As dx pointed out, they were right when they said that the sales of goods act is obsolete.

However the consumer rights act now applies and based on the same principle your window should shut and be waterproof.

As it's been less than 6 months it's implied that the fault was there when they finished "fixing" your window.

Frankly these guys must be proper cowboys if they can't fix a window.

I'm not an expert qualified mechanic but I fixed many cars and motorbikes in my time and never encounter much trouble fixing a window, even on modern cars where you have to strip the entire door to get to the mechanism.

Shabby, cost cutting, fobbing off customers hoping they give up?

Who knows?

Trust me I feel the same.

Theyre saying that its a completely different fault and it cant be anything to do with the window..even though its the same.

I recorded the phonecall anyway

ive printed out the court paperwork anyway and am going to go drop it off and start things tomorrow

Hey guys

the police came back and even though i sent them sendspace links

it turns out they couldn't view them.

.oddly the police had 2-3 officers who kept dealing with this and to be honest it feels like the whole thing was dealt with poorly by the police.

Initially i didn't hear anything for 2-3 weeks and the police said i have to allow them their procedure timeframe to investigate.

.i then was checking an old email and found a email from the police saying they were trying to contact me and couldn't. The number they had for me wasnt even mine so no idea where the police got that from.

I then got told they'd send me a free pre paid postage envelope to post a usb with with the footage on as they couldn't see it.

Before i had a chance to do that a policeman went to available car and he said they did a fair investigation and couldn't prove who it was and he'd seen their investigation was thorough on the damage/theft and he was happy.

He said the police wouldn't spend as much time as they have.

I then said to the police what about the fact i had dashcam footage of their saleman taking out my car onto a public road without a seatbelt..police said oh well we only have 2 weeks to issue a motoring pcn so we can't do anything!!

Ridiculous..I told the police i wasn't happy and he said thats tough luck he's followed procedure but it seems abysmal that police procedure will allow this company to get away with this..how many more people's cars will they drive like this?

I've then had this immediately after the police rang me and updated me with the above from the dealership and the branch manager-

Dear XXX

Thank you for your email, I too have been away on leave, which is why I was not contactable.

Since my return, I have met with PC XXX regarding the items that you had reported as missing/stolen from your vehicle.

During our investigation we have spoken to the employees that worked on your vehicle and we have checked our CCTV footage, as well as generating a timeline regarding your vehicle, whilst on our site.

We found no evidence of items being removed from your vehicle, nor any actions that would be deemed unacceptable during the course of the repair. I appreciate that us being unable to find any wrong doing by a team member, does not offer the conclusion you were hoping for, however, without any evidence, we have exhausted our investigation.

Should you have footage/evidence of any wrong doing (items being removed or damage being caused) I will need to see them, if not, I will consider this as the end of the matter.

With regards to your complaint regarding team members driving onsite without a seatbelt and whilst on the phone, these were not considered relevant by PC XXX, due to the vehicle being on private property at the time, however, for your assurance, we have dealt with this internally.

I refer to my previous email regarding the stone chip on your grille/bonnet, we do not accept that this occurred whilst the vehicle was in our possession, nor do we accept any responsibility for any rectification work.

I appreciate you removing the footage of our employees that you had posted on YouTube and I thank you for that, it is appreciated by me and it will be appreciated by the individuals involved.

I apologise for my misunderstanding regarding the USB stick (left on 5th August), I was unaware that you were expecting it to be returned, I thought you had left it for me. I have posted the USB stick back to your home address and you should receive it shortly.

Regards

I have had the usb stick back now btw it was posted back intact (just to note) - also as i know everyone complains about spacing i've spaced these updates so its easy to bring you up to speed as I really would ask you all how to proceed as I am unsure..and the story is going to get worst!

So in relation to the above it gave me the implication available car were trying to say that all incidents of driving without a seatbelt happened on private land and that the police did an investigation with available car..which doesn't seem right to me so I replied and stated-

Dear Mr XXX.

Thank you for your email and correspondence.

