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

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Comments

  • iammag wrote: »
    @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.


    OK I get your point, I must have misread your OP or loosing the plot.

    Nevertheless, thinking purely of yourself - is this really worth the time and headspace?
    With love, POSR <3
  • iammag
    iammag Posts: 21 Forumite
    @sulphate: Thanks for defending my case there, hard to see how I can be the bad guy in this case but I'm glad someone sees where I'm coming from.

    She did have money at the time, it was only when she first moved back to the area and started her job when she didn't have much money, and that's when I let her live with me. She wasn't earning huge amounts at her job by any means, but living rent free at my place meant she definitely had enough money to afford the two instalments of £150 a month. Plus, her phone that broke was an old iPhone so I guess that's what she was used to. If she didn't have a job at the time I would've never agreed to it, but I knew she could afford it and it's what she wanted.
  • iammag
    iammag Posts: 21 Forumite
    edited 3 October 2014 at 2:09PM
    @pickledonionspaceraider: As I said, it's not about the money itself, it's the fact that she keeps promising to pay me and hasn't. As someone else has said, people who don't pay back money they owe will continue to do act that way until someone doesn't let them get away with it.

    Small claims court probably is a step too far to be honest, but I just wanted to know what my options were so I could have something to threaten her with if she didn't pay. Before I've just been asking politely and she's promised to pay me but then does nothing. If I can send her a letter before action and say I'm willing to take her to small claims court for it (and she'll have to pay the fees if I win etc...) that should be enough for her to pay up.

    The hassle of taking her to court and all probably isn't worth it at all, but a message on Facebook and posting her a letter is if it gets me my money back.
  • Tropez
    Tropez Posts: 3,696 Forumite
    I feel so out of place in the world!

    No real money problems. My phone is several years old, cannot remember how many exactly, and was on an offer, you could get one for fourteen quid or two for twenty. I painted mine with nail vanish so I could tell it apart from my husbands.

    It works, why would I replace it?

    I had a Nokia 6300 once. I loved that phone. Had it for years. Only replaced it because it eventually failed on me (screen problem).

    A while back work decreed that we all had to use Android devices (since then Microsoft has chosen to spite Android users by dilly-dallying on the Office 365 tablet app) so I finally got a smartphone. It was crap. After a year I decided I couldn't deal with it's slowness any more (that and it started acting up, and giving me storage moans) and got a new smartphone. It wasn't too bad until it started whining about running out of storage (just what is the point of a 32Gb Micro SD card if you can't save apps to it without rooting the phone?) and eventually I got fed up of those moans and groans from this newer phone and upgraded again.

    So for the past few months I've had a Sony Xperia Z1. I like it enough, I've still only used less than half of its internal storage. The touch screen isn't too bad for my stubby fingers. It's a bit on the large side mind but overall it is decent enough. Yet still, that old Nokia wouldn't need charging for several days whereas this one needs a charge a day, and the speaker on it is inferior to my previous smartphone. Some people also complain about viewing angles but I don't really get why they're not looking directly at their phone when trying to watch/read something anyway...

    It's almost like there's always something wrong with phones now to try and convince you to upgrade. I hear the new Z3 can go for two days without a charge now and has better quality speakers... but I'm sure they've left in some annoyances just so when they roll out the Z4 in six months time they can try and coax you into upgrading again.
  • bargainbetty
    bargainbetty Posts: 3,455 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I have to be honest, I'd start with a Facebook option. Send her a note privately stating that you now have a need for the money to be returned. Tell her that you are very unhappy about the fact that she is putting you in this position after you tried to help her out when she moved, and that you can't believe she would keep lying about intending to pay.

    Give her the bank details, and tell her that unless £50 is in your bank by the end of the week, you'll file a Letter Before Action, because you need the money now. She will then need to make a further repayment to clear the debt.

    Say that you don't want to do it, but her failure to sort it out is forcing your hand. You have seen the pictures of her holiday, and can't believe that she could be so ungrateful as to pay for expensive treats before sorting out her mates.

