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Hello everyone
I know a local charity which specialises in repairs. An employee of a local business came in with a machine used at some point for professional purposes. It was in a poor state.
The charity admits that it quite possibly made a mistake in allowing a local travelling merchant to take it away to sell for parts but this was about 3 months after the machine had been left with the charity and they were running out of space. The typical donation suggested for a repair is £5.
The owner of the company is now threatening small claims court, berating the employee who took it in (cc'ing the charity into the emails). The company is claiming that the machine is worth £800 but hasn't so far produced a receipt.
The charity has offered £100 as a goodwill gesture, which could be seen as an admission of guilt.
The company is also saying that the charity plainly doesn't have the correct licenses in place to dispose of scrap, but this isn't the case as the merchant who took the machine away only takes what can be sold on and the charity only works with licensed scrap merchant - which this wasn't.
If the charity does have to raise £800, they will have to appeal to local supporters and explain why. They wouldn't name the company but it would be pretty clear which company it was, and would lose the company a lot of support. The charity is in initial discussion with its insurers, which thinks it's covered.
How strong is the company's case please? Any other advice? Thanks very much.
I know a local charity which specialises in repairs. An employee of a local business came in with a machine used at some point for professional purposes. It was in a poor state.
The charity admits that it quite possibly made a mistake in allowing a local travelling merchant to take it away to sell for parts but this was about 3 months after the machine had been left with the charity and they were running out of space. The typical donation suggested for a repair is £5.
The owner of the company is now threatening small claims court, berating the employee who took it in (cc'ing the charity into the emails). The company is claiming that the machine is worth £800 but hasn't so far produced a receipt.
The charity has offered £100 as a goodwill gesture, which could be seen as an admission of guilt.
The company is also saying that the charity plainly doesn't have the correct licenses in place to dispose of scrap, but this isn't the case as the merchant who took the machine away only takes what can be sold on and the charity only works with licensed scrap merchant - which this wasn't.
If the charity does have to raise £800, they will have to appeal to local supporters and explain why. They wouldn't name the company but it would be pretty clear which company it was, and would lose the company a lot of support. The charity is in initial discussion with its insurers, which thinks it's covered.
How strong is the company's case please? Any other advice? Thanks very much.
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