I have spoken to XXX Police today via telephone and what you have stated in your letter is inaccurate, if you wish to argue this please have XX Police put it in writing what you are stating in writing matching your letter/emall as it is yet more lies from Available Car Ltd and yourself.

The police have not stated at any point it is okay to wear a seat belt or use a mobile phone and drive on public roads as XXX from your team did. They in fact told me they have warned you about this and a memo has been sent out internally to deal with this as it is 'reckless' which they agreed with me on (which once again proves your staff did not take reasonable care of my vehicle.)

What the police stated to me was that they can only issue a Motoring Offence to a guilty party, such as in this instance your colleague XXX within 2 weeks of the offence occurring.

As they were unable to see my video footage and more over contact you within 2 weeks due to your annual leave being 3 weeks they cannot act on my footage unfortunately as the police process has taken longer than this time to investigate, however I have been advised I can appeal to the IPCC for them to review the video footage, of wish I fully intend to do.

I intend to have XXX prosecuted (so your aware) as at no point did I authorise him to drive my motor vehicle without a seat belt which is a illegal offence on public roads and i take great offence to this disrespect of my property. I have video evidence he did this of both internal and external camera from the dash camera and I will provide this to the IPCC.

I also so your aware intend to use this in court against you to provide direct examples and evidence of how recklessly your staff treat people's vehicles (like mine) and how you as the branch manager deem this 'acceptable'.

In terms of sending you the FULL evidence about the illegal offences that your staff member XX Xconducted, I already sent you SOME (not all) of the video evidence in the past and you failed to act upon it and instead called me 'pathetic.' Therefore I do not have any faith this will be used to 'rectify' the matter.

I have given numerous opportunities for you to rectify this matter and despite having confirmation from XXX that your Sales team would rectify this matter when I picked the vehicle up you have now denied liability and changed your mind.

All I will state is that from reviewing ALL of the footage which took me some time, I will and can as I always have stated prove you (Available Car Ltd and its employees) damaged the vehicle and treated it recklessly.

But as you have already written your final response (the one where you referred to me and my allegations as pathetic)

I am not going to harass you and I will present these in the county court in my bundle against you as I am more than confident of my case. I will be filing this within the next few weeks.

So you are fully more than welcome to close the matter, but the matter is not closed with myself

After doing the above, I did not send him anymore video clips..I didn't see the point event though I have found a clip that shows the car may have bumped into something in their factory..

I don't know if I did the right thing by keeping this because perhaps the judge will say I never gave available car a chance to see the footage? But my thoughts and defence were going to be they already stated in writing in prior correspondence their final response on the matter and said again in the letter above that they don't feel their liable so it would be pointless?

However since the above I sent off the claim and i wanted to claim under a fee remission. I had the claim come back yesterday as i didn't send 2 copies apparently so thats needed so I have to re-send the claim.

However in the meanwhile the windscreen front one randomly cracked. I had a think and i guess this is wear and tear so I diidn't contact available car as i thought this is a one off thing that is wear and tear and you have to pay yourself.

I got the windscreen sorted for £200.

When the windscreen fitter was fitting the windscreen he noticed the windscreen arm was faulty and had been hitting the top of the bonnet and he showed me where, he said that's been happening for 6 or so months (well available car had the car then) and he went onto say it should be picked up in their checks.

I was verbally told by available car when they replaced the windscreen they had checked everything else. I haven't had the windscreen arm repaired yet, but would you guys say its wear and tear or that i should be bringing this up with available car?

I have asked the windscreen installer if he'll provide a letter with his opinions he said he would but i've chased him a few times now and had nothing back so wether or not i'll get it back off him am slightly unsure, was going to give him a call tommorrow.

However that's not the end of it today I went to the gym, parked up everything fine with the car (except the windscreen wiper obv) and after 1 hour went to drive the car and the gears were stiff.

I have no idea how it randomly happened, no signs of anyone knocking the car it was parked in a deserted car park at the back with no cars near it!

I'm awaiting AA to come out now as I have a breakdown+parts policy (it was a 300 pound policy)..however im being told by tt forum members it could be a transmission complete failure/clutch/gearbox issue that could go into the 1000s.

