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Available Car damaged my car,stole contents and deny liability help needd!


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Hi everyone, I have joined this forum for some much needed help.

 

I bought a car from Available Car

(i won't say which one or no doubt they will email me and kick off)

with all cars they offer a 3k 3 month warranty.

 

I noticed the car had a window fault and also a mechanic had noticed during the service the spark plug plug rail had a spark plug damaged.

 

I contacted them and they told me it was no worry and i was covered under warranty so to bring the car in.

 

I took the car to them in July and they diagnosed it did have a fault and they would repair it once the part came into stock. I asked them to put this in writing, they did do this.

 

They then did not call me for 4 weeks and so I chased them,

i was told to bring the car to them on July 31st as the part had come into stock.

 

I took the car to them on July 31st and left it with them to repair.

 

Now my car for road safety purposes and also car insurance purposes has a transcend dashcam which records inside the car and the exterior.

 

I left the dashcam in and gave them the keys,

they then did a pre-check on the car for any dents/faults etc and only noted a driver side alloy wheel being scuffed.

 

the next day I got a phonecall on 1st August to say everything was repaired.

I went to the car and noticed damage to the passenger side door (a scratch) and a chip on the edge of the front bonnett and grill. I notified them of this immediately and also I discovered the window was not repaired properly.

 

They told me they would rectify the issue and asked me to let them have the car longer.

I then decided to take the dashcam out of the car and look at the dashcam footage to see how this damage could occur.

 

When I got home i found quite a bit of footage I would deem shows they did not take reasonable care of the car.

 

One clip shows a gentlemen cleaning the car with a dirty cloth,

another with his sweatshirt

and in one clip a gentlemen who seems agitated he has to take the car to their workship for repair and is muttering words like *** sake every few minutes or so.

 

In this clip I also believe you can hear stones hitting the car so hard that the camera has caught it which may have caused the chip/damage to the grill and perhaps bonnett.

I also noticed they drove the car around without seat belts on and using mobile phones.

 

As soon as i found this footage I contacted them and their branch manager contacted me and told me the cars are kept in a rocky compound and stone chips could happen but that they would rectify this (he rang me). He also asked for a copy of the footage

 

I explained this was 50gb of footage and over 50 clips stemming throughout the day

i would have to put this on a file sharing site like youtube for him to view .

He said that was fine.

 

I waited until 4th August and rang them again

they told me the grill would come into stock on 5th August as it needed a whole new grill and that they would touch up the bonnett area.

 

On the 5th I heard nothing and rang them, they told me the grill had not come into stock and I could collect the car and they would ring me once the grill had been ordered.

 

I went to go and get the car on the 5th August and noticed they had polished the passenger side scratch down however the damage to the grill and bonnett was still apparent.

 

I then got into the car and noticed my USB had been stolen and also some cigars which were from Bulgaria alongside some glasses had been damaged.

 

I didn't leave site and immediately reported it to them, with it being a Saturday the workshop had closed they helped me search the car for the items and some of the staff but we could not find these. I was told they would investigate and call me back.

 

I was so angry that I rang the police and reported it as theft as the usb was a 64gb drive which had my music, images of my family on and also navigation maps and connected to the vehicle you see. The police gave me a incident number.

 

I then said that the branch manager was waiting for the footage and explained I found it very unusual that i had filed a complaint about the treatment of the vehicle in their care and now items had been stolen/damaged consequently.

 

I also told them that I wanted a copy of their car signature sheets for hand over to them as it had no disclaimer about leaving property in the car neither did their premises.

They gave me this.

 

I then got a spare 8GB usb and went to try and copy the footage onto a USB so their manager had it, unfortunately the one to two clips were bigger than the whole usb,

 

i put screenshots on there and a video of the dashcam and how it should sound without stone chips hitting it. i gave it to a gentlemen at available car whos name i took and he promised it would be handed over to the branch manager.

 

I was furious and went home and did upload the clips to youtube, youtube told me I had to blur out people's faces so I did that using their blur tool.

 

Admittingly I shouldn't have put the footage on youtube and exposed them, but I was so angry that one of their staff had stolen my stuff that I did lose my cool.

