Bad workmanship taking a company to court!

Sandtree

ged600 said:
Apparently small claims courts as they were known are always on the side of the consumer, according to a solicitor I know of!

Would love to know what the "solicitor" is basis this on? Consumers certainly dont always win in defended claims however its not always worth a companies time/effort to defend a claim so pre-court settlements aren't uncommon and similarly many simply go undefended but then the real challenge comes in terms of try to enforce the judgement... this forum is littered with cases of undefended wins but then the op/customer finds the company has folded or they issued against the wrong name etc so court fees were just extra losses to them

Undervalued

ged600 said:

Undervalued said:

deannagone said:

As the OP says "I wish to claim against the company owners for bad workmanship as after lots of emails both ways they now refuse to rectify the problem!"

Yes but it is a bit vague.

The normal expectation (in all but the most unusual circumstances) is that the firm is given one opportunity to correct the problems.

The OP would be wise to ensure he has evidence that he has specifically asked for this to happen and warned that if the firm refuse he will engage a reputable contractor to carry out the remedial work. He should make clear that he will look to the original firm meet the full cost of this work.

If he goes to court without having the work done it might weaken his case, as it may suggest that the alleged defects are not as serious as is claimed.

Has the "independent business" who looked at the work written a report stating "it's a mess and not very professional." If they are looking for the work themselves than that may devalue their "independent" opinion.

In what way is it "a mess and not very professional"? Is this just cosmetic or is it not functional and / or dangerous?

I have given the company the opportunity to return and re do the work. After the final email titled “this is what we propose to do” contradictory comments they end the email with we refuse to do the work!
I got an quote from another independent company who were willing to do the work properly, I gave the quote to the original company to see if they were willing to follow the quote themselves at their cost, they refused! I have an original quote which was not followed, photos before and after plus all emails. Apparently small claims courts as they were known are always on the side of the consumer, according to a solicitor I know of!

Well I should get your advice from them if they tell you what you want to hear - must be right!

knightstyle

Just be careful and do not spend too much chasing them. a letter before claim may work but all too often if it is for a substantial amount the company just folds before paying anything.

born_again

I hope the report goes into a bit more detail than 
 " it's a mess and not very professional. "