Sold Campervan buyer wants money back

Jami74

mandy1955 said:

Hi, an update.    I received a letter as I was told by the seller that I would, it said recorded delivery on it, however my postman put it through the letterbox while I was out.   The letter was not from a solicitor or any legal body, but the seller himself.   He basically must have written it in a hurry as he was kind of ranting about his wife's illness and how I'm making her worse etc.   He said he just wants me to be reasonable and give him £325 to replace the cam belt.  He previously told me he'd been quoted £800.   So, as I didn't sign for any letter I've just put it in a cupboard to see what happens next.
He also joined one of the Mazda Bongo groups I'm still in (I have friends in the groups and we have meets) he wrote he's just bought a Bongo off me, naming me obviously and saying its a lovely van and fun to drive but I told lies about the cam belt etc.....so I screen shotted the post.
The letter was received about 10 days ago. 

They paid £8k after haggling and now want you to give them £325? I reckon if you gave it to them, they'd then say they had found other problems and want more money from you. 

I just bought a car for £1k and didn't haggle the price down because I thought it was worth that. Didn't occur to me to ask for £30 from the seller to replace the one bald tyre. 

mandy1955

I have received another letter from the buyer...again it says recorded delivery but put through my letterbox as I was in Taunton this weekend visiting family.  He is now demanding I pay him £695 as he said the van is in the garage due to a major oil leak from the gear box because of a corroded pipe.  He says my mechanic must have known about this as he said in my defence he knows the van.  There was no oil leak and the van was in great condition.  They have had the van since 29th May and I am getting so stressed about this now.  
At the top of his letter he wrote LETTER BEFORE COURT ACTION.
He has given me 14 days to respond or I am being taken to court and he says I will have even more court costs to pay if I don't pay him the £695 or return his £8,000.
The letter is only from him but he quoted this:
" I refer you to the Practice Direction on pre-action conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules in particular paragraph 13-16 which sets out sanctions the court may impose if you fail to comply with the Practise Direction."

please can anyone help, thank you.

I don't know what to do, I used the money from my van sale to buy my small van so I don't have it.  I don't see why I would have to pay him anything to be honest.  I just don't know what all this means. 

Ayr_Rage

Ignore it, they are trying it on, again.

sheslookinhot

However upsetting it may be, if it is, do as you have been recommended on here. IGNORE the letter.

  It means he is trying to bully you into submission. Do not contact him whatsoever.

twopenny

You are doing the right thing.

You have copies of the screen message. You have not signed for the letters which is good. But you have their threats.

Keep copies of everything they post so you are in control.

He seems to be very busy harrassing you considering 'his wife is ill'

His friend, his wife and himself looked at the vehicle, had the documents to see, and approved it. Sold as seen.

It's highly unlikely court will be involved as this is a scam to try and make you pay repeatedly because they know you are a nice guy (from your advert even) and an easy target.

I had similar approach when I sold my house. I got the 'my wife is ill' dropped into the conversation on second viewing and I had the distinct feeling they were expecting me to say I'd drop the price.

They agreed full asking. Then dripped surveys one at a time, long after as winter drew on, £10,000 for 'damp' in the survey which they wouldn't let me see  just before first signatures. And 'the wife is ill' was dropped in a few times. No well £5,000 off. I couldn't pack or deposit for a new place until this was sorted and it was highly stressful. Till I went outside and took the Under Offer sticker off the sign knowing they would go past but determined not to be made stressed.

I found on the internet that this was advised on certain forums. Especially someone older on their own. And then I heard from someone direct that this was 'normal'.

So it's not just you who are targeted. There is no official letter. The 20days or so to respond is a standard phrase they have picked up to pile on the pressure. That phrase is copied and pasted from somewhere.

They have spread disinformation publicly. It's fast becoming harassment

"threats , distribution of misinformation; character assassination; inappropriate emails, letters, phone calls and communications"

Take control. Date and time of any threats/communications from them logged. Do not respond.

You will feel better if you have all this detailed as your proof of harrassment and inconsistancy, you will let them dig their own pit the longer they do this

saajan_12

The points about recorded letter and being from the seller not an 'official body' are irrelevant. Regular post is assumed to have been served x days later (depending on 1st or 2nd class) and for small civil claims, the person can act on their own behalf, no need for a lawyer. 