They've told me that as the car is approx 4 months old this isn't wear and tear and i should be going back to available car quoting the consumer rights act.

As you can see the last time i went back to them they denied to look at it, I partly believe this is because they don't like me as the communication between myself and the branch managaer.

I did some digging and apparently i can have my car replaced at ANY available car branch which i cheekily asked on live chat and screenshotted. However when i approached a diff branch they said am right by the repair has to be authorised by the dealership i bought from..

What would you guys do?

I'm going to have the AA out shortly and ask them to do a letter in retrospect to the gearbox and if my parts cover from aa covers me.

I was planning to just have the AA repair it but even if covered its going to be a monday and no claims allowed before aa's team approve it.

So I'm now left with no idea how to proceed..I guess maybe i should contact available car again but not sure what to say or which part of the new consumer rights act to quote them?

Any help and opinion would be appreciated

PS: I also was wondering..im on a 5 year payment plan with available acr through lyolds and paying 265 a month for the car..if available car don't budge is a possibility to go to lyolds and refuse to pay for the car?

Could it be another avenue?

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/p ... ce.htm#cs4

- i saw this and just wondered

Hey just to let you know aa have been out and said the clutch on the vehicle has failed.

They have said it is faulty and will do a letter as it shouldn't fail..also available car advertise that they prepare cars to 'dealership level' however a dealer would give 12 months car.

chap at AA was a top bloke and has given me a courtesy car for 3 days..how would you guys proceed now..would you contact available car again..or claim on aa parts cover?

Hey guys

am back with an update and some things have changed good and bad...

.I now need your help with the court writing side of things...

the car had a clutch fail as well as per above and shortly after a wiper blade motor fail..

I got 3 independent reports done by the AA and two indie mechanics on both who stated it should have been picked up in the dealers advertised '300 point check service upto audi standards'.

Available Car took the stance 3 months has gone, consumer rights have changed and there doing nothing!!

I went to the finance company

=lyolds tsb..

who ruled in my favour,

they gave me the cost of the clutch back/repair+compensation and paid for the wiper blde to get fixed

..it was a result as they accepted liability.

I then went back to available car and asked them again to rectify the damage they did to the car as their financial credit provider/finance company had stated i was right and they did have liability..

I had a response stating that they do not still accept they mis treated the car or damaged it.

I went back and filed MCOL.

As per earlier advise i did it online and i have gained 3 quotes on repair from 3 diff mechanics about the cost of repair to front bonnet area +grill and door.

They have come back at £900 as the whole front bonnet and grill need respraying and unfortunately come as one unit on my car.

the door can apparenly be machine polished.

Available car filed a defence yesterday on the last day and they have not hired a legal team

its just the same general manager of their branch defending the claim

(the one who said am pathetic for wanting to claim for damage)

he has said in short 'am a serial money' ,

I damaged my window originally but they fixed it anyway

(which isn't true as you'll see in my original post..i found the fault within 3 week of having the car that the window wouldn't go down and reported it to them)

and

he said as i wasn't happy with the window repair

i made loads of complaints

and hes said all my aim is is to get money out of them

(hes actually said that)

and he said they dont accept liability still.)

The response is quite weak in my eyes and to fabricate such a story is quite funny as I will be able to prove he's lieing and thats not the case from all the advice you all gave me which is keeping recordings, email chains etc and now their own finance provider ruled against them i believe i have an even stronger case next to dashcam footage next to reports..

the court has said the case is assigned for me to respond by 2nd Jan.

I just wanted to ask when will i get a chance to do a full detailed poc with my side of the story as the one online was limited characters?

If anyone could help that would be great.

I would like to make it clear to you all I am not a serial moaner at all and i just think its the morale and principle of the matter if someone damages my care in lieu of trust they should pay for it and honour to do that instead of creating fabricated stories!

They responded to your claim.

What were your pocs and what was their defence. Post it as it was written please.

ok will i have to type theirs in..sorry but can i get in trouble for uploading it as ive named them directly the company that is?

they have stated am uploading stuff to the intenert as a point so guess theyre trying to use that against me?