 

3 weeks and have gone by and I sent them two letters and these are copies of the letters-

 

this letter i sent on the 4th august directly to the branch manager via email(when i was furious)-

 

Dear Avallable Car

 

Reference: XXX

 

On 31st July 2017 I took the above vehicle- XXX into your garage for repair of two window faults and a snapped bolt in the spark plug rail which were on the vehicle when I purchased it, which under your warranty agreement and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 you agreed to rectify.

 

While in your possession for these repairs the car was damaged/missing items as follows:

 

Car was scratched on the door with two scratches in a t shape on the passenger side door.

This scratch remains on the vehicle and has only been partially rectified although has been lightly polished off by Available Car there is still a slight line/mark remaining now in a straight line.

 

Stone chips were marked on the front bonnet’s edge of the vehicle where it is lifted and opens and in the chrome grill surround area of the front bonnet

 

Car Headlights was left on which may have caused battery damage and require replacement/drain/inspection.

 

Two items went missing from the vehicle.

One item was returned damage to me (some designer sunglasses were bent)

 

Your staff’s pre inspection of the car stated no bodywork faults with the vehicle except wear and tear on the car’s alloys, before it was handed in, which is evidence they were not on the vehicle before it was handed to you.

 

You were under a legal duty to take care of my car while it was in your possession, this did not occur.

 

When you take your car into a dealership like Available Car, it's protected under the law of bailment, which says that anyone you entrust with your property has a responsibility to take reasonable care of it.

 

If they fall short of this, they're responsible for any damage or loss incurred while your car is in their possession.

 

In addition, the Consumer Rights Act (which replaces the Supply of Goods and Services Act from 1 October 2015) says that your dealership must provide its service with reasonable care and skill and will be responsible for any damage/loss caused if it doesn't.

 

Dealerships might display notices denying responsibility for loss or damage to vehicles in their possession however I note that I have checked the paperwork shared on drop off to you, photographic evidence of the documents I signed and also photographic evidence of your premises you have no notices/disclaimer regarding this. Photographs have been taken and stored to verify this.

 

Under the Consumer Rights Act, which replaces the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999, the Availble Car sales agreement terms and conditions- these can't be used to try and take away, limit or restrict my legal rights in any of your contracts terms and conditions for your responsibility to duty of care of the vehicle. Therefore I am within my rights to ask for my car and the missing items to be replaced and repaired or be reimbursed.

 

Whatever the cause, it’s very unlikely that a court would uphold any claim from your company that you are fully or partially to be exempt from all responsibilities here, espically in this case where there is dash cam 1080P HD footage of your staff and an independent garage/s who can confirm that my car’s bodywork was free from damage.

 

I was informed that the car was repaired on 1st August.

I checked remote access dash cam footage which showed that car did not go to an Audi dealer as I had been led to belief by your staff it may do if they can't rectify the issue. There was no evidence that any repairer saw my car as if they had they would have had to check the automatic window which would have caused the dash cam to start as soon as the vehicle is started and just that it was in the workshop to have the spark plug rail fixed, which the images on the USB provided to you show.

 

The window can not be operated without the car starting.

 

I asked to see proof that a mobile mechanic had been and no paperwork was supplied.

 

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Supply of Goods and Services Act 198 requires you to use reasonable skill and care while carrying out work.-

 

THIS DOES COVER MISLEADING CUSTOMERS OVER THE REPAIR.

 

The fact that the vehicle was damaged while in your possession is evidence that you failed to take reasonable care. The dash cam footage shows damaging stone chips/excessively forceful driving and noise whilst the car was moving from site to site and this may be due to your site being untarmaced and worn access roads but in this instance seems to be as your staff member was upset he had to repair the vehicle. If your grounds could cause marks or chips, there should be a disclaimer again which you do not declare to customers or have any legal disclaimers to warn customers of.

 

I have now had the car back to me on 5th August, a light scratch remains on the passenger side door and the chrome grill is still not rectified as ‘the part has not arrived’ and I have found contents have been stolen from the vehicle.

 

The car head lights were also left on, which I have photographed and may have caused battery loss.

 

A USB stick which is a 64GB unit is missing and I am informed your workshop deny to have it alongside expensive cigars which were purchased from Bulgaria on my recent holiday.

 

Your staff have helped search for the missing items and been unable to find them in the vehicle when I reported this whilst the vehicle was on site. They have told me they hold no liability for personal items left in the car during when it is in your care for repair.

