Nuttalls of Chester - no idea whats going on

AnnCM14

wealdroam wrote: »

Was that letter titled letter before action?

Yes it was. I actually went onto one of the websites for the small claims court and printed off a copy 'letter' on the subject of "Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct". This gives full details of what needs to be stated to the person or organisation who owes you the money. You then adapt the letter to suit your own case, it's very simple.

AnnCM14

Further on this, I emailed the Trading Standards office in Chester last week and have now received a response, to the effect that although they have logged my complaint and are monitoring this company, they can only advise consumers in the local Cheshire West and Cheshire areas regarding Nuttalls trading methods. I commented that we believe Nuttalls are operating fraudulently, i.e. taking money from customers without supplying the goods and I have been advised to contact Consumer Direct on 0845 404 05 06 if I wanted more advice. Is it therefore possible that the more people who complain to CD, the more likely it is that they will eventually be forced to take some proper action against Nuttalls?[FONT=Arial, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif][/FONT]

wealdroam

AnnCM14 wrote: »

Is it therefore possible that the more people who complain to CD, the more likely it is that they will eventually be forced to take some proper action against Nuttalls?

Yes.


When is your court case?

AnnCM14

The summons was lodged with the Northampton County Court a week ago, who in turn officially issued the claim to Nuttalls as of 21st May. Nuttalls now has until the 4th June to respond to the claim - either by settling the outstanding debt to us direct, or giving a very good reason why they cannot pay. In the event that Nuttalls does not file an admission, a defence or a counterclaim by 4/6/11 we then have to apply for 'judgement' which I expect will take more time. This is the very first time that we have ever had to take measures of this kind, so it is very much still a learning curve. Thanks for your interest.
Ann.

hollydays

expect to see this thread grow as other customers find it

beth464

I bought a ring from here last year and actually had no problems with them. I did however visit the premises (can't really call it a shop) in person, as I live quite close and they agreed that I could try on some rings as I have very narrow fingers and wasn't sure what would suit. The Mollington Grange address is correct. Perhaps the business is now in trouble, hence the problems everyone is having. The ring I ended up ordering arrived on time and I was pleased with it.

AnnCM14

Then you must genuinely be considered as one of the lucky ones and it is also true to say that the Nuttalls website does show up-to-date reviews of other customers who have been entirely satisfied with both the goods and services they have received from Nuttalls. I am therefore pleased to hear that you got a ring from them that you are happy with - well done.

Nevertheless, what I believe is part of the problem that many of us now seem to be having with Nuttalls, is that one (or more) of their manufacturers is based abroad somewhere and that this is where they (Nuttalls) are having serious problems with their orders. That does not by any means excuse the abysmal way that customers are being treated - as you can clearly see from this thread. The Nuttalls customer services department leaves a great deal to be desired and the money side of things is infinitely more worrying - particularly for those of us who have been waiting on refunds for months on end.

NeilF3485

AnnCM14 wrote: »

The summons was lodged with the Northampton County Court a week ago, who in turn officially issued the claim to Nuttalls as of 21st May. Nuttalls now has until the 4th June to respond to the claim - either by settling the outstanding debt to us direct, or giving a very good reason why they cannot pay. In the event that Nuttalls does not file an admission, a defence or a counterclaim by 4/6/11 we then have to apply for 'judgement' which I expect will take more time. This is the very first time that we have ever had to take measures of this kind, so it is very much still a learning curve. Thanks for your interest.
Ann.

In my experience (issued a claim against a landlord for non-return of a rental deposit) getting judgment after failing to file an admission or defence (with or without counterclaim) only takes a couple of weeks.

However; once judgment is granted the defendant can still then apply for it to be set-aside. You would then have to go to local court to argue the case in order for judge to decide whether or not to allow it to be set-aside (I fear they usually allow it, mine was allowed purely because the defendant didn't put correct postage on the defence forms and so they were sent back - apparently ignorance can be an excuse!). Defendant could then file defence and the process would then continue.

Need patience for something like this, can be a long and frustrating process, but generally if you're in the right then you can be confident of a good outcome.

Only other word of caution is that even if you secure judgment, if they don't pay it can still be difficult to force them. CC bailiffs rarely levy on goods, and if someone says "i'm not them" will often just walk away. Also issuing a warrant costs a few more quid (although will be added to the debt).

p.s. It's irritating that the spell check flags "judgment" as an incorrect spelling!
p.p.s This just my opinion/experience and others may well disagree - they usually do

AnnCM14

AnnCM14 wrote: »

The summons was lodged with the Northampton County Court a week ago, who in turn officially issued the claim to Nuttalls as of 21st May. Nuttalls now has until the 4th June to respond to the claim - either by settling the outstanding debt to us direct, or giving a very good reason why they cannot pay. In the event that Nuttalls does not file an admission, a defence or a counterclaim by 4/6/11 we then have to apply for 'judgement' which I expect will take more time. This is the very first time that we have ever had to take measures of this kind, so it is very much still a learning curve. Thanks for your interest.
Ann.

25/5/2011, We have heard from the Court today that Nuttalls has admitted the full value of our claim, which included an amount to cover the cost of telephone calls and 2 Recorded Delivery letters, plus the Court costs. Significantly, Nuttalls has made no offer of payment of the debt, so we now have to apply for 'Judgement' by downloading a "Judgement" form from the website, full instructions for which are provided in the letter from the Court - thankfully it's not rocket science. We have asked for immediate settlement of our debt (there are 2 other choices) and have sent the forms back to the Court today by return of post. Will update this again when we receive the money.

NeilF3485

good news - makes the process a little easier. Be aware though than they can apply for a variation order (N245) if they cannot meet the payments/pay it all back in one go. With evidence of income/expenditure this can be as low as £1p/m. You would then have to apply for an N245 yourself if you can demonstrate that they can pay more.