Deposit/Layby Query

[sick2death]

Hi everyone,

15 months ago i put a large deposit on a piece of jewellery in one of those antique places where sellers have their own cabinet. 

It was for a ring which was app £1300, i gave the seller two of my rings plus £100 & i owed £200.

I know 15 months is a long time but i suddenly became seriously ill out of the blue with severe sepis, ecoli and terminal cancer. I wasnt expected to survive but i did and as soon as i was strong enough i contacted the antiques shop & the seller to see if i could still buy it or have a credit note or something.

I have the receipt and there are no terms & conditions on it but the seller refuses to take my calls or reply to my text messages so im going to have to take him/them to the small claims court.

My question is how do i get his full name and address to serve him,  also do i just take him to small claims or do i take the shop that rents him the space to court?

I know its bad that ive left it so long & i have apologised & explained what happen but he hasnt replied or answered his phone in weeks now.

[ericsbrother]

you can issue a summons to the business adress. tyhe person who owns the premises will undoubtedly be more helpful if they thought that bailiffs wouldbe seizing anything they could grab and ask questions later.

So bearing that in mind how about contacting the antiques centre owner first and ask them to help resolve the issue as it is in their interests to do so. If yu are agreeable you could leave the £200 with tehm and collect the ring without actually having to face the dealer selling it if they dont want to speak to you personally.

[sick2death]

Thank you Ericsbrother ill try that first and see what they say. 

[sick2death]

Also, if someone does win do they actually get the money? I remember in the past that people won their case but still didnt get their money..

[BankFodder]

what's the name of the business?

[BankFodder]

I would say that the contract contained an implied term that you would pay the outstanding balance within a reasonable time. I think you agree that the amount of time you left it was not at all reasonable and so this amounted to a breach of contract. However, as the greater part of the price has been paid it seems to me that the jeweller! would not be entitled to dispose of the item – at least without contacting you.

I think you should be able to sue for the recovery of your money minus any administrative expenses the jeweller might have incurred as a result of your breach – which is probably very little.

You should certainly sue the business at his business address and you will then have to instruct bailiffs to go round and enforce a judgement.

[sick2death]

Thank you BankFodder, i know the 'reasonable time' is an issue but i really have been seriously ill,  so I've tried appeal to the sellers sense of decency or fairness but i havent got anywhere.

Anyway im going to take my chances in small claims court not that i want to but i think this could have been resolved without court.

So my real query is do i sue him or the shop that houses his cabinet. They gave me the receipt and i think ive got little or no chance of getting the sellers details.

[ericsbrother]

Thatb is why you let the shop owners know you are going to sue.

You can write the LBA to the owners of the business and if they failt o respond you sue them. If they tell you the correct details for the cabinet renter then you sue them and that can be to the same address as the shop as a business address.

 

But have you actually asked the shop owners about the person yet? better a simple conversation now than a complicated fight later

[sick2death]

Thank you BankFodder, i know the 'reasonable time' is an issue but i really have been seriously ill,  so I've tried appeal to the sellers sense of decency or fairness but i havent got anywhere.

Anyway im going to take my chances in small claims court not that i want to but i think this could have been resolved without court.

So my real query is do i sue him or the shop that houses his cabinet. They gave me the receipt and i think ive got little or no chance of getting the sellers details.

[sick2death]

Hi Ericsbrother, 

Yes ive spoken to the shop via Facebook messages. Theyve been really nice but not helpful, they've basically said i can't sue them as its nothing to do with them because they just rent out the cabinets and that the business has since changed hands so its a different owner, although the seller still has his cabinet there.

 

They also say that they only hold deposits for a certain length of time, but they couldn't tell me how long that is, so i sent them a picture of my receipt that has no t's & c's on it. 

I told them id be willing to lose some of my deposit but not all of it because its just not right, ive paid 80% of the transaction. I found this on the government website which i think supports my case.

Its just that i dont want to sue then be told by the court system that im sueing the wrong person and lose my fee.

[ericsbrother]

Now if I had someone contact me and they were ignorant of their rights I would tell them any old codwallop to try and make them go away.

 

You went into their shop, they are the peopel you made  a deal with and they are the agents for the seller so let them either accept the consequesnces or pass over the correct details of the person who holds your goods and money. Sue them and let them explain to a court as to why they should not be the person named on the claim.

If yui knwo the details fo the person then use thiose details othwerwise it is the shop.

look up agency. For example, you take soemting into a well known chain of shoe repairers. the branch is an agency and if your shoes are lost then it is the name on the shop front that is who you go after for your loss, not the bloke who sits behind the counter unless that big chain can show that it wasnt their name you were relying on when you entered the shop and can prove that this is so.

in short the relationshp between the shop owner and cabinet renters creates an agency where they carry the can for their cabinet renters' behaviour and tey cnat wriggle out of that

[sick2death]

Thanks so much for your support ☺

After i asked the shop to furnish me with the sellers last name and address and also told them that i woukd be naming them in the suit, they must have discussed it with the seller who then finally contacted me.

He said i wouldn't have a leg to stand on but he did agree to finish the deal, so he has his £200 blance and i have my new ring.

I was very apologetic though because i do understand his position, i just didn't think it was right that we couldn't compromise or even discuss it.

So thanks again

[ericsbrother]

well, if they really believed that you were totally in the wrong they wouldnt have kept the ring that long but the truth is the money was always yours unless a written contract said otherwise. This lack of conditions attached to your receipt would be their undoing.