 

I have taken photographic evidence of your building and premises alongside the car repair paperwork and this lack of liability is not in writing anywhere, therefore you are liable.

 

This theft/damage has been reported to the Leicestershire police force and they will be investigating this matter as I intend to fully prosecute who has stolen my property. I believe they will be in touch with you shortly and are interested to see the dash cam footage too, specifically the mobile phone usage whilst driving.

 

Since reporting this to you and speaking to you, you informed me and implied to me from my understanding that your impression is that my car’s bodywork was poor condition originally when it was bought to you and it is implied none of the damage was caused by Available Car however you will rectify this anyway, which I believe to be untrue and unjustified.

 

C J Bull Motors in Arnold, Nottingham CHECKED both the front and back bumper on Saturday 29th July (these were the areas resprayed) and I have receipts to prove this alongside photographic evidence as I constantly check my car and care about this car so I have it checked the bodywork regularly as part of its regular valet/maintaince.

 

Both the AA, C J Bulls Motor Bodyshop and Pitstop Garage Mechanics do not agree the car’s bodywork was ‘poor condition’ and rated it is as good/excellent on their inspections of the vehicle.

 

There was no scratches or damage to any panels of the bodywork as per the photographic evidence I have and witness statements these professionals have agreed to provide.

 

If the car’s bodywork was poor when it was purchased as implied by Available Car then I was mis-sold the car which is a breach of the Sales of Goods Act as at no point was this mentioned to me or put on any paperwork.

 

Whoever removed the USB device had to go into the glove compartment where the USB ports are to remove the USB drive and none of your staff had any reason to go into this area, therefore I do believe this was a intentional theft.

 

I have invested money into the vehicle in both servicing and bodywork costs to rectify the ‘used’ condition of the vehicle and ensure it is well looked after, so this is not a lack of care on my part which I can provide evidence of.

 

I strongly believe the missing USB was removed by someone from Available Car to stop the dash cam recordings from reaching management after I contacted them on 3/8/17 as the thief believes it holds the camera footage of them from 31st July/1st August, however sadly they are wrong .

 

The packaging for the 64GB USB that is missing and was stolen, is now in your possession as this was in the vehicle at the time and handed to XXX under CCTV at your branch. The spare USB you hold images of the clips from is only a separate back up 8GB USB to be clear which your IT team can verify. As a result of this theft I am now left with no USB devices whatsoever for my vehicle to use.

 

I have also lost personal images of my XXX, music, videos and all my paid navigation content which were on the USB stick including purchased navigation maps.

 

The reason I believe someone stole this USB on your premises is as the dash cam caught footage of staff driving my car whilst answering and using their mobile phone without wearing a seatbelt. This is an illegal motoring offence (the police have confirmed it is as your area has a public road and public access and it not thus deemed as private property).

 

The dash cam footage also showed a member of staff swearing inside my car and where it was moving about several times causing paintwork damage and not using proper cleaning equipment to clean the car which may have caused scratches.

 

I have been left upset and angry that now the final straw for me is my car being returned to me with my Rayban Sunglasses bent, USB stolen and cigars stolen..in essence property being stolen and damaged.

 

Because of this I no longer wish to enter into correspondence with you via telephone until you rectify this matter immediately as I am very upset about this all, so you can contact me just via email as I refuse to discuss this matter any further with anyone from Available Car via telephone- your branch have had numerous oportunities to rectify this and failed. You can email me your resolution.

 

Youtube video links-

 

REMOVED

 

These links will be removed when the matter is resolved and for now have been kept private.

 

I look forward to receiving, within the next 7 days, your written proposal to agree a satisfactory repair, at no cost to me and at a garage of my choice as I no longer have faith in you at Available Car.

 

I also look forward to receiving a cheque for the missing items and repair of my Rayban sunglasses that were damaged alongside a form of compensation for the upset and inconvience this matter has put me at.

 

If you fail to respond in that time or to do the above, I shall exercise my common law right to employ another garage to carry out the work and look to you to bear the cost.

 

Any attempt to resist paying such a bill would leave me with no alternative but to issue a small claims court claim against you in the county court for recovery of the money without further reference to you.

 

However, in accordance with the Civil Procedure Pre-Action Protocol, I would be willing to refer my case to the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair, as I understand they have a free conciliation and low cost independent arbitration scheme.

 

This would be a way of successfully resolving my dispute without resorting to legal action.

