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Money Claims - Court Date received, anything I should do/know in advance?

Run a small business, we ordered £1600 of products from a large online retailer last summer. It came in 32 separate boxes, and around 25% of the goods were unusable/completely broken.

I'd just had twins so was a little preoccupied. I opened the boxes the day after they were delivered and reported all the damage with photos.

The retailer says as I accepted the delivery they take no responsibility from that point onwards and there was no refund/return option available from that point.

Which seems absurd, right?

Anyway, had a lot of back and forth getting nowhere and was finally advised to try the Gov Money Claims service, and after them delaying it for ages, finally got a date in County Court in a few weeks time.

I've got no more info than the letter. Do I need to stand up and speak in court, or is it just a judge reading the case and making a decision?

I understand broadly that Businesses and Consumer rights are totally different and I'm at the mercy of their T&Cs. But I also know this business has been taken to Money Claims several times in the past and they have lost.

Any advice most welcome. 

Comments

  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 18,346 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    They may have lost, but the important factor is did they pay up.
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Bookworm105
    Bookworm105 Posts: 1,720 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 5 January at 2:27PM
    it will be heard as a business v business case and so the judge will be looking at the respective T&C with no inherent favour towards you as you will not be seen as a less "informed consumer" being taking advantage of by a business. In other words it will be a level playing field, your evidence against their defence 

    The proceedings in court are explained on many websites. 
    Make a court claim for money: What happens at the hearing - GOV.UK
  • martindow
    martindow Posts: 10,462 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It is very informal, no-one will be asked to stand and the judge will listen to both sides.   But you do need to be sure you have well organised paperwork so that you can evidence what has happened.  So when you say a percentage of items arrived broken for instance, you can quickly take out the photos and copies of relevant messages to pass to the judge.  It will not go down well if you are disorganised or cannot back up facts with relevant paper copies.
    It is perfectly possible that the case is not defended at all on the day in which case you will get a 'win' by default.  That is in inverted commas as that does not supply the money you are claiming.  You may then have to go on to use bailiffs - their fees will, like the court fee, become added to the claim.
    As has been said, read up on the process, get prepared and there is no need to be too nervous of the actual hearing.  Good luck!

  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 15,619 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    It is simultaneously both formal and informal. Most cases are held in something more like a meeting room than the main court rooms, there's no wigs or robes etc. However it is a court and you dont interrupt, have to follow the directions of the judge etc

    The MoJ has an ok video to help:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU 
  • cgfw201
    cgfw201 Posts: 37 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    So the hearing was yesterday...turns out it was just the defendant claiming they didn't get the original court letter and they need more time. So they now have 14 days to provide written evidence and then the court will take 3-6 months to make a decision, apparently.

    Big waste of time. Was in Court Number 1 of the local county court which was pretty extravagant for 3 minutes of absolutely nothing.


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