ensure we are here to provide them.

I will ensure all previously received items are safe and available for your collection for a period of two months at which point I will dispose of the items and charge you for any costs incurred for doing so.

Under the Sale of Goods Act (1979, amended) I would like to request a full refund including interest at a rate of 8% per year (as in line section 69 of the County Courts Act (1984)) of my original payment of GB£1050.00. This would bring the total to be directly refunded to GB£1122.03 with a daily interest of GB£0.23 which will be charged until the funds have cleared into my account.

Natwest Bank
Sortcode: *****
Account number: ******
Account name: ******


Under the guidance of the Financial Ombudsman Service I am claiming from you a Good Will Award for quantifiable loss (loss of monetary benefit), distress, and inconvenience.

I feel I have received poor customer service, including delays, clerical errors, inadequate explanations of problems and delays, and a gross failure to respond to my reasonable requests for delivery dates.

I claim for the following:


Loss of monetary benefit: GB£50.00
Loss of opportunity resulting in disappointment: GB£25.00
Good will gesture for poor customer service including award for excessive delay of over 9 months: GB£150.00
Time spent resolving this situation (charged at £50 per day): GB£25.00 for time spent composing emails, researching consumer law, incidental phone charges to leave messages.
Cost of seeking legal advice: GB£50.00 (invoice available on request at an additional charge)
Documentable distress in the form of deterioration in my mental health: GB£50.00

Total Award claimed: GB£350.00

Total refund requested: GB£1472.00

Under the guidance of the Financial Ombudsman Service a Good Will Award is subjective and open to negotiation, but the claim total of GB£350.00 is one third of the original cost of the purchase and so is well within the guidelines as set out by the Financial Ombudsman Service and is likely to be upheld by them.

Please consider your position and get back to me within seven days or I will forward my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, Trading Standards, and my credit supplier from whom I will be requesting a full chargeback including the total compensation outlined above plus any costs incurred.

I am sorry we were unable to resolve this issue.

Kind Regards

******

dmg24

You are being very cryptic.

What are the items you refer to?

Was there any kind of credit agreement between you and the consumer?

When did you deliver the first part of the order, and why did you not tell the consumer that you could not complete the order?

BruceyBonus

Is there some credit agreement between you and the customer? Why are they referring to the Consumer Credit Act and Financial Ombudsman Service?

The outcome will depend on the contract you had with the client. I'd be seeking professional legal advice if I were you, rather than using a forum.

dmg24

BruceyBonus wrote: »

Is there some credit agreement between you and the customer? Why are they referring to the Consumer Credit Act and Financial Ombudsman Service?

The outcome will depend on the contract you had with the client. I'd be seeking professional legal advice if I were you, rather than using a forum.

I think there is either more to this, or the customer is trying to pull a fast one. I think the only 'legal advice' that they have received is from Google (£50 would not go far) ... but I could be wrong!

JamesO

Sorry I didn't think it was that cryptic.

I was commissioned to make a set of custom iron work gate/fence and door fittings for a customer before last Christmas. I completed half the pieces but then ran out of materials. When the buyer contacted me to remind me that I hadn't sent the order I sent half, apologised and said I would make the rest of them as soon as I could order more materials. Rushing I, stupidly, had an accident in my forge which led to me having 2nd and 3rd degree burns to the majority of my right arm (thankfully caused by steam rather than the iron stock!).

After I got out from hospital and went back on my pc (admittedly more than a month later) I had another email from the customer complaining about the delay(justifiably) I offered a partial refund for the undelivered stock and got that as a reply.

The only contract we have is by email exchange. the items were paid for in advance, and I don't know what the acts in the email are exactly.

Can I include anything else to help, honestly, I don't have a solicitor, and £350 is a lot of money, especially as the items are custom fitted to the customers requirements and will be hard to sell on (if they can be as they're a custom and somewhat ugly design(in my opinion)? I'm going to have a hard enough time finding the original cost to refund, nevermind interest and so on.

neilmcl

What sort of time period are we talking about here? You were commissioned to do the work back in 2008 and you've only just started to email and receive this reply from the customer?

DVardysShadow

It is very difficult with custom work and I think neither side is going to get a good outcome. Have you delivered a set of anything which could be regarded as meeting a complete customer requirement?

JamesO

Got the order dec, sent out the first half(ish) in June (later than I had estimated as I'd forgotten about them - I think I originally said some time in March/April but this was on the phone and I can't remember very clearly - I know, I know)

My arm then got burnt August as I couldn't find the materials till then and I checked my emails end sept to find the one from the customer wanting me to contact

Contacted almost immidiately to appologise (had to spend a while getting used to the new dictation software as I still don't have full use of my arm and it makes everything slow and difficult, plus the pain still makes it hard to concentrate) and offered to refund cost of items not yet made. A few weeks pass and I got that email this morning.

shellsuit

JamesO wrote: »

Sorry I didn't think it was that cryptic.

I was commissioned to make a set of custom iron work gate/fence and door fittings for a customer before last Christmas. I completed half the pieces but then ran out of materials. When the buyer contacted me to remind me that I hadn't sent the order I sent half, apologised and said I would make the rest of them as soon as I could order more materials. Rushing I, stupidly, had an accident in my forge which led to me having 2nd and 3rd degree burns to the majority of my right arm (thankfully caused by steam rather than the iron stock!).

After I got out from hospital and went back on my pc (admittedly more than a month later) I had another email from the customer complaining about the delay(justifiably) I offered a partial refund for the undelivered stock and got that as a reply.

The only contract we have is by email exchange. the items were paid for in advance, and I don't know what the acts in the email are exactly.

Can I include anything else to help, honestly, I don't have a solicitor, and £350 is a lot of money, especially as the items are custom fitted to the customers requirements and will be hard to sell on (if they can be as they're a custom and somewhat ugly design(in my opinion)? I'm going to have a hard enough time finding the original cost to refund, nevermind interest and so on.

You were in the wrong for forgetting in the first place, the buyer shouldn't have had to chase you up.


If they can't use them because there are some items missing, then it doesn't matter if they are custom made, you should refund them.

JamesO

not really. the set is quite involved (linkages and mirrored designs that were actually quite hard to make) and apparently they're all sat in a box waiting to be fitted still.

JamesO

I know I should refund and though that will be hard, that's ok with me. It's the other bits I don't know about all the compensation and interest and me having to collect them and so on.

It's another £350 plus collection from the other side of the country! That can't be fair can it?