 

Please confirm whether you are a member of the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair as I will be also be passing this matter onto them.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

I rang them since sending the above letter and have recorded the phone calls, they constantly fobbed me of telling me it was being investigated for a few weeks and I got fed up so sent another letter shown below

 

This letter was sent via email and post to available car and the branch manager-

 

Dear Available Car Ltd

 

 

Reference: Damaged Vehicle & Stolen Contents

 

NOTICE: Intentention to commence Legal Action

 

As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably an you have failed to respond to me since August 5th, it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct to warn you that I intend to take legal action against you.

 

As you are aware my car has suffered damaged to the front bonnet, front grill and passenger side door whilst in your care. The car has also had numerous contents stolen and damaged whilst i in the vehicle has shown that your staff did not take reasonable care of my vehicle and did not clean the car with adequate cleaning equipment.

 

I gave you since the 5th August to rectify this matter and you have failed to do so despite contact from myself to chase the matter.

 

From you I am claiming the full cost of the repair to the parts of the motor vehicle you have damaged and replacement costs of the stolen/damaged items in the vehicle which total £1018.97

 

I have calculated this sum based on three quotes from three independent garages I have had inspect the vehicle and damage occurred. The cheapest quote I have obtained was of £802.18 including parts, paint and labour. The value of the stolen and damaged items totals £136.79.

 

I have also occurred bills in telephone call charges and time equivalent to £80.

 

Listed below are the documents on which I intend to rely in my claim against you:

 

Pre Inspection Report of the Vehicle taken on 31st July by Available Car.

HD 1080P Video Footage Evidence Footage clips taken from Vehicle’s Dash cam of Exterior and interior of the vehicle.

Pre inspection quotes of the vehicle’s damage taken from 3 independent garages.

Photographic Evidence taken of premises of Available Car which show no disclaimers regarding damage/stolen contents.

 

A copy of Leicestershire Police's report into the theft/damaged contents of the vehicle which is being investigated by XXX

 

In accordance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct I would request that you provide me with copies of the following documents:

 

A copy of all mileage logs you took at each repair

A copy of every pre-inspection report of the vehicle that Available Car have taken every time they have attempted a repair and had the motor vehicle left with them.

 

A list of employees who worked on the vehicle and had access to it

CCTV footage of where the car was kept on 31st July-5th August

A full list of their procedural investigation and what action has been taken since the complaint was logged with Richard Kennedy.

 

I also note that Available Car Ltd have attempted to contact the file sharing site that some of the clips are being hosted on to claim a privacy infringement breach against me.

 

I have responded to this with the site’s host and the host site has agreed no breach of privacy has occurred and has kept the clips up.

 

I would like to remind Available Car that attempts to hide evidence like this are not professional and will not resolve matters.

 

This footage was recorded in a vehicle which legally belongs to me and is my legal property and therefore the law only refers to video content being illegal if it causes ‘intent to distress’.

 

These video clips are not all of the evidence to hand therefore do not cause any intent to distress and are done to help warn and prevent future consumers from having their vehicles damaged like mine has been.

 

I am allowed to host this footage under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, which states that: everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

 

Regardless, I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts.

 

I would invite you to put forward any proposals in this regard.

 

In closing, I would draw your attention to paragraphs 15 and 16 of the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim.

 

I look forward to hearing from you within the next 14 days.

 

Should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame, then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further communication to you.

 

I've since had a call off the plolice asking for the dashcam footage stating they will investigate that was on Sunday, but have heard nothing since.

 

I then got this letter from the branch manager yesterday-

 

Dear

 

In response to your ‘Live Chat’ transcripts, customer feedback, calls emails and letter.

 

Available Car Ltd do not accept any responsibility for the ‘stone chips’ on the bonnet and front grille of your vehicle. Your claim that we have caused these by driving your vehicle is not accurate, this ‘damage’ has not occurred whilst the vehicle was in our care and we will not cover the repair of these items, as we are not responsible for them.

 

You claim that the video content that you have uploaded to YouTube is private, this is a blatant lie and illegal.

 

The videos you have uploaded are in the public domain and can be viewed by anyone at the present time, it is important that you understand that our team members have not given their permission for you to ‘record’ them and did not give permission for you to leave your dashcamera on for them to be recorded when you left your vehicle on our private property, nor has any consent been given by them or Available Car Ltd for you to record on private property or post the footage.

