Health club sold us £250 worth of day-passes without telling us their facilities would close

mattyprice4004

cattie wrote: »

Where does op say that the passes were bought with cash?:question:

Until it's confirmed that this was a cash purchase it's a little bit early to be accusing a staff member of lining their own pocket with the £250 paid.

Time to head to the vouchers section for a Specsavers test perhaps? :beer:

spadoosh

davidmcn wrote: »

Even if it's insured, their excess isn't likely to be under £250!

Im on about the businesses insurance here. Presumably theyll be claiming something if their business has closed until further notice due to a fire? I suspect the excess is inconsequential.

spadoosh

I struggle to see the need for a receipt here. Balance of probabilities youve got a disgruntled 'customer' who happens to have £250 of an establishments vouchers, a business that is unable to operate due to a fire and a judge is going to conclude that the person probably stole the vouchers?

Unless the business could prove they wherent purchased legitimately chances are they where. The business isnt going to win that argument.

I appreciate it would make things easier for the OP, but i cant imagine its going to prevent legal action being taken by the OP.

DoaM

spadoosh wrote: »

I struggle to see the need for a receipt here. Balance of probabilities youve got a disgruntled 'customer' who happens to have £250 of an establishments vouchers, a business that is unable to operate due to a fire and a judge is going to conclude that the person probably stole the vouchers?

Unless the business could prove they wherent purchased legitimately chances are they where. The business isnt going to win that argument.

I appreciate it would make things easier for the OP, but i cant imagine its going to prevent legal action being taken by the OP.

Agreed. As you indicate, small claims are judged on the balance of probabilities ... where one side's account is more likely than not. Unless the business can cast significant doubt on the provenance of the day passes then it's more likely than not that the consumer purchased them.

bobwilson

davidmcn wrote: »

I would say the contract has been frustrated. Letter before action and then a small claim. Is it still the same company running the club?

The club changed ownership almost immediately after we bought the passes. They knew this was going to happen, but didn't warn us when we paid.

Does this affect our ability to make a claim in smalls claim court, and if we should still do that, how do we go about it? We know nothing about small claims. Looking at the prices of lawyers per hour, it seems to be pointless to fight it, with a lawyer at least..

BoGoF

Is the club a ltd company?

KatrinaWaves

bobwilson wrote: »

The club changed ownership almost immediately after we bought the passes. They knew this was going to happen, but didn't warn us when we paid.

Does this affect our ability to make a claim in smalls claim court, and if we should still do that, how do we go about it? We know nothing about small claims. Looking at the prices of lawyers per hour, it seems to be pointless to fight it, with a lawyer at least..

It sounds like maybe you AND the new owners have been screwed here... Selling cheap passes for a club theyre about to sell when they know theyre not the one who has to fulfill the contract...

You say the passes were £250 and 'about a years worth' and the monthly rate was £80. How many days did the passes entitle you to? Was it a crazy good deal? Was the old company just trying to get as much money out of people before they jumped ship.

davidmcn

bobwilson wrote: »

The club changed ownership almost immediately after we bought the passes. They knew this was going to happen, but didn't warn us when we paid.

Does this affect our ability to make a claim in smalls claim court, and if we should still do that, how do we go about it? We know nothing about small claims. Looking at the prices of lawyers per hour, it seems to be pointless to fight it, with a lawyer at least..

Your claim is against whoever sold you the passes, not whoever is currently trading from the premises - so do the previous owners still exist?

steampowered

The club is in breach of contract for not offering the facilities that were paid for.

I would issue a 'letter before action' giving 14 days to issue a refund, followed by issuing a small claim.

There is no need to use a lawyer, you can do it yourself through the 'moneyclaimonline' system.

All of this stuff about receipts is just a complete red herring. You don't need to have a receipt.

However - as davidmcn pointed out - you do need to check whether it is still the same company that is trading from the premises or not.

bobwilson

steampowered wrote: »

The club is in breach of contract for not offering the facilities that were paid for.

I would issue a 'letter before action' giving 14 days to issue a refund, followed by issuing a small claim.

There is no need to use a lawyer, you can do it yourself through the 'moneyclaimonline' system.

All of this stuff about receipts is just a complete red herring. You don't need to have a receipt.

However - as davidmcn pointed out - you do need to check whether it is still the same company that is trading from the premises or not.

I believe I've already mentioned it's a different company. Does that mean I can't do all you suggested?