Reply to: Small claims court - defendant is threatening to counter claim if I dont accept

[Old Greg]

How did this resolve, PC?

[northernladuk]

Did you pay 'under protest' as per the advice here:

Is there any other way of paying money or is that just a Yorkshire thing?

[Old Greg]

Because he still had the car and wouldnt have released it.

Did you pay 'under protest' as per the advice here:

Problem with a car repair - Citizens Advice

Some other advice here, which I expect you have already read:

If you didn’t agree a price before the work was done (or you only got an estimate)
If the trader only gave an estimate then they can charge you more within reason. If you don't think the extra charged is reasonable, ask the garage to reduce the price.

Your rights and what to say

If no price was agreed before the work was done, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you the legal right to only pay a ‘reasonable price’. Tell this to the garage.

It can be difficult agreeing what is ‘reasonable’. It would be reasonable, for example, to be charged more if the garage needed a bit more time for the repairs or they needed more parts. You can get a second opinion from another garage if you’re not sure what is reasonable.

If you think the cost is unreasonable and they won’t lower the price, you should take further action.

[GhostofTarbera]

Long story - got into an argument a local garage who charged me £120 for towing my Mrs car in for repairs (it was 3 miles). My argument was he offered to collect and never said it would be chargeable let alone at a premium. Only found out when he presented the bill and wanted another £120 to bring it back (I got someone else to do for £40).

Anyway, the guy is a complete cock. Found out after hes got a bit of reputation for ripping people off like this. I had to pay to get the car back but complained.

Thought it'd be a laugh to take him to small claims court. Yeh its £120 so nothing but Mrs car/Mrs money so she was dead keen. And there was the entertainment value for £35 anyway.

So the guys responded - unless I accept his offer of £45 hes going to take it further and counter claim for his wasted time and the stress I caused. WTF?

Surely you can't do that. Defeats the whole object of the small claims court where the individual does not get steamrollered by superior legal resources and money.

After all, imagine taking Tesco or someone to small claims and them threatening to sue you to scare you off.

Anyone know what the rules are?

Counter claim to bum him if he proceeds


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[JohntheBike]

The small claims court and county court process have changed (for the worse) over the past couple of years.

You cannot sue for stress, it will be thrown out. Wasting time; you have no chance. Not using any pre-action protocol, if it gets to a hearing you will most likely lose on those grounds.

Most cases at the small claims court are now dealt with on paper by admin staff and not a judge although a judge may rubber-stamp papers and judgments made by court staff.

It's no worth suing anyone for less than £1k in the small claims court unless you know they are not going to contest it.

"It's no worth suing anyone for less than £1k in the small claims court unless you know they are not going to contest it"

I would not agree.

It's not worth suing anyone in the small claims court unless you are sure it will cost them more to defend the claim than settling out of court. I've won three cases on that basis.

[AtW]

Better call Saul - he’ll sue everybody...

[Paddy]

Long story - got into an argument a local garage who charged me £120 for towing my Mrs car in for repairs (it was 3 miles). My argument was he offered to collect and never said it would be chargeable let alone at a premium. Only found out when he presented the bill and wanted another £120 to bring it back (I got someone else to do for £40).

Anyway, the guy is a complete cock. Found out after hes got a bit of reputation for ripping people off like this. I had to pay to get the car back but complained.

Thought it'd be a laugh to take him to small claims court. Yeh its £120 so nothing but Mrs car/Mrs money so she was dead keen. And there was the entertainment value for £35 anyway.

So the guys responded - unless I accept his offer of £45 hes going to take it further and counter claim for his wasted time and the stress I caused. WTF?

Surely you can't do that. Defeats the whole object of the small claims court where the individual does not get steamrollered by superior legal resources and money.

After all, imagine taking Tesco or someone to small claims and them threatening to sue you to scare you off.

Anyone know what the rules are?

I queued in Waitrose at the till for 10 mins the other day - the stress caused and time I wasted must be due a claim.

In so many words for the garage - "Basically, I tried it on with the tow fee knowing full well I implied collection was free, the person complained, surprisingly they took me to court, now I'm going to threaten them to make them drop it."

So, what particular legal process is he going to use to bring this action ??

PS - If you could easily sue people for stress and wasted time, you'd never leave the court room...NLUK would have you in there daily.

It's cost me more in wasted time to read this thread. Grow-up.

You've filed court case without following pre-litigation protocols?

Oh dear.

The judge is going to tear you a new one.

The small claims court and county court process have changed (for the worse) over the past couple of years.

You cannot sue for stress, it will be thrown out. Wasting time; you have no chance. Not using any pre-action protocol, if it gets to a hearing you will most likely lose on those grounds.

