What action (if any) can I take against a firm of Solicitors for false accusations?

lancslass2008

My son has received a letter from a firm of solicitors, accusing him of selling fake products on Ebay. The products in question are hair straighteners (the expensive ones). On the first page it states:

‘You have received this letter because you have advertised counterfeit “xxx” hair styling irons for sale on eBay. This letter sets out the legal position and steps you need to take to avoid legal proceedings being issued against you’

it also states a little further on...

It has come to the attention of xxxxxxx Group that you are offering for sale and/or selling hair styling irons via eBay which bear the trade mark but are not manufactured with our authority and are therefore counterfeit.

Basically, my son is not guilty of this, and we have a mass of information which proves this, including Bank statements and also the fact that he has been outside this country since August, studying at University. I have twice written to the solicitors and told them why they are barking up the wrong tree. I have even urged them (in both letters) to contact the Police, who on investigation will very quickly find out that my son is innocent. It is clear my son is a victim of identity theft, and we have even provided the solicitors with the name of the person we are convinced has stolen his identity. We have contacted the Police, and while they were very sympathetic and helpful, they told me Bizarrely…”No complaint has been made against your son by the company, so we can’t do anything”. I even told the Police that we were now making a complaint because of these false allegations. Again, they said they couldn’t help and we should get a solicitor on our side. However, this is so obvious that my son is not guilty that I don’t intend paying for a solicitor. Once an investigation is launched, it will soon become apparent where the money is gone. Without going into loads of detail, it appears my sons eBay account was used to advertise the goods, and when somebody won the auction, the scammer sent the buyer a Papal invoice which WAS NOT MY SONS Papal account. Obviously that Papal account is linked to somebody’s bank; so again, it should be easy for the Police to catch the perpetrators. Especially after my son has given them the name of the likely perpetrator.

Anyway, I am not looking for advice on how to defend my son. It’s very obvious he hasn’t done this. The sole reason I write this is because I am incensed that a firm of solicitors can just send a letter with allegations and comments like

‘You have received this letter because you have advertised counterfeit “xxx” hair styling irons for sale on eBay.

Without any proper evidence or foundation, and I want to see if there is any action I can take against the firm of solicitors for these false allegations. Surely, they can’t just allege things like this? By that I mean…. Say for instance my shed gets broken into tonight and my lawn mower is stolen. If I see my neighbour using it six weeks later, surely I can’t just get my solicitor to write him a letter saying ‘You have stolen my client’s lawn mower’. Surely I have to complain to the Police first?

I’m sure that in this country a person is innocent until proven guilty. There is no doubt whatsoever that it will be proven that my son is not the culprit of these crimes, but it still leaves me with a sour taste that a firm of solicitors can make false allegations like this.

While I personally am not intimidated by the solicitors, my son is quite scared, because the letter demands lots of money (settlement offer) for ‘compensation for Trademark Infringement’ and ‘copyright infringement’ and threatens various ‘Consequences of failure to settle’.

As I said, we have contacted the Police and we have asked the solicitors to contact the Police. That is when they will discover who the real culprit is.

But, to reiterate, what steps or action can I take against the firm of solicitors for sending this letter with such false allegations.

I'm not looking for advice on how to defend my son. It is Crystal clear he is not guilty.

I JUST WANT TO SEE FAIR PLAY AND GET THIS FIRM OF SOLICITORS TO APOLOGISE OR CAN I TAKE FURTHER ACTION AGAINST THEM?
Thanks all

C_Mababejive

It sounds like you are getting way too excited about this.

Your son is in fact innocent in law until proven guilty so you or he need do practically nothing!

It is for the other party to assemble a case and press forward with it.

Until they do,just ignore them.

You are paying them way too much attention !

worried_jim

Just put them in the bin. If a case ever arrives then just take your evidence and hey presto sue for costs.

lallysmum

Some other people received the same letter.. here..
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=990123

maninthestreet

I'm not clear - did your son actually sell these hair straigheners on Ebay, or was this the activity of some scammer who hijacked your son's Ebay account?

Ste_C

Ah yes, the old "My son is innocent and wouldn't ever do anything illegal" line.

lancslass2008

Ste C, I was going to ignore your comment, but I must admit, I did laugh. If that was an attempt to wind me up, then good try chuck, but no go on this occasion, lol.

As for the other replies..........

He did not sell them. He has never even heard of them, let alone handled or sold them. Basically, somebody has been logging into eBay as him and selling these goods. Then the scammer sends the buyer a totally different Paypal address to the one connected to my sons account. The buyer pays into the different Paypal account and the scammer gets off with the money.

I understand that people may think I'm getting carried away or too excited, but some solicitors think that just because they know some points of Law that they can do what they like. I for one, would enjoy the challenge of making them apologise etc.

Tozer

lancslass2008 wrote: »

I for one, would enjoy the challenge of making them apologise etc.

I, for one, would have have better things to do.

Why not simply write to them pointing out that his ebay account has been hacked? In fairness, his ebay account DID sell the items so there is evidence of him being involved. You now need to disprove this point.

Have ebay acknowledged that his account is compromised?

biscit

lancslass2008 wrote: »

He did not sell them. He has never even heard of them, let alone handled or sold them. Basically, somebody has been logging into eBay as him and selling these goods. Then the scammer sends the buyer a totally different Paypal address to the one connected to my sons account. The buyer pays into the different Paypal account and the scammer gets off with the money.

So your son's account was hacked then? It's not a total wind up or case of mistaken identity.

I understand that people may think I'm getting carried away or too excited, but some solicitors think that just because they know some points of Law that they can do what they like. I for one, would enjoy the challenge of making them apologise etc.

I understand it's easy for us to be calm and collected when we're not connected to anyone being accused of something.

Pete*G_4

If your son was out of the country at the time, then proving it wasn't him will be easy enough. Just provide proof that he was away (plane/travel tickets, or anything putting him a different country at the time), and then get ebay to trace the IP address that was used to access the account on the day the item was listed.

job done and breathe easy.

Ste_C

lancslass2008 wrote: »

Ste C, I was going to ignore your comment, but I must admit, I did laugh. If that was an attempt to wind me up, then good try chuck, but no go on this occasion, lol.

Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters