Claim against another business

grant999

Hi all
firstly is it ok to use a small claims court if business against business?
secondly if its the case could you help me with this matter

Basically i had a service done and was told a cost in writing of how much it would cost to fix,
as the engineer who serviced the item came to my premises so knew the nature involved in fixing the problem
there proforma email
does state'' please note: we will require a final site survey''

however 2 months down the line after there intended visit to fix the problem, they now state they have to get council approval to close the road and hire a cherry picker, none of this was mentioned when they originally quoted, so the price has now gone from £1100 to near £3500, so i have cancelled the job and asked for a refund in full (as i had to pay in advance in full)
they are now stating i will have to pay a cancellation fee as i do not want the job anymore

what are your views/my rights on this
thanks in advance grant

LadyDee

http://www.smarta.com/advice/legal/business-law/the-small-claims-court-for-businesses/

naedanger

grant999 wrote: »

what are your views/my rights on this
thanks in advance

What paperwork have you and what does it say regarding the price, revisions to the price and cancellation.

Also how much is the cancellation fee?

sjbrun

There's no consumer rights just business to business terms. What are their terms of business with regards to cancellation?

grant999

they haven't mentioned how much cancellation fee, they have put intial price in writing which i paid, they just sent me another email quoting another £2500, this is why i want to cancel
as at no time when quoting was these things mentioned
77. CANCELLATION Once orders have been placed & accepted, the Buyer shall not be at liberty to cancel such Orders except with P&J’s written consent & upon such
terms as P&J may see fit to impose to indemnify P&J against all loss, including loss of profit. Goods that have been correctly supplied and are standard stock items
may in some circumstances be allowed to be returned for partial credit but only by agreement with P&J before the goods are returned. A restocking fee of 25% is
charged and all carriage costs must be borne by the Buyer. Returned goods must be in saleable condition and original packaging.
78. CANCELLATION OF INSTALLATION Charges for installation cancellation; within 28 days of scheduled installation date 100%, after P&J order acknowledgement
issued but more than 28 days from scheduled installation date or where no installation date scheduled yet 50%.

this was there email response
[FONT=&quot]1) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]When customer placed order with us for the job where the access equipment and any local authority licences needed – customer has to pay that extra cost ''Fair enough but [FONT=&quot]no[/FONT] one mentioned this verbally or in writing[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]until 2 months later''[/FONT][/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]2) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]2)To carry out work with our staff using cherry picker, customer needs to get local authority licence for the road to be closed[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]3)We were asked to carry out jog without permission from the local authority, we advised that we could if your own staff used the cherry picker as we cannot operate it on the road without local authority consent[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]4)Now you want to cancel order, which you can do but there is a cancellation charges for this cancellation[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]5) 5) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]We have asked our boss regarding cancellation charges if you doesn’t want to operate the cherry picker with your own staff[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]My boss is away until 20th Sep so we will have to wait until we get response from my boss[/FONT]

naedanger

grant999 wrote: »

''... but no one mentioned this verbally or in writing until 2 months later''

The supplier cannot impose new conditions after the contract was agreed (e.g. in a subsequent email). So you need to be clear what the contract (i.e. what was agreed before the price was accepted) said about the work to be done, the price to be paid, and how any changes to the price would be calculated.

I think if I were you I would wait to hear from the boss before getting too confrontational. I think I would just tell the member of staff that you think in the circumstances (a very substantial change in price) it is unreasonable to be charged to cancel the contract and will wait to hear from their boss.

grant999

many thanks all, i will wait as suggested, the crazy thing i would have let them service my machine every year (as need to by law)

grant999

hi all
a update,
i received a response at last after giving them 14 days, they want to refund £400 of the £1200 owed and keep the rest for 3 proformas for servicing the machine for the next 3 years (which i originally said for them to carry out)
can't believe this company think you should pay upto 3 years in advance for work to be done!
i've gave them 7 days to pay back in full

is there anything else i can do?