Most cases at the small claims court are now dealt with on paper by admin staff and not a judge although a judge may rubber-stamp papers and judgments made by court staff.

It's not worth suing anyone for less than £1k in the small claims court unless you know they are not going to contest it.

[JohntheBike]

Long story - got into an argument a local garage who charged me £120 for towing my Mrs car in for repairs (it was 3 miles). My argument was he offered to collect and never said it would be chargeable let alone at a premium. Only found out when he presented the bill and wanted another £120 to bring it back (I got someone else to do for £40).

Anyway, the guy is a complete cock. Found out after hes got a bit of reputation for ripping people off like this. I had to pay to get the car back but complained.

Thought it'd be a laugh to take him to small claims court. Yeh its £120 so nothing but Mrs car/Mrs money so she was dead keen. And there was the entertainment value for £35 anyway.

So the guys responded - unless I accept his offer of £45 hes going to take it further and counter claim for his wasted time and the stress I caused. WTF?

Surely you can't do that. Defeats the whole object of the small claims court where the individual does not get steamrollered by superior legal resources and money.

After all, imagine taking Tesco or someone to small claims and them threatening to sue you to scare you off.

Anyone know what the rules are?

as one who has used the small claims court to great effect and success, it really comes down to the actual amounts involved whether or not it's worthwhile and whether or not the defendant is worth powder and shot as they say.

I would say that both your cases are "wooly" from a sureness point of view. However, assuming both of you are worth powder and shot, ask yourself the question, what would the cost be to each of you if you both appeared in court and represented yourselves if your claim and his counter claim were to be heard in court?

Both of you would be likely to lose a day's pay to appear in court. Those amounts would have to be taken into account. In the long term, his reputation could be damaged by any court case and that is also a factor for him to consider, which might be in your favour.

So, my advice is not to take it as a matter of fun, but look at the issues more carefully

[JohntheBike]

I queued in Waitrose at the till for 10 mins the other day - the stress caused and time I wasted must be due a claim.

In so many words for the garage - "Basically, I tried it on with the tow fee knowing full well I implied collection was free, the person complained, surprisingly they took me to court, now I'm going to threaten them to make them drop it."

y ddraig coch ddyri cychwen!

[psychocandy]

Similar thing happened to me years ago: a garage charged me for towing my car, never mentioned costs and made it sound like they were going to do it for free.

I asked for an explanation but at the end since it was "only" £45 quid I just paid. Nevertheless, I left them a couple of negative online reviews.

I knew I caused more damage than they did to me when the garage phoned me asking to remove such reviews. They're still there

Yeh it was £120 for me. 3 miles or so. Guess its a nice little earner. Would have taken him an hour I guess. Easy money for the garage, just say nothing, add on to the bill, half won't notice, half wont moan.

[psychocandy]

You've filed court case without following pre-litigation protocols?

Oh dear.

The judge is going to tear you a new one.

nah I did all that.

[PCTNN]

Similar thing happened to me years ago: a garage charged me for towing my car, never mentioned costs and made it sound like they were going to do it for free.

I asked for an explanation but at the end since it was "only" £45 quid I just paid. Nevertheless, I left them a couple of negative online reviews.

I knew I caused more damage than they did to me when the garage phoned me asking to remove such reviews. They're still there

[Mordac]

Long story - got into an argument a local garage who charged me £120 for towing my Mrs car in for repairs (it was 3 miles). My argument was he offered to collect and never said it would be chargeable let alone at a premium. Only found out when he presented the bill and wanted another £120 to bring it back (I got someone else to do for £40).

Anyway, the guy is a complete cock. Found out after hes got a bit of reputation for ripping people off like this. I had to pay to get the car back but complained.

Thought it'd be a laugh to take him to small claims court. Yeh its £120 so nothing but Mrs car/Mrs money so she was dead keen. And there was the entertainment value for £35 anyway.

So the guys responded - unless I accept his offer of £45 hes going to take it further and counter claim for his wasted time and the stress I caused. WTF?

Surely you can't do that. Defeats the whole object of the small claims court where the individual does not get steamrollered by superior legal resources and money.

After all, imagine taking Tesco or someone to small claims and them threatening to sue you to scare you off.

Anyone know what the rules are?

Does he have a signed contract? If not, he probably won't win, but for £45 it's probably not worth the hassle. I'd settle.

[northernladuk]

Sorry but I still think keeping quiet, knowing full well you're going to bill then lumping it on when the customer has no choice is dodgy...

You're actually right. Praying on feckless stupid pillocks is well out of order.

[AtW]

No I paid the £100 because I had no choice. I paid £25 court fees. So £125.

You've filed court case without following pre-litigation protocols?

Oh dear.

The judge is going to tear you a new one.