Advice on business which has taken my money and done a runner

FalklandMike

Any help here much appreciated, as I seem to be going around in circles at the moment!

My car engine blew up (Ford Ecoboost - stay away from them, but that's another story!) and I was recommended a fella who my local mechanic suggested would get me a refurbished one for a good price. I'd done some looking round online, but trust my mechanic so agreed to buy the engine for £1900 (£1500 for the engine and £400 as a surcharge 'refundable' upon them getting my old engine). The seller sent an invoice from his company, and I paid via online banking.

To cut a very long and frustrating story short, the guy failed to deliver the engine as promised and has since my purchase not answered calls, messages, emails or letters, as I first chased the delivery of the engine, then more recently chased a refund.

He has closed down a linked ebay shop which sold engines, and I have noted on Companies House that he has attempted to close down his company (although this has been objected to so action has been suspended).

I contacted my bank to investigate and they appeared to be taking it seriously, but 6 weeks later they told me that this wasn't fraud or a scam, was a civil matter, and they couldn't do anything.

I went to the police who also said this was a civil matter.

The registered office for the company in question is in Glasgow, although some research I've done and the accent of the man says that this person lives in England.

I put in a Simple Procedure claim with the Scottish Court (Glasgow) as the company is based there, but I have just had a rejection from them as they say that they don't have jurisdiction to hear it based on the claimant's (my) details. I am based in England. because I am not in Scotland they can't accept the claim.

I've since gone to the England and Wales online claim on gov.uk and attempted to start a claim there, but they ask a question "Does the person or organisation you're claiming against have a postal address in England or Wales?" - I have responded no to this as I am claiming against the company not the individual (I presume this is correct?), and a message comes up saying that I cannot continue with the claim.

As I say, I am tearing my hair out here, as this person has effectively stolen £1900 of my money, and there appears no one able to help me.

Thanks for getting this far, and fire away if anyone has any questions.

user1977

I think it's a restriction on how you can use the English online service, and you can do it on paper instead. But the jurisdiction point seems rather academic unless you think the company has sufficient assets to pay you?

born_again

Have you sent a letter before action yet?

Alderbank

The breach was committed in England under the laws of E&W. It wasn't committed under Scots law so the Sheriff Court in Glasgow in not appropriate.

You can and should claim in E&W, which is where the breach occurred, but just not using MCOL because that only applies to parties with addresses in E&W, as you have discovered. 
Instead you complete form N1, which is the form for serving a claim where the defendant is outside England and Wales, and file it with the court. You will also need to complete form N510 and certificate of service form N215.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n510-service-out-of-the-jurisdiction

FalklandMike

user1977 said:

I think it's a restriction on how you can use the English online service, and you can do it on paper instead. But the jurisdiction point seems rather academic unless you think the company has sufficient assets to pay you?

Ah ok, so I need to look into making the claim on paper.

I only paid this money over in December, and the bank has told me that during their investigation, the company's bank said that they had no concerns that this was a fraudulent transaction and it was normal bank account, so that suggested to me that there was still money coming and going out of it. Maybe I just want to read it that way though.

I just can't believe that this can happen and there be no comeback. I believe that this person knew exactly what they were doing.

FalklandMike

born_again said:

Have you sent a letter before action yet?

I sent a letter using a template from Citizens Advice giving them 14 days to refund me. that was back in mid January, and that has been ignored.

DullGreyGuy

Over 90% of defendants simply never respond to the courts and given your experience so far you may well end up in that category. Unfortunately the National Statistics dont record what percentage of claimants ever see a penny of the money or not. 

Have you done your checks that if you sue the company is actually likely to have any funds to pay you with? Are you happy losing all the court fees etc just to get a judgement against the company?

FalklandMike

DullGreyGuy said:

Over 90% of defendants simply never respond to the courts and given your experience so far you may well end up in that category. Unfortunately the National Statistics dont record what percentage of claimants ever see a penny of the money or not. 

Have you done your checks that if you sue the company is actually likely to have any funds to pay you with? Are you happy losing all the court fees etc just to get a judgement against the company?

What checks can I do? I know the company is still active through Companies House. According to reviews on his ebay shop, I'm not the only person who has fallen victim to this.

Seems like the claim is the only option I have, other than letting this person rinse me for a couple of grand and swan off into the sunset. I will grudgingly spend money to get some kind of black mark against the company.

BoGoF

FalklandMike said:

Seems like the claim is the only option I have, other than letting this person rinse me for a couple of grand and swan off into the sunset. I will grudgingly spend money to get some kind of black mark against the company.

Pointless as they just liquidate the company and start again.

FalklandMike

BoGoF said:

FalklandMike said:

Seems like the claim is the only option I have, other than letting this person rinse me for a couple of grand and swan off into the sunset. I will grudgingly spend money to get some kind of black mark against the company.

Pointless as they just liquidate the company and start again.

I appreciate that this is an obvious risk.

What other options do I have? What is stopping this person doing this to hundreds more people? I just can't fathom how it's even possible that there is no come-back on him. When does it become criminal behaviour? If the engine was £19000 would that make any difference?

Arunmor

Are you sure it's Glasgow and not Paisley? 

Any of these names ring a bell?

ROBERT LESZEK 
JACEK ZARNOWSKI
PRZEMYSLAW SWIDER