Faulty vinyl

michno8

I am a sole trader in the  carpet business. I recently supplied and used a self employed fitter to fit a full house. Initially the customer was happy,  but 3 weeks later complained about the vinyl coming up and was short round a frame and demanded £450 back.   I did return and tried to rectify by siliconing all around,  which again she was happy with.  she has now plastered this all over social media with pictures,  pulled up the vinyl,  posted that pic, asking people to share and get my business closed down.  I had 60 plus positive comments which she just deletes.  I offered her the cost of the vinyl and fitting,  I've offered to replace the vinyl and take away the other one and to pay a fitter of her choice and also offered to take the lot up and give her a full refund. She has declined all this and is taking me to the small claims court.  She has  lost  me business and is on a daily basis.  Have I fulfilled my obligations as a trader.  Any advise please 

Sandtree

On which element? The legal/consumer rights aspect and her prospects of success in the small claims court having rejected your offers of rectification or on the reputational damage aspect?

michno8

I have received a before action letter asking for £1000 plus any fees she incurs . She is now stating that for the £1000 she paid me to fully underlay , grippers and fit carpet to 2 bedrooms , stairs and for the whole of downstairs to have  vinyls fitted kitchen , downstairs cloak,lounge and hallway . Quality carpets , she had stated that included in that price was to level the floor between the lounge and kitchen . This was not in the price . If I have offered her what I did and she declined will she have a case in the small claims ? Thank you 

greyteam1959

I think she is well trying it on to be honest.
Ignore her.
Let her take you to court.

pinkshoes

michno8 said:

I am a sole trader in the  carpet business. I recently supplied and used a self employed fitter to fit a full house. Initially the customer was happy,  but 3 weeks later complained about the vinyl coming up and was short round a frame and demanded £450 back.   I did return and tried to rectify by siliconing all around,  which again she was happy with.  she has now plastered this all over social media with pictures,  pulled up the vinyl,  posted that pic, asking people to share and get my business closed down.  I had 60 plus positive comments which she just deletes.  I offered her the cost of the vinyl and fitting,  I've offered to replace the vinyl and take away the other one and to pay a fitter of her choice and also offered to take the lot up and give her a full refund. She has declined all this and is taking me to the small claims court.  She has  lost  me business and is on a daily basis.  Have I fulfilled my obligations as a trader.  Any advise please 

Let me get this straight.

You rectified the problem and she was happy?

She then decided to rip it up after you'd rectified it.

You then offered to refund her cost of the vinyl and fitting, or offered to replace it and take away the other one, and also allow her to use a fitter of her choice, or a full refund?

And now she has decided to take you to court!?!?! 

She is taking the p*ss.

WRITE to her:

"Dear CUSTOMER NAME,

On X date my company fitted carpets and vinyl in your house. On X date you contacted us to say you were not happy with the vinyl in the kitchen. I came to your house on X date and rectified this problem which you were happy with.

On X date you decided to rip up the vinyl flooring you were happy with and post slanderous messages all over social media. I notice that you deleted the 60+ positive messages posted by happy customers. 

I have already offered a full refund and removal of the vinyl flooring as a gesture of good will, which you declined. 

I have fulfilled all my obligations as a company by sorting the problem which you were happy with. If you would like to take this to court, then that's fine. *I will be also counter claiming against you for lost business due caused by your unfounded Facebook post.

Kind regards..."

* Did you screenshot her posts? If so, you could use this as evidence if you are able to prove that it was a direct cause of loss of business. If you have no evidence, leave any mention of a counter claim out. 

Also, do you have it in writing that she was happy once you'd been to fix it?

In the mean time, I would be putting your own Facebook post but not naming anyone saying that recently a customer was unhappy with some work carried out, but you immediately rectified the issue which the customer was happy with, but it has since been brought to your attention that the customer has chosen to rip out their vinyl flooring and post negative comments about the business on Facebook whilst deleting all the comments of the happy customers. 

michno8

Thank you  for your reply . I wrote a post on my page , not naming , but saying ' a customer '  explaining exactly what has happened. I have screenshot everything , her telling people to leave bad reviews , people saying they were going to use me and her saying stay well clear . She has private messaged people telling them not to use me etc .  I have 84 positives and glowing reports on my page , the only negatives are her and her friend , to which  I replied What i had offered her . I have now received a court letter claiming the £1000 for poor workmanship and slander. She is claiming that I did not level the floor between her kitchen and lounge . This was never included in the price but she is staying it was . How do I reply to this claim . I have plenty of evidence supporting what I offered her  she has even written in the claim what I offered her but says it wasn't acceptable . Any advice on how I file a response would be welcomed . Thank you . 

tacpot12

It will be for her to prove that levelling the floor was included, but there is a risk that this work was obviously necessary in order to do a proper job. It will be for you to explain to the judge why there was no need to level between the floors. 
I think the judge will take a dim view of her trying to ruin your business, when you have done what that law requires you to do, and I expect that the judge will reduce any amount awarded to reflect his. You should make a counter-claim for loss of business - using any comments from Facebook sites that say things like "Well, I won't be using him then!" as evidence of each customer you have lost. You will need to provide the court with an average profit per customer from your accounts. 

michno8

We discussed the levelling of the floor and decided between us that if she couldn't live with it I could come and do the extra work in the future when she could afford it , or I could split the vinyl and lay a plate across to divide the two areas . Will the judge be likely to believe me that a full house fitted with carpets , underlay , grippers  and the whole of downstairs ,including lounge , kitchen , hallway and downstairs cupboard with vinyl at the price of £1000 would not include levelling of a floor . 

Aylesbury_Duck

michno8 said:

We discussed the levelling of the floor and decided between us that if she couldn't live with it I could come and do the extra work in the future when she could afford it , or I could split the vinyl and lay a plate across to divide the two areas . Will the judge be likely to believe me that a full house fitted with carpets , underlay , grippers  and the whole of downstairs ,including lounge , kitchen , hallway and downstairs cupboard with vinyl at the price of £1000 would not include levelling of a floor . 

Did you write to her as suggested a month ago?  Did she respond?

I think tacpot12's point is pertinent: "It will be for her to prove that levelling the floor was included, but there is a risk that this work was obviously necessary in order to do a proper job. It will be for you to explain to the judge why there was no need to level between the floors."

No one can tell you if the judge will believe you or not, all you can do is set out thoroughly what was agreed and what was supplied.  It's up to her to provide evidence of anything that differs from that.  What documents do you have for any of this?  Quotes, receipts, email conversations, etc?

michno8

Yes I have our conversations , receipts etc . Yes I did rep!y to the letter . The response was a money court claim . I have until 18 Aug to file a response . 

Aylesbury_Duck

That's good.  Set it all out clearly, in chronological order.  Stick to facts.  State what was agreed at each stage and support that with whatever written or documented evidence you have.