 

The individual employees are very upset that you have recorded them and they have begun raising complaints regarding the footage, that they were unaware of and had not given their consent to you, to use or share.

 

I would remind you that individuals and/or employees do have rights and you have no right to record individuals without consent. You have shown no respect for the individuals privacy and these videos need to be removed immediately. This is illegal and we can have you arrested for posting these videos on Youtube.

We intend to get a court order against you to remove the videos.

 

Your video clips do not support your claim that we did not apply ‘reasonable skill and care’ whilst your vehicle was in our possession.

 

You also claim that we have stolen items from your vehicle and damaged your sunglasses, your accusations are strongly refuted by us. You claim that members of the Available Car Ltd team have stolen cigars and a USB stick from your vehicle. A claim of theft is a serious allegation and I am pleased that you have notified XXXXX Police regarding your claims of theft, we will be happy to engage with them.

 

Your claims are pathetic, Available Car Ltd employees have not stolen, damaged or removed items from your vehicle.

 

Our Vehicle Technicians are all accredited within their profession, Available Car Ltd are not subscribers/members of the Motor Code of Practice for Service and Repair or any Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme.

 

I accept your refusal to speak to me, and as a Final Response, we will not be paying you or any third party any money or ‘compensation’ regarding your ‘accusations’.

 

I think the above letter is very unprofessional and for Available Car to go to the extremes of calling me pathetic is ridiculous.

 

I want to now sue this company as I now they did damage my car but with only the pre-inspection report as evidence next to the 3 quotes I obtained am I really in trouble for leaving my dashcam on and following THEIR instructions to post the footage on a file sharing site such as Youtube?

 

I feel like their manager set the whole thing up and strung me along to fob me off with the above email.

 

They prior stated on the telephone the grill was on order but I now get the above? I did end up removing the clips in worry to be honest.

 

In terms of me 'recording them' with out permission, the car dashcam is inthe middle of the car, its plugged into the cigarete lighter and shows display..i didn't physically go there and record them and surely they could have unlugged the camera if they didnt want to be recorded?

 

I now want to seek some legal advise on my case really from you all?

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Update:

just looking through paperwork and have found a receipt from available car stating

'issue 3 (referring to the grill/bumper although it does not say this) 'been passed to sales' as it looks like after the window repair the available car rep gave me a receipt of work..

 

I do have some proof they were looking into this.

.guess I just have no proof they agreed to rectify it because that was all done verbally or via the telephone.

 

I'm going to await you as membrs on here's advise..

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Well, putting the footage on YouTube wasn't the best move, but what's done is done.

Surely you won't get arrested for it and the police will not be interested.

 

You can't prove theft of your items because there's no hard evidence that they were in the car unfortunately.

 

Damaged sunglasses: If they admit damaging them, than they have to pay for repair, otherwise again, you have no hard evidence that they were not damaged already.

 

Now the car damage:

The footage of the employee driving crazily on gravel, the chipping noise recorded by the dashcam at the same time and their own inspection report when you took the car in showing that there was no damage to paintwork, all prove to great extend that they damaged the car.

I think you'll have an easy one in court about it.

 

Just to be consistent though, I would continue with the full claim including the glasses and stolen items and let the judge decide.

This probably won't end up in court but it will be swiftly solved when the court papers land on their desk.

They're not stupid and they know that you have damning evidence: Mr Schumacher throwing your Audi about on gravel on camera.

 

Don't be intimidated by their bluff of the DPA for the footage you uploaded on YouTube, especially because it's not available anymore and most likely the mugs didn't take a screenshot.

 

I don't know how hard the judge would slap you on the wrist for this, but given the circumstances I doubt that it would go any further than a word of advice.

Carry on with the MCOL as soon as time is up (usually 14 days even though I didn't see a deadline in your letter) and they'll capitulate.

 

Just noticed that the manager asked you to upload the footage on YouTube because the file was too big and you blurred the faces.

So there's no problem whatsoever with this.

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Hi thank you for the advise.

 

To clarify what happened

when i spoke to the branch manager I told him there was about 60 video clips,

because the camera recorded the full day from about 9am-1pm

(which is what it seems they spent on the car.) .