    Then post a couple of 'Nice holiday, must have been expensive!' comments on the pictures. Warning shots.

    Then send the letter. She'll probably block you at that point.
    Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps....
    LB moment - March 2006. DFD - 1 June 2012!!! DEBT FREE!



    May grocery challenge £45.61/£120
  • iammag
    iammag Posts: 21 Forumite
    @zzzLazyDaisy: Yeah, I see your point. I think I might try asking her for her current address before I explain what I'm planning to do. I think she has her job listed on Facebook so I'll make a note of that (just in case she decides to hide it), but I don't have any bank details as she never paid rent or anything. I'm hopeful that the letter before action will scare her into paying before it gets any further.
  • iammag
    iammag Posts: 21 Forumite
    @bargainbetty: This is perfect, I might just copy and paste most of that, it's exactly what I'd want to say :)
  • lostinrates
    lostinrates Posts: 55,283 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Tropez wrote: »
    I had a Nokia 6300 once. I loved that phone. Had it for years. Only replaced it because it eventually failed on me (screen problem).

    A while back work decreed that we all had to use Android devices (since then Microsoft has chosen to spite Android users by dilly-dallying on the Office 365 tablet app) so I finally got a smartphone. It was crap. After a year I decided I couldn't deal with it's slowness any more (that and it started acting up, and giving me storage moans) and got a new smartphone. It wasn't too bad until it started whining about running out of storage (just what is the point of a 32Gb Micro SD card if you can't save apps to it without rooting the phone?) and eventually I got fed up of those moans and groans from this newer phone and upgraded again.

    So for the past few months I've had a Sony Xperia Z1. I like it enough, I've still only used less than half of its internal storage. The touch screen isn't too bad for my stubby fingers. It's a bit on the large side mind but overall it is decent enough. Yet still, that old Nokia wouldn't need charging for several days whereas this one needs a charge a day, and the speaker on it is inferior to my previous smartphone. Some people also complain about viewing angles but I don't really get why they're not looking directly at their phone when trying to watch/read something anyway...

    It's almost like there's always something wrong with phones now to try and convince you to upgrade. I hear the new Z3 can go for two days without a charge now and has better quality speakers... but I'm sure they've left in some annoyances just so when they roll out the Z4 in six months time they can try and coax you into upgrading again.

    Presumably you could afford all these changes though? :cool: having a job and all? ;)

    My next phone is actually prearranged. Some one else is planning to upgrade the iPhone they have had for a few years and asked if I would like it. As a mac user it might make sense for me, so I said yes.... But they aren't in a rush and neither am I, they have already warned me it needs charging A LOT. I charge my phone once a week. :)
  • Tropez
    Tropez Posts: 3,696 Forumite
    Presumably you could afford all these changes though? :cool: having a job and all? ;)

    My next phone is actually prearranged. Some one else is planning to upgrade the iPhone they have had for a few years and asked if I would like it. As a mac user it might make sense for me, so I said yes.... But they aren't in a rush and neither am I, they have already warned me it needs charging A LOT. I charge my phone once a week. :)

    I can but I wouldn't want to upgrade my phone every time a new "Z" came out. It's roughly every six months and £500 a pop! :eek: (Z2 was already out, and Z3 info had been leaked when I bought my Z1 so mine wasn't £500)

    But to be honest though, even if I didn't have a job, they're not hard to get hold of - Very, Littlewoods... all those catalogue type places flog them on installment plans and BNPL. I actually bought mine from Very on BNPL. Shockingly, they had the best price I could find at the time, so I shoved the money for it in a savings account and will pay in full the month before the BNPL expires. :money:
  • Addiscomber
    Addiscomber Posts: 1,010 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    OP
    As this 'friend' is likely to block you on FB make sure that you have screen shots of everything that you might need if you do decide to go down the small claims route.

    As an aside, does anyone know if the small claim would be held in Shropshire or Cornwall? As cost of travelling to Cornwall would settle the question of whether to take action or not. Even if the cost could be added to the debt that is only any good if one eventually managed to enforce the court order.
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