Help! Taken to debt collection after winning chargeback twice

blackberrycurrent

We hired a car from Green Motion two years ago in Edinburgh. When we returned the vehicle they found a chip in the windscreen that we were not responsible for. We were in a hurry and agreed on the spot that they will take the vehicle to a garage to access the damage and send us a bill for repair, which they never did, and instead charged the credit card for an unfair amount of replacing the entire windscreen.

We disputed the charge on the ground of misrepresentation and won. After a long time they somehow reused the old authorisation and charged the same. We again won the chargeback with our bank.

Fast forward to today we got an email saying "we have now instructed professional debt recovery service agents to follow this up". What are our options? Can we fight the unfair charge in court? We are ready to fight this as long as it does not impact credit score.

[Deleted User]

Yes, you can fight it in court, once they apply for the CCJ. But try not to let it get that far.

It will only affect your credit files if they successfully get the CCJ.

blackberrycurrent

Deleted_User said:

Yes, you can fight it in court, once they apply for the CCJ. But try not to let it get that far.

It will only affect your credit files if they successfully get the CCJ.

Thanks. Does it mean that if I fight it and I lose I got a mark in my credit file for 6 years? That doesn't sound very fair especially I am a consumer fighting against a company.

[Deleted User]

A CCJ remains on your file for 6 years, unless paid within 30 days.

It's not about consumer v company. It's simply where debts and judgements are recorded.  

pbartlett

i assume you only get the ccj marker if you lose and subsequently don't pay? you could check this.

if you agreed you were responsible at the time i can't see you winning though... what exactly did you agree or sign.

molerat

blackberrycurrent said:

Deleted_User said:

Yes, you can fight it in court, once they apply for the CCJ. But try not to let it get that far.

It will only affect your credit files if they successfully get the CCJ.

Thanks. Does it mean that if I fight it and I lose I got a mark in my credit file for 6 years? That doesn't sound very fair especially I am a consumer fighting against a company.

If you lose and pay the court judgement within the 28 days specified then there is no mark on your file, a CCJ only shows if you do not pay.

PRAISETHESUN

The chargeback only reverses the payment made to the merchant, it doesn't do anything to settle the underlying debt. If the seller believes that you owe them money then they are well within their rights to take you to court. I agree with the comments above about not letting it get that far. Ultimately if the judgement is awarded against you then if you pay within the allowed time frame there's no negative impact on your credit files. But at that point the amount you owe will likely be much greater since you'll likely have to pay some costs as well. It will come down to exactly what was agreed when you returned the car

[Deleted User]

blackberrycurrent said:

 We were in a hurry and agreed on the spot that they will take the vehicle to a garage to access the damage and send us a bill for repair

Sorry, but I read this as 'we accepted liability'.

Did you tell the credit card company this when requesting the charge back?

I have no idea what your chances are if it goes to court, but it doesn't do you any favours that you accepted liability at the time.

How much have they charged you? A windscreen replacement should cost less than £150 for most average cars, unless they've gone to autoglass in which case it will be at least twice that. If its a lower amount, I think I'd probably settle it and put it down to an expensive lesson. That lesson being, if it's not your fault, don't say anything that implies you accept it is. 

blackberrycurrent

Beardybaldy said:

blackberrycurrent said:

 We were in a hurry and agreed on the spot that they will take the vehicle to a garage to access the damage and send us a bill for repair

Sorry, but I read this as 'we accepted liability'.

Did you tell the credit card company this when requesting the charge back?

I have no idea what your chances are if it goes to court, but it doesn't do you any favours that you accepted liability at the time.

How much have they charged you? A windscreen replacement should cost less than £150 for most average cars, unless they've gone to autoglass in which case it will be at least twice that. If its a lower amount, I think I'd probably settle it and put it down to an expensive lesson. That lesson being, if it's not your fault, don't say anything that implies you accept it is. 

Sorry that's not exactly our wordings. We did not acknowledge the damage was caused by us but we knew it was their words against ours as we did not have photos on that location of the windscreen. Also, we did not agree with the amount they were asking for so we asked them to send the vehicle to a certified garage so they can access the damage and issue an invoice. Indeed we explicitly wrote that requirement on the checkout form that we signed. They never sent the vehicle to repair and blindly asking for £900 for the repair. When the bank asked for evidence on chargeback they could only provide a windscreen quotation from autoglass obtained 6 months before the hire date. That's why both visa and the bank ruled chargeback in our favour.

I'm not allowed to post links but if you google green motion guardian you will find other similar victims.

jimbo26

How much are they claiming for?

FaceHead

Write to the debt collector and say you dispute the debt, and they should cease collection activities. There are plenty of templates online. 

If they want to take it to court, and they apply for £900 plus costs, no judge will accept that as the cost of a windscreen. If they come back and say the real cost of a windscreen is £200, and you did accept liability and don't have photos showing the chip pre-existing, then you should probably cough up, and remember to take photos next time. Letting them see you taking photos is a good move. 

I agree that car hire companies are cowboys who overcharge for damage, and you should fight the overcharging element (£200 Vs £900).