Argos returns policy is a con - just sue them in County Court for a refund

Stevie_Palimo

So you had two laptops over the Xmas period and then have managed to go back into store arguing and complaining and then got as a far as taking a Court case against them and having it heard with a judgement all within a 30 day period ?

Sorry I don't buy it as the Courts are never that quick to take the case on and have the hearing.

( Side note for forum team member 5 :- My comment is not rude just in case you decide to have another sly dig at my post )

Stevie_Palimo

AmoUK wrote: »

Try reading carefully before posting. Who said it was "heard"? Where does it say there was a hearing?

Time is as follows:

1. It takes about 30-45 minutes to go to Money Claim Online to set up an account and issue a claim, and paying the court fee. (As another Poster has said, its advisable to issue a Letter Before Action first to set out your complaint and case, to give them a final chance to resolve it, waiting a reasonable time such as 14 days. I didnt do that here).

2. Then the court issue a Claim within a couple of days and defendant receives it in post.

3. They have 14 days to Acknowledge or file a Defence or settle.

4. If they Acknowledge, they have a further 14 days.

5. If they dont Acknowledge or file a Defence in that timescale, you can enter a Judgment in Default, again using Money Claim Online. There is no hearing. The Judgment is then issued within a couple of days and posted to the defendant.

(The defendant either pays up, or they can apply to the court to set aside for certain reasons like if they didnt receive the claim form).

Its ONLY if its Defended that its gets listed for hearing, and that can take weeks or months. In this case, it didnt need to go that far, Argos saw sense.

By rights then your case should not have been entertained as you did not follow the full letter of the law and just jumped past the required process here.

Not saying Argos are right in the actions over the laptops but there are ways to do things and judging by your very speedy legal action I'd be fairly sure that the position you made in store would have been quite abrupt to say the least and this would not have helped your cause, If you require things to be resolved when an issue happens it is always better to stay calm and collected as your issue will be heard.

Whilst you may disagree with my above point there is the fact that you failed to look at this issue correctly and go through the full process properly as outlined in UK Legislation, Argos should have by rights allowed this to go the distance and if a judge had heard that you failed to do this by the book at the very minimum you would have been frowned upon but worst case scenario you could have had the case thrown out and told to do it properly.

steampowered

In terms of process, the guidelines are that you should send a 'letter before action' giving 14 days for a reply, before issuing small claims proceedings.

However in practice this requirement is not rigorously enforced and would not result in a case being thrown out.

Once a claim has been issued, it is possible to get a definitive judgment 14 days later, if the defendant fails to respond to the claim within that time.

The small claims process is much easier and much quicker than I think most people realise. In reality bringing a small claim is easy, cheap and quick.

[Deleted User]

As I said at post # 25 of this thread, I don't understand why people are continuing to post to this thread as it's obviously not a bonafide discussion.

Now back to the thread...

unholyangel

steampowered wrote: »

In terms of process, the guidelines are that you should send a 'letter before action' giving 14 days for a reply, before issuing small claims proceedings.

However in practice this requirement is not rigorously enforced and would not result in a case being thrown out.

Once a claim has been issued, it is possible to get a definitive judgment 14 days later, if the defendant fails to respond to the claim within that time.

The small claims process is much easier and much quicker than I think most people realise. In reality bringing a small claim is easy, cheap and quick.

While its unlikely to result in a case being thrown out, it is enforced. They allow more flexibility in small claims and wont penalise for what are technical infringements but failing to send particulars of a claim is not a technical infringement and its likely to result in reduced costs being awarded, no costs being awarded or costs being awarded against you.

That is because judges are required to consider the effect of the non-compliance when deciding in how to manage the case and also when making an order for costs. The effect of not sending a letter before claim is quite major and not just a technicality - it results in legal action being taken whether it was necessary or not and also in order to be recoverable, costs need to be reasonable, necessary and proportionate to the sum in issue in proceedings (hence why usually costs arent awarded or are awarded against the party who hasn't complied).

I'm not telling anyone not to take a retailer to small claims (in fact I often advise that when retailers dig their heels in) - just pointing out that not everyone will have the luck OP had so they should follow the correct procedures to cover their !!! rather than following OP's example and hoping its not defended.

POPPYOSCAR

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

As I said at post # 25 of this thread, I don't understand why people are continuing to post to this thread as it's obviously not a bonafide discussion.

Now back to the thread...

I wonder how long it will take for another 'newbie' to post that they have taken 'X' retailer to court.

steampowered

unholyangel wrote: »

While its unlikely to result in a case being thrown out, it is enforced. They allow more flexibility in small claims and wont penalise for what are technical infringements but failing to send particulars of a claim is not a technical infringement and its likely to result in reduced costs being awarded, no costs being awarded or costs being awarded against you.

I understand the sentiment, but awards of legal costs in small claims track are very rare. They require something exceptionally bad - such as repeatedly ignoring court orders, failing to turn up to hearings or bringing a completely ludicrous claim. I don't think failing to send a LBA would be enough, particularly when multiple opportunities for settlement are build into the court process (for example you only get referred to mediation after a defence has been filed), and personally I've never heard of costs being awarded on this basis alone.

That said, it is still advisable to send a formal letter before action to avoid any risk on this front so I agree with the sentiment.

fleshandbone

Newbie bullying is not clever, everyone has to start from 1 post.

POPPYOSCAR

fleshandbone wrote: »

Newbie bullying is not clever, everyone has to start from 1 post.

The OP has not been bullied.

Perhaps if the OP answered some of the genuine questions asked by some posters and was not so rude , some of us would not be so sceptical.

It works both ways.

unholyangel

steampowered wrote: »

I understand the sentiment, but awards of legal costs in small claims track are very rare. They require something exceptionally bad - such as repeatedly ignoring court orders, failing to turn up to hearings or bringing a completely ludicrous claim. I don't think failing to send a LBA would be enough, particularly when multiple opportunities for settlement are build into the court process (for example you only get referred to mediation after a defence has been filed), and personally I've never heard of costs being awarded on this basis alone.

That said, it is still advisable to send a formal letter before action to avoid any risk on this front so I agree with the sentiment.

Legal costs are rarely ever awarded in small claims you're right - but that relates to costs for a solicitor (or legal advice/representation in general). I was speaking about costs as in the filing fee, lost wages, travelling etc.