Matthew's Journal

A couple of people have asked me who the garage were we got a Country Court judgement against this week. It was Huntingdon Autos Limited (who have a spot on AutoTrader here). If you didn't read about the court case (parts 1, 2, and 3)the executive summary:

We bought a car from Huntingdon Autos Limited, subject to service, and a 3-month warranty. They didn't service it as they had promised, and when faults came to light refused to fix any of them. The Court found that they had sold us a dangerous vehicle contrary to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (section 9(3)(d)) and then behaved unreasonably during the resulting litigation.

This is the story of my first County Court hearing. We bought a car in November 2017, subject to service and 3 months' warranty. At the end of part one, it was late March 2018, we were £1.3k out of pocket, and Cross. By the end of part two, we'd spent £195 in court fees, and killed a lot of trees. Yesterday was the day of the hearing; atreic and I had taken half a day off work, and diziet was coming along for moral support (and to whisper hints). I'd had a rubbish night's sleep and was Quite Anxious.

( You can't bring that in here )( Nationwide's Lawyer )( The hearing )( A very long 10 minutes )( Judgement )

So we have an order for the 1.3k of repairs, 195 of court fees, and 1/2 days' wages for myself and atreic to be paid in 21 days. I'm very pleased, and very relieved (and also happy that the judge thought I'd done the paperwork well!). It was a very stressful morning at the end of quite a drawn-out process, though...

This is the story of my first County Court hearing. We bought a car in November 2017, subject to service and 3 months' warranty. At the end of part one, it was late March 2018, we were £1.3k out of pocket, and Cross. It was, sadly, time to contemplate legal action.

The first question was who to (threaten to) take legal action against - dodgy companies wind themselves up all the time, so while it was unlikely a small action would cause them to do so by itself, if they're consistently ripping people off, there was a distinct risk that we could go to all the bother (and expense) of suing the garage only to have them conveniently go bust (and a very similar company open on the same premises a day or so later) leaving us out of pocket. We'd bought the card on a credit card, which means that legally the credit card company are jointly and severally liable. So we could sue Nationwide as well as the garage - they're definitely good for the money, but are likely to be much more competent opponents. We concluded (having talked to diziet who has done this sort of thing before) that it was better to go after both parties.

( LBAs )( Nationwide are stoats )( FCC are a pain )( Nationwide wake up )( A nerdy aside )( Proceedings are issued )( Defences and Indemnities )( More paperwork )( The bundle )( The garage try and cheat )

So, there were were, ready for the hearing. I was quite nervous, but reasonably sure we had a good case, and hopefully I'd done all the paperwork correctly. It was very useful having diziet to advise (and also to read my paperwork), as well as moral support and proof-reading from atreic

In November 2017, atreic and I bought a car from a local garage, subject to service and a 3 month warranty. Yesterday, at a County Court hearing, we obtained judgement in full against the garage (and Nationwide Building Society). I don't think I've ever been in a court building before, and certainly have never represented myself before a judge (against a Real Lawyer). I thought you might be interested in what went on. This is a bit of a lengthy tale, so I've split it into parts. This sequence of posts are public, so I've filed enough serial numbers of the names of people involved (hopefully). Please bear this in mind if you link to these posts.

( The purchase )( The cruise control )( The wild-goose chase )( The MOT )( The stupid runaround )( The first letters )

So by this point, it's late March, and we're about £1.3k out of pocket. We are Unimpressed.

Anyone know a good way to get oil off a brick driveway? Our car isn't keeping the oil in as well as I'd like[0], and the mess needs clearing up. Assume for the moment that I don't have a pressure washer or a desire to spend £££ on the problem...

[0] yes, I'm trying to get that fixed...