Re what to do: you don't need to do anything, and can just wait for if / when they issue a court claim. Its cheap to send a LBA in the hopes it scares you, but there's actual fees involved (albeit small) to file a court claim. If they have no valid claim then there's no court fees for you either. 

Alternatively you could clearly write back to them ONCE ONLY, to say that it was a private as is sale, where the buyer or his repreesentative were able to inspect the camper in detail. You do not believe anything is due, and the buyer will just incur unnecessary court fees.  You also ask them to cease with tarnishing your name or you will counterclaim for this. The idea is to discourage him from filing a court claim.. not because you'd lose, but because it'll stress you out further. Only reply once, don't get sucked into ongoing back and forth.  

noitsnotme

twopenny said:

There is no official letter.

Yes there is.  The individual has sent a Letter Before Action.  They are perfectly within their rights to do that as an individual and do not need a solicitor or anyone else to do it.  It is basically their official notice that they are going to take legal action as the next step.  Whether they actually follow through with a legal Small Claim or not is anyone's guess.  But sending the LBA and giving a time frame to respond is the correct first step.

The best advice for the OP is still to ignore at this stage.  But not to ignore if they next receive a notice of a claim from a court.

531063

mandy1955 said:

I have received another letter from the buyer...again it says recorded delivery but put through my letterbox as I was in Taunton this weekend visiting family.  He is now demanding I pay him £695 as he said the van is in the garage due to a major oil leak from the gear box because of a corroded pipe.  He says my mechanic must have known about this as he said in my defence he knows the van.  There was no oil leak and the van was in great condition.  They have had the van since 29th May and I am getting so stressed about this now.  
At the top of his letter he wrote LETTER BEFORE COURT ACTION.
He has given me 14 days to respond or I am being taken to court and he says I will have even more court costs to pay if I don't pay him the £695 or return his £8,000.
The letter is only from him but he quoted this:
" I refer you to the Practice Direction on pre-action conduct under the Civil Procedure Rules in particular paragraph 13-16 which sets out sanctions the court may impose if you fail to comply with the Practise Direction."

please can anyone help, thank you.

I don't know what to do, I used the money from my van sale to buy my small van so I don't have it.  I don't see why I would have to pay him anything to be honest.  I just don't know what all this means. 

People have told you what to do, but have a read here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1771612  Just ignore them unless you get a official court letter.

mandy1955

saajan_12 said:

The points about recorded letter and being from the seller not an 'official body' are irrelevant. Regular post is assumed to have been served x days later (depending on 1st or 2nd class) and for small civil claims, the person can act on their own behalf, no need for a lawyer. 

Re what to do: you don't need to do anything, and can just wait for if / when they issue a court claim. Its cheap to send a LBA in the hopes it scares you, but there's actual fees involved (albeit small) to file a court claim. If they have no valid claim then there's no court fees for you either. 

Alternatively you could clearly write back to them ONCE ONLY, to say that it was a private as is sale, where the buyer or his repreesentative were able to inspect the camper in detail. You do not believe anything is due, and the buyer will just incur unnecessary court fees.  You also ask them to cease with tarnishing your name or you will counterclaim for this. The idea is to discourage him from filing a court claim.. not because you'd lose, but because it'll stress you out further. Only reply once, don't get sucked into ongoing back and forth.  

Thank you for the response, I have just been to my local CAB again,  they advised me in the beginning that it is unlikely he will carry out his court threats so I showed them the two letters I got from him.   She took them in the back for a supervisor to read and on her return she told me not to be stressed as the latest letter is mainly copied and pasted off the website from small claims.   She said if I want to respond ONCE then I should just used factual bullet points stating: three people inspected the van,  all paperwork was there for him to inspect at time of sale,  I said the belt had been changed but NOT by me however he still bought and paid for the van,  and any other issues after the event are not relevant.   
This is what I am going to do next.   I have all letters, texts, whatsapp messages, messenger texts and screenshots of him slating me on my own campervan groups. Also messages slating my garage mechanic.

There are so many that when I showed CAB this morning she agreed it borders on harassment.

thank you to everyone for making me feel better. 

sheslookinhot

Do not respond. That is poor advice.