Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

[justwondering]

Help and advice please...


Okay long story short....


I bought a item from a ebay business seller on november the 1st for £23 , it arrived , bought another item from the same seller on November the 8th for £8 , but decided to cancel the 2nd order , which I did within 1 hour , the seller they said they had cancelled the order , no worries great.

Anyway , just logged into my ebay account various messages from the seller , they had made a mistake and refunded the 1st order and refunded me £23 , instead of cancelling the 2nd order for £8 .

The only correspondence I have received from the seller is via the eBay message system , nothing in writing.

Various messages asking for the payment of £15 to cover the original order , as they had made a mistake and cancelled the 1st order and not the 2nd order which was £8

So last message from them in a long list of messages , basically said they had filed a county court papers at Northampton court for the outstanding balance and they will no longer be able to accept payment by paypal , only via the details as shown on the county court paper work that I should receive shortly .

I presume they will be claiming £15 and not £23....as they have not refunded me the 2nd order amount.

So i guess I am going to be stuck with some kind county court processing fee from the courts plus the £15

I looked online and i can see the fee if processed online for under £300 is £25. or £35 if processed via the mail.

Does this mean if indeed they have processed a county court against me , I will likely have to pay £15 + £25 county court fee ?to clear the debt ?

I have not yet received any paper work , the last message was from 5 days ago.

I know people will say , it is unlikely the business seller will follow through , but I guess it is best to prepare for the worse......

I know the amount is small and people may laugh at my situation....but It all feels a tad unfair for sure !

I would of thought that the seller would of at least needed to notify me by letter first as opposed to a slew of ebay messages, as I do not long in every day or as is the case weekly.

[wales01man]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

Is this a threat or has a claim been made seems more a threat

[ostell]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

So what did you actually receive as a refund?

[justwondering]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

I received £23 as opposed to the requested £8.00

So technically a balance of £15 is left owing.

The last message from the seller was on the 23rd of December , so no paper work has been received.

I would of thought protocol would of required a letter in writing first at least, nothing more than the cost of a stamp etc.

[ostell]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

A letter before claim should have been received. So send the company a cheque for the £15 and see if it gets banked. This time a signed for letter.

[justwondering]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

I am told that particular protocol is not the case with a letter been required first as it is not a business debt.

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...ebt-claims.pdf

But that is advice from another forum as I posted my plight of woe on 2 forums.

In case you fancy a quick read, Arleen says it is not a business debt http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...term=19-Dec-17

- - - Updated - - -

A letter before claim should have been received. So send the company a cheque for the £15 and see if it gets banked. This time a signed for letter.

Would ebay messages of sufficed as a letter / letters, so that the seller could say they had communicated sufficiently without the need to send a letter first?

The seller is a VAT registered business

[ostell]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

But you said it was an ebay business seller so I would think business rules apply. That is a letter before claim is required with 30 days before further action and a chance to settle before that time.

[justwondering]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

Okay, so if I have had no letter and a county court letter appears, how do I proceed when no letter has first been sent?

Or could the eBay business seller simply say, I sent him message via ebay, the buyer failed to reply or repay?

Thank you for your help and merry Christmas too

[des8]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

as no LBC nor court papers received just send them the £15 which is due as [MENTION=39331]ostell[/MENTION].

The money is due to them, so send it and head off any further action.

[justwondering]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

as no LBC nor court papers received just send them the £15 which is due as [MENTION=39331]ostell[/MENTION].

The money is due to them, so send it and head off any further action.

Thank you for your reply sadly the sellers last messaged said dated the 23rd of December, that they where no longer willing to. Accept payment by PayPal, due the court action has begun and you use the payment method as detailed in the paperwork I should receive shortly

Therefore I assume £15 + 25 court paperwork fee...

[ostell]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

They have not sent a letter before action nor have you received a claim form from the court therefore there is no reason not to send the amount owed. It looks better in court, if it actually gets there. The initial court forms don't normally have payment instructions on them so I don't know what the reference is about, unless it's a letter before claim that is being referred to.

Preaction protocol require not just a letter but also other paperwork to be included.

If you have a physical address for the company then send a cheque to that address

[justwondering]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

Thank you all for your replies and help, below is a cut and paste of their last message dated the 23rd of December

Regrettably you have left us with no alternatives and a claim has been lodged today at the Northampton County Court. We can no longer accept payment of the balance or return of any goods as the court fees will now also have to be added. Claim documents should be with you shortly, from the court, detailing these costs. We cannot accept payment by paypal and it will need to be made to the bank details provided on the documentation.

- - - Updated - - -

I presume they have gone with the £25 County Court fee for claims under £300..

[ostell]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

Their statement is, as I said, confusing. Court forms don't detail how to pay.

Letter to them telling them that they have failed to comply with court requirements in issuing the claim without giving the mandated 30 days notice. You are therefore making the payment and do not expect to hear about this matter again.

Others will be able to tell you the PaP references to quote.

[des8]

Re: Help and advice please :-Been taken to small claims court for £15 ! yes £15

Link to current pre action protocol for debt: http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pro...ebt-claims.pdf