You can upload it. just make sure to remove personal info. Or you can post the jist of it. Its hard to advise without knowing their defence.

You wont get in any trouble for mentioning the companies name.

ok..i posted the jist of their defence above..i will black out personal info anyway and upload it

you can expand on things at the witness statement stage

is that where you are at now?

im at the point where i filed mcol

..theyve responded with a defence.

...what happens next?

THEIR DEFENCE-

1.Mr XXX bought vehicle of reg xxx from us on 31st May 2017.

2. Mr XXX claimed a window fualt to his car, we covered this under our 3 month car warranty

3. Mr XXX claims during a pre-inspection of his car there was no faults when he bought the vehicle to us on 31st July 2017.

These are not a 'full' check as the claimant alleges and are a 'brief' visual inspection, therefore there was no evidence as the claimant alleges that the damage wasn't on the car before.

4. During this Aftersales visit ,we replaced the 'door strip window seals' on both doors and Mr XXXX had no complaints and was happy.

5. The 'damage' that Mr XXXX is claiming against us, appears to be a 'stone chip' (or similar) that has the chrome grill effect grille. causing a small indentation, which has then grazed the underside of the bonnet 'chipping' a small area of paint off the bonnet (above the grille). images can be supplied, should they be necessary.

This damage was not caused by us and we suspect by Mr XXXX speeding in the vehicle or of his excessive motorway mileage, therefore we are not responsible for the repair or any associated costs related to these items.

We note the car has done 3000 miles in 6 months which is evidence of the above.

6. The 'damage' we are accused of causing, is alleged to have happened between the vehicle being dropped off with us on 31st July 2017 (approx .) 17:25pm and Mr XXXX 'inspecting' his vehicle in our Customer Car Park on 1st August 2017 at 17:55pm.

Between these times the vehicle had been taken from our Customer Car Park and driven onto our site (secure compound), the work had been completed and the vehicle was driven back into the Customer Car Park.

The vehicle mileage was 40,933 when we took the vehicle from Mr XXXX and was still 40,933 when he arrived to collect the car on 1st August 2017.

The car had not completed one mile even in distance whilst in our care.

Should the need arise i will provide 8 witness statements from our staff to verify the car did only approx 0.03 miles in our care.

7. Tuesday 1st August 2017.

On arrival at 17:09pm Mr XXXX had our courtesy car whilst the above repair was done to his window seal,

he damaged the N/S/R bumper corner of our Courtesy Car,

this was noticed whilst inspecting the vehicle at 17. 14pm.

We suspect this was done in a act of revenge for us causing him 'inconvienece' as Mr XXXX's atttitude towards our staff was very obnoxious during the time we did the repair for him on his window seal.

He damaged the car so badly he was requIred to pay for the damage caused to our courtesy car, whilst was with him and to be as fair and reasonable as possible, the excess amount was £2500.00.

However one of my staff members took pity on Mr XXXX and took the car to our workshop to see if we could repair the bumper of the vehicle or 'touch it in.'

The cost we charged Mr XXX was settled at a gesture of goodwill reduced excess and this amount was accepted and he accepted 100% liability for when he paid on 1st August 2017 at 17:53pm. We discounted this to just £42.00.

8. From this point onwards Mr XXXXX has had a grudge against our branch.

He has not stopped contacting us via live chat or telephone being verbally intimidating in his manner which we feel is unacceptable.

He then filed a complaint which was escalated to myself, the branch manager.

To resolve his complaint we

a) polished out the scratch on the door

b) touched in the stone chip on the front grill and

c) polished and washed the car for Mr XXXX.

We only did this as a gesture of goodwill to try and resolve his complaint and at no point told Mr XXXX we would repair his vehicle as his false claim implies.

We have never accepted liability.

9. This claim number- XXX claims 'front panel' damaged,

we are unaware 'which part of the vehicle this relates,

should it be the door that was complained about, this was resolved as per earlier.

Should it be any other area,

we have not been notified and do not understand the description used?

