Customer refusing to pay for work done
 

Hi !
Just a quickie, one of the boys have done some work for a customer, that was quoted. Long story short ... customer is refusing to pay & has now sent in letter. The work that was done was quoted & the customers husband had agreed. The work involved changing an engine & some other stuff. Anyway what was done was all above board.
My question is what is the legal timeframe that i can dispose of goods if the customer doesnt pay ? It probably wont get to that but i want to put the frightener's on the fecker so that they pay up.

TIA:D

Tell him if he wont pay you are selling his car to cover the costs :D

Thats what i am getting at :D From the wording on her letter its clear that they have done this before although probably not along the same lines. I dont understand people at times, they seem to think that people that do this all day every day must be thick. I wouldnt bother if it was a cheap job & i would have came to some sort of deal with them if they were half decent but trying the big balls approach doesnt work with me :lol1:

I'm not sure on that one. They still have legal title on the car despite not paying for the repair. I know a baliff has the legal right to sieze goods and sell them to clear debt but I'm not sure you do without a court order.

You may have to resort to the courts for the money.

Shaun

Surely there is reason why they don't want to pay?

tell them you give them 14days to pay up in full or you sell/scrap the vehicle to recoup your funds, make sure that the vehicle is immobilised to stop them coming to help them selves.

Why are they refusing to pay ?

The husband authorised the work & the wife says because the car is in her name, she should be the one authorising it. She needs fully committed. The husband was point of contact so she's fooked.

They wont get into the yard. Due to the OFT being involved i want it handled correctly, thats why i am involved. I will consult my solicitor tomorrow but i just needed some info.

do you have anything in writing from them so say go ahead and do the work?

Sound like a pair of idiots..

Just send them a letter explaining that a decision is to be made within 14 days.

IIRC,you may need to offer them the chance of the car going back to them as it came into the garage(ie,wankered engine)..

Just pull out your engine,throw the knacked one in the boot and just charge them for diagnosis fee..

Dont need anything like that. Verbal contract stands in Scottish Law. It is however the workshop manager's word against the customers. I do have full confidence in my guy & know that he could sort this out himself, but i dont do much these days ;) & feel my input can usually help. :D

That might happen if need be although they are being charged storage daily & will also have to pay a recovery charge along with diagnosis costs. :norty:

Ps yes they are idiots :D

Take out the good engine and put the old engine back in.

When I say back in, I mean, leave it on the back seats.

In several pieces.

With a large rottweiler or equally viscous dog, which hasn't been fed for several days, but poked with a stick, sitting on the front seat.

In fact, Astraboy has all of the best revenge ideas ;)

when your customer came to your place was it just the guy ... or did they both come if just the guy hes the one thats to pay no matter who owns the car when you take your car to be fixed they dont ask who owns the car the person that gives the go ahead is the bill payer unless they is other wise i.e its not my car my partners paying .......its like me doing a tattoo on a person then when finish them saying im not paying ma partner is but she dont know ????? does that make any sense to you m8 . im also sure you have the right at any time to take your parts back but you do have to put the car back how it was or they can do you for it ...

Mate,

In Scotland you have a legal right of what is called lien over the vehicle. A lien is a right to hold onto the goods as security until the debt is paid.

So you can, quite legally, hold onto the vehicle to which you have fitted parts or even just carried out some work on for as long as it takes to get paid. You do not, however, have any right to sell the vehicle to which the work was done without raising Court proceedings which will probably cost you more than the debt.

Write formally to the customer stating that you are claiming your right of lien over the vehicle until the work is paid for and sugegsting they seek legal advice if they do not understand what you are doing.

That will probably resolve the issue. As a last resort, you could take out the engine and any other parts fitted, but that would be a pain in the arse, I suspect.

Give them the car back and either:

A) slice the brake fluid pipe
B) fit a Toyota accelerator pedal

or for greater effect, and to cover all bases, do A and B.

:D :D

agree to let them pick up the car with no charge, then warm up a batch of 70 weight oil til its viscous and change the oil on the engine. Do it quickly so the oil wont thicken and leave the engine running. Have the car ready to pick up and even give it a wash to make sure there's no hard feelings. They will drive the car home none the wiser and switch it off at the end of the journey. When they restart it the following day, the car will not even turn over. It was also take a very good mechanic to know what you've done.
HTH,
astraboy.

And be sued for professional negligence. Good shout....not

DD,
Thanks that is exactly what I needed to hear.
I have redone the letter stating the facts as above & have now given them the following option ;
1. Pay the balance in full includng storage charges.
2. I will remove my engine & put there old engine and ancillary parts including old oil and filters in the boot and they can remove the vehicle within 7 days or it will be left on the street for the police to deal with.
3. I will remove my engine, refit the old one an charge them recovery, storage and diagnosis.
4. The vehicle will remain in my possession until balance is paid ie pay it or it'll just lie and rot.

I don't think I can be any fairer.

What's their objective though? Do they think that they can get the work for free or get you to undo it :wonder: Nowt as queer as folk :eek:

TX.

I don't think they have the money to pay for it or the wife doesn't want it back. Personally I don't really care, I have just drawn up new procedures for the workshop to stop this happening in the future, it's only the first time it's happened since I purchased the business 14 months ago but I won't let it happen again not when blame britain is getting worse. I prefer dealing with commercial customers and can't be fecked with the general public but needs must and all that.

How old is the car? what model is it? maybe they think it'll be cheaper to scrap it and buy another (if it's an old 1) and they dont want to admit it to you?

Use it as scrappage for you to get a few ££££££££ off a new car .... ?? ;)

OR, take your engine out - dump theirs in the boot and push it out into the road ... ring the Police and tell them of a dumped car.

You know nothing about it ..... remove all fingerprints :lol1:

Husband and wife are legal partners hence there is joint and several liability on both of them, ie her debt is his debt and vice versa.
No case to answer melud.

D

As was said above, I think you should give them a positive time frame inside which to pay in full for the work which was done. You could say perhaps that if they don't pay that the car will be sold for spares.

Les

I know nothing of Scottish law but in N.I you cannot legally hold the vehicle for payment-unless the work is incomplete-
In this case a simple jack under the car renders the job incomplete and unsafe to drive therefore you are within your rights to hold the car.
Be sure to check what the law states because if the law is like N.I they can turn up with the police and claim the car. If the work is complete you HAVE to give it to them!

Seems Lien is part of Scottish Law

Dictionary of Scottish Land Law Terms - Scots Property Law Glossary

You can hold on to moveable property until the debt is paid - job sorted it would seem.

Good luck and let us know what happens - film then upload the row when they come to try and take the car and we'll all have a good laugh :)

Not in Scotland and I doubt in England. Being married makes no difference and there is no joint and several liability as there is with partners in a business partnership where there is joint and several liability for partnership debts only.