Cobbler Drama

armyknife

I read the thread title as a plural and thought it was going to be about 'Coronation Street'. :embarasse:

lustyrusty

hollydays wrote: »

Are they a chain or a private concern ?
Are they within a shopping centre or market?

I'm pretty sure they're a family run company. Been in my town forever. My Mother has just informed me they lost her shoes as well but she wasn't worried as they were only we cheap summer slip-ons! Wish she had said earlier!

unholyangel

lustyrusty wrote: »

No I don't have anything like that cause I shred everything! I think I might just have to get over it an accept the £20. I may have to have a strongly worded facebook status about my trauma though...

No online banking to print off?

You don't need the receipt. You just need to "prove" your losses. So that could even be ebay listings - with a % deducted for use if the ones listed are new.

Whether you bought them or were given them as a gift, you have suffered a loss due to lack of reasonable care being taken while carrying out contractual duties.

If he claims you left a cheaper pair of boots (bear in mind he is a cobbler and if you're used to footwear £300+, £80 is extremely cheap - so he may have meant it that way) then it might be a case of being harder to prove and the court fee's would likely amount to more than whats at stake so the risk would outweight the benefit imo. Did he not give a receipt stating what you handed over?

paddyrg

If he saw his solicitor (£250/hour) instead of just paying up (£50 to allow for wear), he's an idiot.

An actual cobbler like Ducker in Oxford will cost upto £1500 for a handmade pair of boots, so an £80 pair are disposable by contrast! If you're on your feet all day, though, a solid leather sole is actually quite tiring and hard, and will wear fast. Maybe the sole was plastic if it wasn't worn or uncomfortable - he'd know for sure as he had to reglue them (and a leather sole would have almost certainly have been stitched). I guess he's a repairer working on fairly low margins on high street shoes, but he still has a duty of care for your property.

He's admitted they're gone, so now it's just down to negotiation how much he should reimburse you for before you carry through on court action. Even the hassle of going through it and paying court costs (£30-odd, added to his bill) will make this a non-thing for him if he's any sense.

robatwork

Why on earth do you shred receipts?

I keep mine for years, just in case of this situation or a burglary etc.

In any case, you can probably go back to the shop where you got them and request a copy receipt.

Then send it, together with a covering letter to the cobbler requesting a fair settlement. Or better still name an amount eg. £60

Country_Cousin

Well I only keep receipts for larger items. I only keep receipts for clothing and shoes for a relatively short while and with things like some boots and shoes - I keep them and wear them for years, so would have no idea when exactly I would have bought them to look for bank statements etc. And I doubt anyone could go into a high street store to ask for a copy receipt a considerable while after buying them with only a vague idea of when they were bought and ask for a copy of receipt. In fact I am not sure you could do that for something you bought yesterday - but happy to stand corrected.


If the cobbler is being awkward then I would try and find a similar pair on ebay or a current pair for this season and show him those. As you now have to buy new boots to replace them I would try and gets as close to the price of a new pair as I could (and, I am aware re wear and tear and percentage for use etc, but OP does now have to go and buy a new pair, whereas she did not need to before).

lustyrusty

Can I just say a huge Thank you to all you lovely people! I asked about this on a different forum and just got a load of abuse. I'm heading to see him on Saturday cause it's the only day I'm not at work when he's open! I shall let you know how it goes!

pendragon_arther

How can he lose a pair of boots if they never leave his premises? I reckon he's given them to a relative.

hollydays

pendragon_arther wrote: »

How can he lose a pair of boots if they never leave his premises? I reckon he's given them to a relative.

?? :rotfl:bizarre

lustyrusty

pendragon_arther wrote: »

How can he lose a pair of boots if they never leave his premises? I reckon he's given them to a relative.

It's funny you should say that because I mentioned it to a girl in work and he lost hers too, she called in three times before he found them in his car!


Just to update you all - I wrote a lovely letter expressing my distress and politely mentioned how he was in violation of the 1982 sales of goods and services act and that he had the option of replacing, repairing or compensating me for my boots.


Being a particularly helpful sort I provided him with a selection of replacement boots to my standard and said he could order them or compensate me. I'd call in on Saturday to speak to him in person. He said again that he'd speak to his solicitor and I had no need to come in.


He contacted my sister today (they're friends on facebook) and said he'd be ordering the boots, asked for my size and again reassured her that I did not need to come see him!


(in the interests of being 'fair' I might have suggested I was uneasy with his practice of not giving receipts and dockets and of how I was sure his tax practices were completely above board.)