Small Business Received Claim For Money

Monstorious

I have just received a claim form from 'Money Claim Online' from a previous customer i had.

I run my business from home and it involves repairing certain equipment.

The small run down of it is, i repaired this gentlemen's equipment and later received emails stating the equipment was damaged again (with the original) issue and this was due to it not being repaired correctly

I repaired the item on 17th april 2013, heard nothing from the gentlemen until the 10th june 2013, where he claims the item is damaged again due to incorrect fitment. He has been using the item every day since it was repaired. My opinion is he has broken the equipment for a second time and wants a free repair or new item. (MY OPINION)

The buyer purchased through eBay and eBay have even said they can not help him as it has been so long since the original repair was carried out there is nothing they can do for him.

He is claiming 3x the original amount he paid to me, totalling £150.79. Bearing in mind he paid me £50 and i made £17 profit on that particular service.

I now have 14 days to respond online, can anyone help me here? I'm 22 and have absolutely no experience with law or court, i'm totally lost. I don't want to just bend over and pay £150 from the £17 i made and 2 hours of work done!

Also i had received positive feedback on eBay 6 days after repair was completed, meaning he was happy with the repair 6 days after he had received it!


Sorry for the wall of text, any advice or guidance goes a long way to a young lad trying to get by :beer:

motorguy

Gut feeling?

You're probably entitled to ask to inspect the item or to have it independently inspected.

I would ask him to send it back to you so that you can inspect it. If in your opinion its not cause by the original repair, send him a quote back for the repair and ask if he wants to proceed, and if not, for him to arrange a courier to collect the item.

I dont think anyone would be expecting you - even if it did get to court - to shell out £150 just because he says so.

By asking for the item to be returned to be inspected you're showing you're willing to look at the problem. Ask him to return the item within 14 days or you will consider the matter closed.

Horace

I would respond to the courts online - they are very helpful. Explain that you feel there is no case to answer, provide evidence of all correspondence between you and him, together with the positive feedback from him on your ebay shop.

Explain too the length of time between the repairs and his complaints together with the length of time between his last complaint, your repair and this court claim.

If you have insurance (I hope you do have public liability and professional indemnity insurance) then you should be able to seek legal advice from your insurers.

Wywth

Monstorious wrote: »

I have just received a claim form from 'Money Claim Online' from a previous customer i had.

I run my business from home and it involves repairing certain equipment.

The small run down of it is, i repaired this gentlemen's equipment and later received emails stating the equipment was damaged again (with the original) issue and this was due to it not being repaired correctly

I repaired the item on 17th april 2013, heard nothing from the gentlemen until the 10th june 2013, where he claims the item is damaged again due to incorrect fitment. He has been using the item every day since it was repaired. My opinion is he has broken the equipment for a second time and wants a free repair or new item. (MY OPINION)

The buyer purchased through eBay and eBay have even said they can not help him as it has been so long since the original repair was carried out there is nothing they can do for him.

He is claiming 3x the original amount he paid to me, totalling £150.79. Bearing in mind he paid me £50 and i made £17 profit on that particular service.

I now have 14 days to respond online, can anyone help me here? I'm 22 and have absolutely no experience with law or court, i'm totally lost. I don't want to just bend over and pay £150 from the £17 i made and 2 hours of work done!

Also i had received positive feedback on eBay 6 days after repair was completed, meaning he was happy with the repair 6 days after he had received it!


Sorry for the wall of text, any advice or guidance goes a long way to a young lad trying to get by :beer:

You don't have to respond online. But you must respond.
Just state your defence (or admittance as appropriate) to the claim.

As a business seller, faults that occur with the product you sell within 6 months are deemed to have been their at point of sale (unless you can prove otherwise)

On what basis is the claimant claiming 3x the original purchase price?

Prothet_of_Doom

Well, you repaired the item, and it broke, but you haven't had a look at it, so you can't say why it broke.

Not knowing what the item is, I'd say if I paid for something to be repaired and 2 months later it broke, I'd be wanting it fixed again. Free. I'd be bringing it back and demanding repair. What happened when he told you it was broken again. Did you offer to have another look at it? or did you give him short shift ?

His claim, however appears punitive. I would have thought that unless he can prove with an indepentant report that you made it worse, then at best he can only demand what he paid you.

Prothet_of_Doom

Horace wrote: »

If you have insurance (I hope you do have public liability and professional indemnity insurance)

Don't sell or repair anything without having this, otherwise you are doomed.
Something you fixed, hurts someone and you are toast.

Monstorious

I am insured, however the excess would exceed the claim amount.

I forgot to mention, in the first instance i had him return the item to me, i inspected it and it had been dropped, causing it to break. I know this because of dents to one corner. Also these sort of repairs do not just break that far down the line, we are talking broken glass here not just internal failure. or something along those lines.

When i had the item back i confirmed with him it wasn't covered due to obvious marks on the equipment where it had cracked, showing it had been in an impact (dropped probably)

The item was then returned to him, and i received informal letters stating i owe £xxx or court action would happen, now finally this.

Wywth

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

...
His claim, however appears punitive. I would have thought that unless he can prove with an indepentant report that you made it worse, then at best he can only demand what he paid you.

Plus the £25 mcol fee

Wywth

Monstorious wrote: »

...The item was then returned to him, and i received informal letters stating i owe £xxx or court action would happen, now finally this.

That's known as the LBA (Letter Before Action)

Now he's following through with what he said. It's amazing how many people for some reason don't expect this to happen.

Savvy_Sue

did you confirm your opinion that it had been dropped in writing? I'm hoping so ...