Small claims court advice

Ben27

I've never done anything like this before and never had te need thankfully bug would appreciate some help.
So I got a guy in to do some tiling in my kitchen and flooring, as he was a tiling and flooring expert. To cut a long story short both jobs were terrible but I had already, stupidly, paid him. He agreed via text to pay back half the money but then I didn't hear from him for a week. I kept texting and getting no response, then started phoning his mobile and home number (which I got from his company's website). Again he just kept ignoring me. Eventually I last night left a message on their Facebook page in the reviews section asking him to get in touch saying something like "I don't want to have to leave poor reviews". I had also previously said I didn't want to have to come round to his house to speak to him as he was constantly ignoring my calls.
Anyway, he now sent me an email saying he's not going to pay it after all and that a family member who is part of the police says I've been harassing him, which he says is a criminal offense.

I was all along just trying to talk to him and did make several phone calls to his mobile in the hope he would eventually relent and speak to me, I even stated if he had trouble paying we could come to an arrangement. Question is I guess would I have a decent case if I went to small claims court for this and do they actually have any grounds for calling this harassment when he was blatantly just ignoring me hoping I would go away after he'd already agreed to pay half back.

Any advice would be amazing!
Ben27

daytona0

Nah, I wouldn't class it as harassment; he brought such an action upon himself by refusing to pay! If you're going to be a naughty boy then you have to accept that you will receive some sort of "harassment". It is the same if you owe a credit card, they will ring you a few times to try and get the money!

All you need to do is to collect your proof of repayment plans (text messages) and also any contract information you have (email correspondence?).

After you've done that, send the person a 'letter before action' and attach copies of your proof. Say that you will be lodging a complaint in small claims if he doesn't respond within 30 days (I think).

This will put you in a strong position should it go all the way to small claims!

pinkshoes

If the jobs are terrible, get three quotes to have the work put right, then take him to court for the full amount needed.

Contacting him for an agreed refund is NOT harrassment.

How much money are we talking about here?

paddyrg

'Harassment' is something stupid people claim in order to scare off the easily intimidated.

[Deleted User]

I am sorry to put a downer on this, but be aware that once you have a small claims award, you then have to get the money off him. A dishonest trader seems to just ignore these claims.

Did you take references? How did you know he was an expert in tiling etc?

hollydays

Only you know exactly what you've said to him.

Only you know how many times you've tried to contact him.
Of course saying you are going to go round to his house is going to get his back up, as he owes you money.or he could be saying that he only agreed to give you the money back to get you off his back because you've been harassing him.
It sounds like " he said , she said " situation.
I'd get some legal advice.
Have you thoroughly checked out his company and done a who is check on his domain?

Ben27

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

It's not a lot of money, the job was £1600 but needed starting from scratch. To his credit he had tried to put it right but it was still bad and the house was going up for sale, I couldn't sell it like that. It was all conducted amicably (honestly!) and I told him that I thought he should give half the money back to which he agreed "fair enough" and took my bank details. He never paid and subsequently wouldn't answer any of my phone calls or texts...to which I admit I have tried probably 30 times to call him plus several texts.
It cost me about £2700 to rip his work up, start again and put a new floor and tiles in. I was honestly just trying to be reasonable since although the job was terrible I appreciated that he spent a lot of time on it.

The company is reputable, local, and he had done a small job for me previously was honest and reliable, which is why I used him agsin.im going to go to CAB tomorrow I think to get some advuce

unholyangel

Ben27 wrote: »

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

It's not a lot of money, the job was £1600 but needed starting from scratch. To his credit he had tried to put it right but it was still bad and the house was going up for sale, I couldn't sell it like that. It was all conducted amicably (honestly!) and I told him that I thought he should give half the money back to which he agreed "fair enough" and took my bank details. He never paid and subsequently wouldn't answer any of my phone calls or texts...to which I admit I have tried probably 30 times to call him plus several texts.
It cost me about £2700 to rip his work up, start again and put a new floor and tiles in. I was honestly just trying to be reasonable since although the job was terrible I appreciated that he spent a lot of time on it.

The company is reputable, local, and he had done a small job for me previously was honest and reliable, which is why I used him agsin.im going to go to CAB tomorrow I think to get some advuce

Is it a limited company? How did you pay him (don't think its been mentioned yet, sorry if it has)?

You're basically claiming he hasn't carried out the work with reasonable care and skill. You'll be looking for pics to show what the work was like (and also pics with it done now to show how it should have looked if dont properly). Along with receipts of replacement materials/labour. You'll also want to check how solvent his company is and if you can get a hold of his last copy of accounts. Sometimes court can mean throwing good money after bad - some people know how to work the system.

If he's a member of any trade association/body, it may be worth contacting them to see if they offer any mediation/dispute resolution services.