Friend owes me £150, how do I get it back?

JimmyTheWig

lulu_92 wrote: »

Remember that recycling services seriously undervalue your phone, so they're not the best way to value a phone.

I agree, but my point is that the OP didn't have the hassle and fees of selling it on eBay, etc.

JimmyTheWig

iammag wrote: »

@redcard: I get your point, and I have learnt from the experience but I don't agree with your argument. I did have an agreement in place, I have the Facebook messages where she asked for my phone and agreed to pay me £300, it's just that I didn't get her to sign any sort of contract because she was a friend and I didn't think it was necessary (obviously now I know better).

I don't think getting her to sign anything would have made any difference.
If you've got the agreement in writing (electronic writing is perfectly acceptable, as far as I am aware) then you've got proof enough for the courts.

Obviously if your friend has a signed agreement from you after the Facebook message to say that she no longer owes you this money then that would trump your unsigned message. But given that she doesn't that's somewhat irrelevant.


I believe that the problems you will face are (a) the cost and hassle of making the claim, (b) the fall-out with this friend from making the claim, (c) the possible fall-out with mutual friends if she gets her side of the story across to them better than you do, (d) getting her correct address, (e) winning in court but her not having any money and agreeing some crazy payment plan with the court where she gives you £2 a month or something silly.
None of which relate to you not having a signed agreement.

zzzLazyDaisy

Madame_Foo wrote: »

Hi


make sure you send the Letter Before Action by recorded delivery.


The Small Claims Court would need proof that she received this letter but also it will look to her a bit more like you mean business as well.


Good luck!

Actually, although the advice sounds good, in the strange world of the court system and the determined debtor it is not good advice at all!

The court rules are that the claimant has to post the letter to the debtors last known address. The only evidence needed is proof of posting (not proof of deliver). So the best way is to post two copies of the letter from different post offices and get a (free) proof of posting for each. The logic being that even if one letter goes astray in the post, it is unlikely that two will, so evidentially that swings the burden of proof towards the debtor.

Sending a recorded delivery letter is likely to result in the debtor refusing it and it being returned a few weeks later, thus proving that the debtor dis NOT get it... which is exactly what you don't want!

Daisy

iammag

@JimmyTheWig: The cost and hassle of making a claim is definitely putting me off a bit, but I'm hoping the letter before action will show her that I'm serious and be enough to make her pay up. Up until now, I've not had anything actionable to threaten her with, so hopefully this will work.

I'm really not fussed about the friendship at this point, we weren't that close to begin with so I'd rather have the money. Getting her address may be tricky, but someone else has said that it just has to be her last known address so I may ok.

If it did go to court, I'd hope they wouldn't go for a crazy payment plan like that, especially considering she has a job and can afford to go on holidays. I guess you never know what could happen, but hopefully it can be resolved before reaching that stage.

iammag

@zzzLazyDaisy: Aah ok, well I guess that makes sense if all that's needed is proof of posting. I had to post her something she left behind about 18 months ago, so I can use that address for this. Thanks for your reply, as you can probably tell I'm a bit clueless about all of this, so I really appreciate your advice

pickledonionspaceraider

iammag wrote: »

First of all, apologies if I've posted this to the wrong section, I wasn't sure where else to ask.

A couple of years ago, an old friend of mine moved back to the area and got a job where I worked. She didn't have much money and was staying with relatives almost an hour away from the office which wasn't ideal, so we decided it would make sense if she lived with me for a while until she could afford her own place.

A few weeks passed and her phone stopped working, so she asked if I would be willing to sell her mine. I was due an upgrade anyway, so we agreed £300, in two £150 instalments.

I got the first payment almost straight away, but before I could get the second she was let go from her job and decided to move back home to Cornwall (I'm in Shropshire). Before she left, she assured me she would pay me the other £150 as soon as she got a job, but as you can probably guess I've still not received anything.

Every time I contact her about it, she apologises and promises she'll pay me at the next pay day, but it never happens. I even agreed to let her pay back in smaller monthly instalments to help her out but nothing. I'm not desperate for the money, it's more a matter of principle that I don't want her to get away with it when all I did was try to help her out.

I didn't think to get her to sign any sort of contract at the time, but I've got plenty of texts and Facebook messages where she admits she owes the money and agrees to pay it back, so what are my options?

Thanks, and sorry for the long story

I would let it go to be honest. Not worth your time/effort/stress

£300 for an iphone 4s, 2 years ago, seems expensive to me even to sell to a stranger, but to sell for a huge price to a friend - I thought friends meant to help each other out instead you sold her something she couldn't afford when she was on her uppers. You admit she had little money

sulphate

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

I would let it go to be honest. Not worth your time/effort/stress

£300 for an iphone 4s, 2 years ago, seems expensive to me even to sell to a stranger, but to sell for a huge price to a friend - I thought friends meant to help each other out instead you sold her something she couldn't afford when she was on her uppers. You admit she had little money

That's not the point though is it? She owes the money and should pay it back. The OP also let her live with her rent-free for awhile, so you can hardly argue she didn't help her out.

Why did the friend decide to commit to buy an expensive phone when she had little money? You can get PAYG phones for as little as £9.

iammag

@pickledonionspaceraider: Just to clarify on some of the points you made:

- She had little money when she first moved back to the area, but by the time she moved in with me she had a full time job, gym membership and was buying clothes/food regularly so she had money when the phone was sold.

- The £300 was her suggestion, and was the going rate on eBay at the time. In fact, mine was 32gb and in perfect condition, so I reckon it could have gone for more. I get what you mean about "mates rates" and all, but it was a fair rate and I was helping her out just by selling her the phone in the first place (I had no intention of getting a new phone, was happy with the 4S, she virtually begged me to sell it to her because hers was broken)

- I let her live with me virtually rent free, drove her around all the time because she didn't have a car, took her shopping, spent my evenings teaching her web design (which is what she wanted to do as a job) and lots of other stuff, so I think I did enough for her as a friend.

pickledonionspaceraider

sulphate wrote: »

That's not the point though is it? She owes the money and should pay it back. The OP also let her live with her rent-free for awhile, so you can hardly argue she didn't help her out.

Why did the friend decide to commit to buy an expensive phone when she had little money? You can get PAYG phones for as little as £9.

I agree, it seems madness to choose to purchase something one cannot afford

I might be too relaxed about this kind of stuff, but I do believe in picking my battles, and wouldn't loose a nights sleep over £150 - from years ago. This thing could grow bigger than it's worth, if a letter is served and ignored, what then? Small claims court may be the only option and the stress, time and Personally speaking, the headspace to follow that up - would cost me more than £150 to persue

zzzLazyDaisy

iammag wrote: »

Getting her address may be tricky, but someone else has said that it just has to be her last known address so I may ok.

That's true, for court purposes, but you need to focus on the outcome that you want to achieve.

If you write to her at her last known address and she is not living there, and does not get the letter, then she will not know you are threatening her with court, so as a tactic to get her to pay up, it won't work.

Similarly, as far as court proceedings are concerned, while you can use her last known address, if she doesn't get the court papers and doesn't file a defence, then you will win by default - but if you don't know where she is, it will be a useless (and expensive) exercise, since you will be no nearer getting the money out of her.

Sadly many many people go to court in these situations only to find that the court judgement is a worthless piece of paper because actually enforcing the judgement and getting the money can be another thing entirely.

Ideally you need to know her actual address, and if you know her place of work that is even better (for enforcement purposes).

Also, since she lived with you, do you have her bank account details? As that might help you to enforce the judgement going forward.

Daisy