10. On 3rd August 2017, Mr XXXXX had emailed and rang me, claiming the internal recording equipment (that was inside his vehicle during the above repair a dash camera he illegally used to record us on our property without permission), has recorded evidence leading to multiple complaints regarding the "damage" that 'we' had caused to his vehicle.

I said I was happy to investigate the allegations, yet would appreciate looking at the recordings, so I could see what 'damage' had been caused and by who ,when and how.

11. Unfortunately Mr XXXXX was unable to email these recordings to me but instead uploaded three videos to YouTube, called "Available Car Exposed".

He continued his grudge against the branch and evidence of this is the channel he created on youtube with such a name.

Two videos were of Available Car staff members (driving his vehicle, whilst on our site),

one without a seatbelt on,

the other answering a telephone call (whilst driving),

the third video was a team member who had washed the vehicle, prior to it being returned.

'Compensation' was immediately requested by Mr XXX.

These 'recordings' were the evidence Mr XXXX insisted showed that Available Car has not taken reasonable care of his vehicle whilst it was in our care.

I strongly disagree,

these recordings show members of staff moving and washing his vehicle,

no detrimental recordings have ever been presented to us.

Mr XXX then refused to send me any more evidence after a letter sent to him in which I explained his complaint was 'pathetic' as his videos did not show anything he alleged.

Mr XXX has never provided us solid evidence that we caused his damage.

I accept the wording of this email should have been better and have since offered an apology to Mr XXX but he refused to accept it.

12. Mr XXXX only raised his 'damage' complaint after damage to our Courtesy Car whilst it was in his care and instead of accepting the nominal charge we applied for the damage that he was responsible for, he has attempted to find imperfections on the bodywork of the (used) vehicle he purchased from us, in an attempt to get money from us.

The aim of the complaint from him is for compensation'.

We will not offer a monetary value or any compensation' tor something we are not responsible for.

From looking at his tripadvisor profile and review centre profile through independent research it appears Mr XXX has a 'pattern of complaining'.

He has filed 4 complaints in 2 years, this seems very excessive in our opinion.

13.Further background information is available regarding Mr XXX's 'multiple' complaints to us.

The content of these complaints are regarding the Audi TT A014BXZ purchased, (details

are available on request)

however no reference has been made to these in Claim No XXX

14. We did not damage Mr XXX's vehicle and despite his allegation he has 'evidence' to prove otherwise, he has never produced it.

We totally refute the claims that Mr XXXX has against us.

.......

I'd like to explain about some parts of the defendants accusations.

Firstly,

my complaint about damage was on the 31st july so that is a blatant lie..

as i put in my earlier posts..

they originally tried to do the repair then..failed and

i asked them what they had actually done for a whole day

when i went to the car then it wasnt fixed..

they then gave me a courtesy car for another day and asked for another day to fix the vehicle.

I only took their courtesy car to work and back..

they claimed a stonechip on the bumper had happened,

i asked them for evidence this wasn't on the car before,

they provided car check sheets which i still have a copy off right and it showed apparently no damage only to a diff area of the car.

They said they wanted £2500 and I told them i didnt believe this was a fair cost as it was a stone chip less than a penny,

most places like europcar don't even lodge these as damage.

I told them I would repair their car myself at a independent mechanic,

they refuse and would not give me the keys back.

They then told me to pay £42 as the small stone chip could be touched in,

i did and didn't sign anything as I guessed maybe the stone chip happened as I have to go on a motorway to visit them so I paid .

For some reason theyve made the fabricated story above and implication they only did 1 repair and am a serial moaner. Its not the case at all!!

Hope that clears that up anyway

you can expand on things at the witness statement stage

is that where you are at now?

hi yes i got a notice of proposed allocation to small claims fast track and a counter defence form? then another which asks questions about mediation etc

hi yes i got a notice of proposed allocation to small claims fast track

Small claims track and fast track are mutually exclusive.

Which is it?

claim is for in excess of £10k so will be fast track?

that was a bit silly actually

you should have revised it down a bit below £10k.

Hey all sorry for the late reply.

