Disputing A County Court Claim

[tolson7]

I have received a county court claim form from someone i sold an item to privately (though ebay), i know the item was in perfect condition when it left me but the buyer has told me it was damaged 6 weeks after they bought it, i gave them every opportunity to check it out but they refused, paid the money then left, now i'm left in this situation with a court claim which i know is unfair, any ideas on the best way forward would be greatly appreciated, its probably not relevant but i did have some nasty voicemail's and text messages from the buyer saying they would wait outside my house etc so its not been a pleasant experience up to now
Thanks in advance

[des8]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Was the purchaser given the opportunity to examine the item before buying, and did they avail themselves of that opportunity?(just seen they didn;t bother)
Did they collect the item from you or did you send it?
If you sent it, what method did you use?
What was the item?
Can you post up "particulars of claim" please?

Don't think they have a snowball's in hell on basis of your post but give us more info to be sure.

[tolson7]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Thanks for your reply
Yes they were given every chance to check the items, it was an inflatable tent which was collected from my home (why would i let a complete stranger come to my home if the goods were faulty??) they have also left negative feedback on my ebay account which was 100% positive till now
Particulars of claim are:
I purchased an inflatable tent on the 1st May and sundry items from ebay and paid £750 cash on collection, he assured me again that it was all in perfect condition, on erection of the tent on our family holiday at the end of may the tent was unusable due to severe damage to the inflation tubes and we had to sleep in the car

The tent was purchased on the 21st April to start with and i have proof from ebay, i also informed them not to use a mains electric pump to inflate the tent as this would cause damage and this is what i'm suspecting has happened since it was hard to pump up with the supplied manual pump but again that was explained on collection, instructions and a warning badge were sown into the tent bag, the buyer has also asked for a partial refund in their recent letter sent to me but has not mentioned giving the tent back and same within the claim

[des8]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

When was the claim received?
Was it from MCOL?
Have you acknowledged claim and indicated you will be defending in full?
How much is the claim?
Is it worth defending?

[tolson7]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

When was the claim received?
Was it from MCOL?
Have you acknowledged claim and indicated you will be defending in full?
How much is the claim?
Is it worth defending?

No wasn't from MCOL, i only received the claim on Saturday the 5th through the post although the issue date was the 28th July so i haven't responded yet, the claim is for £435.00, its worth defending as i know the buyer is lying, i sold the goods from my family home in good faith i would never put my family at risk

[des8]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

So your way forward is to file and serve a defence.

As the buyer declined the opportunity to examine the goods before purchasing the tent he did so at his own risk.
He claims the tent was damaged prior to the purchase, but that is what he has to prove.

Feel free to post up your defence for comment before sending it to the court and claimant

[tolson7]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

So your way forward is to file and serve a defence.

As the buyer declined the opportunity to examine the goods before purchasing the tent he did so at his own risk.
He claims the tent was damaged prior to the purchase, but that is what he has to prove.

Feel free to post up your defence for comment before sending it to the court and claimant

Thank you for the advice i will be writing my defence tomorrow and i will post it up here before i send it to the court,
Thanks once again

[tolson7]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Ok so my defence would be something like this:
I sold the tent on the 26th April 2017 through ebay on a "best offer", buyer came to my home to collect and paid £750 cash, i gave the buyer the opportunity to inspect the tent and other goods but she declined to take me up on this, she packed everything into her car and left, one month later on the 27th May i received very unreasonable voicemails and text messages suggesting i sold a faulty tent which i know left me in perfect condition after all i only used it 3 times from new, my suspicion is that a mains or car pump was used to inflate it which i advised against when the tent was collected, it also warns against this inside the tent bag, if the factory supplied pump is not used then the inflation tubes risk being damaged, we have previously come to no mutual agreement since we were just going round in circles, the buyer has also suggested a refund with no indication of returning the so called faulty tent which seems strange if it is unusable, my ebay account has also been effected since she left negative feedback something which i could have done back to her but i refused to do so, in any instance i would not invite a total stranger to my home to buy faulty goods potentially putting my family at risk

What do you think?
Thanks in advance

[des8]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Heeds work and setting out properly!
I'm off out for a while now but will be back later

[tolson7]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

That's great thank you

[des8]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

First thing is to return the acknowledgement of service sent you in the response pack as this will give you 14 extra days to prepare your defence.

Here's my offering, others may suggest a different wording:

DEFENCE
1, The Defendant denies that he is liable to the Claimant either as alleged in the Particulars of Claim or at all. Save where otherwise admitted each and every allegation in the Particulars of
Claim is denied

2. At the relevant time the Defendant and Claimant were acting as private individuals

3. It is admitted the Defendant advertised an inflatable tent and sundry other items for sale on the internet site "eBay" on a "best offer" basis,

4. The Claimant agreed to purchase the items from the Defendant on 26 April 2017 for £750 (seven hundred and fifty pounds)

5. It is admitted the Claimant paid for and collected the goods on 01 May 2017

6. It is admitted the Defendant confirmed the condition of the tent as perfect prior to completion of the purchase.

7. It is averred the Claimant declined an invitation to inspect the goods prior to completing the purchase.

8. The Defendant has no knowledge of damage that may have occurred subsequent to purchase.

9. It is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the amount claimed or any interest on such amount

STATEMENT OF TRUTH
I believe that the facts stated in this Defence are true
tolson7

[tolson7]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Thank you for that, i have now returned the acknowledgement of service using the Money Claim Online service, should i send the defence that you sent me or see if anyone else has any suggestions?
Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Did you ask her to bring the tent back after she said it was faulty and wanted a refund, so you could inspect it etc ?


( pm'd something )

[des8]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Did you ask her to bring the tent back after she said it was faulty and wanted a refund, so you could inspect it etc ?
But couldn't that be read as tantamount to admitting the tent was faulty when sold?
Why would OP want to inspect the damage?

Have you looked on her facebook ( sorry I'm just over cynical ) - a ruined family camping holiday where the tent didn't work and everyone had to sleep in the car would be prime news...

I like the idea of a FB search, but as I'm not on FB it wouldn't cross my mind

[Amethyst]

Re: Disputing A County Court Claim

Ahhh I took my FB idea down and Pm'd it.... was just a suspicious mind of mine idea.... I'm getting cynical in my old age.

It would be a bit odd to ask for a refund and refuse to return the goods wouldn't it? - anytime I have claimed something is broken etc after purchase I have returned it for them to see before I've expected any refund, I've been quite suprised a couple times with Amazon just accepting my word for it and saying no need to return - but thats B2C not C2C. But I can't see that's admitting any fault is it ?