Unresolved order cancellation since 11/6/21 and now owner claims cancer causing delay. What can I do

Jack_Bauer

Hi all,

Quick update on this. I sent a 'letter before action' to the business owner on the 22nd of October and sure enough, I started receiving some money back from the business.

I have received a total of £495.5 of the £544.5 owed to me. £49 is outstanding. I received my refund monies in small tranches as follows:

1st November 2021 - £140

2nd November 2021 - £125.5

3rd November 2021 - £130

5th November 2021 - £100

I have been sending follow up emails to the business to question where the remaining £49 is but I am being met with complete silence. Bear in mind, I had already paid a further £40 to send the items back to the business (which I shouldn't have had to do so if they had cancelled the order prior to shipping as I had asked) so I am technically £89 out of pocket right now.

If I proceed with a court claim to get the remaining £49, it will cost me £30 just to file the claim. Should I proceed with the court claim and if so, would I be able to claim back the £40 for the cost of sending the items back, and also the £30 for filing the claim, both from the business?

Sandtree

When filing the claim you state that you want the court fees to be added, the filing fee is just the first one, there is a second later fee. Ultimately its the judge's decision on if to award fees however its highly unusual for them not to be awarded and when they arent are typically because of failure to follow process (ie no attempt to resolve the matter before going to court) or abuse of process (eg issuing for a £0.10 debt).

I must admit not to having read the whole post, though it was strangely familiar for a post noted as unread, and so not clear about the cancellation -v- sent items. Its therefore unclear if the return costs are appropriate to be included or not.

Jenni_D

Send a formal follow-up LBA demanding payment of the remaining balance of £49 plus the returns postage cost of £40 (so £89 total) within 7 days else you'll commence legal action without further notice, such a claim being for £89 plus costs of bringing the action and reasonable expenses as allowed by the courts.

(The order was cancelled by the OP 4 months after the original stated delivery date - there being no delivery update - and more than 2 weeks prior to the seller starting the delivery process. IMHO the returns cost can be reclaimed as there should have been no contract in place for the seller to ship the goods).

Edit: corrected a typo ... £49 not £59  

CKhalvashi

Jenni_D said:

Send a formal follow-up LBA demanding payment of the remaining balance of £59 plus the returns postage cost of £40 (so £89 total) within 7 days else you'll commence legal action without further notice, such a claim being for £89 plus costs of bringing the action and reasonable expenses as allowed by the courts.

(The order was cancelled by the OP 4 months after the original stated delivery date - there being no delivery update - and more than 2 weeks prior to the seller starting the delivery process. IMHO the returns cost can be reclaimed as there should have been no contract in place for the seller to ship the goods).

I'd go with this option.

Logic should occasionally trump legal rights and as there is a clear intention to pay as demonstrated, putting the back of the staff up in taking this to court likely will make it more difficult to correct.

Be prepared to go through with this, including the return postage.