Faulty TV stand bought from Internet resulting in CCJ?

Subbu84

Hi Team,

I could do with some advice here, I bought a tv stand from Internet and from relatively unknown company called WellaiConcept, TV stand was nice and delivered, assembly required. There were two parts to it, one part fixed and second part required assembly. While assembling it I realised it the second part had one faulty leg and one screwing bit not working which makes the bottom part unstable and little wobbly.
Complained to them online and they agreed to send to replacement which was taking weeks apart so I proposed a refund for keeping the item.
Seller refused and mentioned that I have to pay a collection fees and upon inspection will refund appropriate amounts.
Since it was raised via PayPal i raised it with them and lost the case as they needed someone third to Inspect the product and classify as grossly not fit for its description.
I then raised a dispute with my credit card company with all email exchanges and fault evidence, they refunded me the money.
Now the seller has threatened me with CCJ claims and asking me that I am liable to pay 1600£ as total damages for a product which cost 630£.
I still proposed a 50%discount or replacement of faulty part for full payment but they are now accusing me of refusing a return since I raised to my Cc company.

Exact words here -“ We had no choice and raise a court claim now and you will end up paying more once we use CCJ as a framework to the documentation to progress the High Court Writ. This is what our solicitor advised.”

What options do I have since I have got my money back but still have their product with me, plus a threatening court case on my name, please could could someone advise me?

Subbu84

Exact email words
“ The fact now is that you raised a chargeback and keep our item at the same time, which mean you had our item without paying it. Our solicitor stated that we can 100% win the court claim in this case and can cover all the legal cost, product cost and court fee. 

We are not threatening you. It is just an email letting you know you that our solicitor will raise a court claim based on this situation. ”

HillStreetBlues

Have you a full refund via Chargeback? and how long ago did you raise the CB?

Subbu84

I have had full refund last week, I raised it last week so decision was made pretty quick by the CC company 

Bought the TV stand around mid or end May

marcia_

 They can only get a ccj if they take you to Court and win.
 If you attend and provide evidence the item is not fit for purpose and they are welcome to collect it you could win. 

Subbu84

But my query is 
decision is taken by the cc company to credit the original transaction so how come I am liable for them to be dragged, I thought cc company or PayPal are third party that can take a call in such cases

user1977

They can take a call to authorise the chargeback, but the only effect of that is to reverse the payment, it isn't a judgement on whether or not you should be paying the retailer.

MattMattMattUK

Subbu84 said:

But my query is 
decision is taken by the cc company to credit the original transaction so how come I am liable for them to be dragged, I thought cc company or PayPal are third party that can take a call in such cases

Credit Card providers and/or PayPal are not the courts. The card provider deducted the money from the supplier's credit card processing account and gave you the money, so you now have the goods and have not paid. 

Inform them that the faulty goods are available for them to collect, based on what you have said being accurate if you do that then you will be able to successfully defend the case. 

DullGreyGuy

Subbu84 said:

I have had full refund last week, I raised it last week so decision was made pretty quick by the CC company 

Bought the TV stand around mid or end May

Then it hasn't been decided yet... the bank initially refunds you advising they may recharge you if you lose the chargeback. The merchant, once they are contacted, get 45 days to respond to the chargeback and then the banks have further time to consider the matter. 

Many small businesses feel that the process is weighted against them and so dont bother defending and instead just go to court action. 

Banks are not a court of law and their decision cannot be binding on the two parties. The chargeback process effectively allows the boot to be put on the other foot and the merchant is the one that has to take the financial risk of litigation. Do a charge back for £40 to a multination and they will never sue as it'll cost them more than they'll ever recover. Do a £600 chargeback against a smaller company and it will be worth their time considering litigation. 

Right now it's difficult, you could offer them collection of their goods but may go on to lose the Chargeback and so end up with neither goods nor monies. They are however right, you cannot get both a full refund and keep the goods. 

Olinda99

if you paid by PayPal then surely the credit card does not come into.it?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

The company’s terms are pretty poor but do state rejected goods need to be returned which is a duty you have once you’ve rejected the goods.

Parcelforce can accept fairly large parcels for around £11 (with £150 cover as standard if you book through the official Parcelforce website and the ability to pay for extra cover).

I’d recommend returning the goods, they should cover your reasonable costs but I think given the animosity they probably won’t do willingly.

If you returned and they still went ahead with a claim you could counterclaim the return cost. 

An extra £1000 in damages is very unlikely to be justified, if you were to lose there would be a filing fee, a hearing fee, some small costs (£90 max mentioned on here in the past) and possibly the fee the bank charged them for the dispute as extra costs. 

When you say you proposed a refund for keeping the item, was that a full refund?

If so consumer rights doesn’t entitle such, if however you wanted say £100 or whatever to keep the item with the defect that is an entitlement where the retailer doesn’t provide a replacement within a reasonable time. 

Chargeback is effectively exercising your final right to reject in the event of not obtaining any other remedy. 

It’s likely you’d be able to defend any claim IMO but would need to have your ducks in a row in terms of understanding the remedies laid out in the Consumer Rights Act. 

You won’t get a CCJ, you only get one of those if you lose and then don’t pay.