.was looking back through the defendant available car's defence

I noticed they haven't mentioned that blackhorse over ruled them about their opinion on lack of consumer rights/clutch failure etc and ruled in my favour,

neither about the police involvement too.

Thats interesting.

They seem to instead be creating some grey cloud of distraction around the courtesy car which as far as am concerned ended when I paid £42 lol which to me seems to be irrevelant

BTW not sure where you guys got the opinion my claim is for more than 10k lol I wish!

No its for £899 inc court fees and interest..thats all the front grill repair/bonnett edge+respray will cost as that was the cheapest of 3 quotes inc car hire..

hi yes i got a notice of proposed allocation to small claims fast track

Small claims track and fast track are mutually exclusive.

Which is it?

BTW not sure where you guys got the opinion my claim is for more than 10k lol I wish!

 

No its for £899 inc court fees and interest..thats all the front grill repair/bonnett edge+respray will cost as that was the cheapest of 3 quotes inc car hire..

It'd likely be fast track if over 10k or too complicated to remain in small claims track.

So is it small claims track? where did you get fast track form?

sorry im completely new to this and ive never taken anyone to court..ive had a 'notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track'..sorry dont know where i got fast track from!

ok good.

dx

so what happens now?

you will be given a date for a hearing assuming the defendants wish to fight the claim.

Normally it is your local county court and the other side, being a business are expected to travel rather than you.

They may well ask for the hearing to be elsewhere but resist this as it could be just a tactic to delay.

You will then be instructed to exchange your evidene with the other side by a certain date and to send the same to court.

make sure you have spare copies handy in case something gets lost

oh ok i did read that..in terms of directions i want to use emailed reports from the aa, mechanical inspections etc about the clutch etc would they be ok to put in written reports..also due to limited characters my mcol online was very limited for the POC..will i get an opportunity to write a more detailed POC?

you will have to write a witness statement that addresses every point you wish to make.

You will need to print off the emails and send them to the court along with your statement.

Same goes for pictures etc.

Copies of everything to the defendant at the same time.

Particulars of claim need to just express what the cause for action is

(for example breach of contract)

how much is being claimed

and a brief reason as to why you are claiming from the defendant

( it was them that broke my car and refused to mend it under consumer rights legislation)

They may decide to pay up when they receive the summons as it will save them a few quid.

They may admit they owe you some of the amount or they may be old hnads at this and obfuscate at every turn.

Thanks for the help ericsbrother.

Quick few questions

(1) do i send the directions to the defendant and court?

(2) the expert witnesses part on the directions, i cannot find any template for how expert witness written reports should be laid out and none of the garages i used know how to lay it out who did the inspection..do you guys know or have any templates for this?

I want to use a few garages as i had 3 inspections done by 3 garages so would you attach this seperately on the directions?

are you dragging the expert witness along?

If not it will be just a witness or even just a witness statement that will have to be submitted when you are told to exchange papers.

So, these witnessess will have to write what they saw and did and in their opinion what is wrong and why it supports your claim.

The opening and closing words of the statements are the bits that have to be right, what is said in the middle is down to how they use our common language.

Look up the opening and closing words

but they go something like

" this is the winess statement of xxxx xxxx, I am employed as a professional motor mechanic" and end I believe the facts stated in this witness statement are true" and sign and date it.

If the person isnt attending as a witness then an affivavit should be done

( swearing that it is a true statement

- again look up the wording and then get the person to sign and someone else to witness the sig= commonly a solicitor who will charge you a tenner for doing so.

the court directions are sent out by the court so are you mis using the word again as you did in post 46?

hi okay am a bit confused..

i have mechanic reports but there all by email of the fact the video footage matches the damage to the vehicle..

they won't come to court as they are on inspection quotes

they said theyll only be a witness if i use them for the repair,

which i cannot get done till the court case is over.

.are these expert witnesses or how do i file this..

i think am very confused as to what the court deems and defines an 'expert witness'..

also in the directions do i make the request to use video evidence? or when do i do this?

i only have until the 2nd jan to file the directions so any help appreciated asap