 

When I spoke to the branch manager he told me they'd rectify the matter but he wouldnt comment on the video till he saw it

 

I said to him I'm happy to meet you and show it you on my laptop but he was adamant he didn't want to meet

 

I told him when I collect the car for the window fault I will notify him and try and get a USB to put the footage on. I couldn't get it onto a usb as explained below

 

I did mention to the branch manager i would put it on a file sharing site but it may take me some time and I said YouTube. He said that was fine and he never specified he wanted the links privately listed or encrypted to me. I didn't put all the clips on YouTube, just 3 (there is 50-60 total clips) and he's come back and said the above.

 

I am really annoyed to be honest that he calls me pathetic, no one has the right to steal my stuff and call me a liar and I hope you can see its the morale of this.

he says they never agreed for me to put it on YouTube which is a lie.

 

In terms of it being public,

i never shared the links so if people searched it on YouTube just the same as any other file sharing site like sendspace where users can see what people are uploading then in my eyes its not my fault.

 

Yes all images were blurred using youtube's blur tool and youtube never took the footage down..

i forgot to mention someone did try and have it taken down but YouTube said there was no law broken?)

 

I went to go put the footage on a 8gb spare usb (not the stolen one, the stolen one was a 64gb one hooked up to a car usb port) when I was actually at available car. However the footage even just the few major clips- the phone, the chip damage clips..they would not fit onto a 8gb usb, i took screenshots and left it with him.

 

They have still not even returned that 8GB unit to me and I have requested this via telephone twice. This was handed to someone whos full name I have alongside voicemail. This was given to them for the purposes of evidence and as they stated they had no usbs they could provide me which were their own property (i did ask them).

 

I've not had neither usb back, obviously they deny the 64gb one existing however the packaging I put the 8gb usb in was the 64gb's usb packaging, so that is also in their hands.

 

Should I be mentioning this to the police that they do still have the 8gb usb and surely if they deny that their own branch cctv plus a voicemail i have should back it up and how would you word it?

 

My biggest problem is as you can probably tell i am not very good at describing myself and get angry rather than probably being diplomatic.

 

The last I heard from the police they were going to go and visit Available Car but did want to see the footage.

 

I still have not heard from the police but know the office was off, I've pretty much cut my losses since their last letter and believe I wont get the USB back someone at Available Car is laughing enjoying it but it's a lesson learnt that you never trust anyone on their word and never leave anything in your car even if its a big brand dealer to me.

 

I know I have no proof the items were left in the vehicle, but I did leave the manager with a USB which was a spare one an 8GB one I have asked for this back from them numerous times as it has screenshots of the footage. It was handed in person to them at their branch and I have the name of who it was handed too, they also aren't returning this and are ignoring me about this.

 

Overall,

would you guys just proceed with a MCOL then,

would you bother to reply to the branch manager?

 

Also please could I ask..Available Car have said too that I was in breach of their staffs privacy to record on a dashcam? i can't find any laws about this..is it a bluff?

 

Hi guys just an update.

..im going through each 60 clips..and the guy who was driving the car excessively he was only doing 10 mph but you can hear stone chips hitting the car and he mutters swears and curses and some complaints about taking the car to the workshop.

 

well guess what?

Found a clip that it seems he knocked the front of the car where the grill damage is into some kind of black hoover looking thing in their workshop..camera has it all too..so I know where the front bonnet damage came from and grill now. I am going to spend some time this weekend going over other clips and I will send them onto the police.

 

Would you mention to available car there is more footage than what they've seen or leave it?

 

I really want to reply and tell them politely to go away lol but im controlling myself!!

 

Not responded yet

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Can you not burn a copy of the cam footage on to a DVD or online storage and send it to Available Cars Managing Director.

 

I don't think the Police will become involved unless it is very clear a criminal offence was committed. Most likely to be a civil matter you can resolve with the companies head office.

 

Using social media should be a last resort.

We could do with some help from you.

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Stop communicating with them.

 

You have issued a lba and you need to follow this through.

 

After 14 days start the court claim and you will see them immediately interested in closing this sorry story.

 

Your dashcam evidence is only corroborative,

the best evidence you have is their own pre-check showing no damage to bodywork.

 

Similarly to when you rent a car, if damage is not listed in the pre-check report, then there's no damage.

I bet they'll pay for the car damage as soon as they get the court papers.

 

Differently I don't think you will ever recover any money for the stolen items because as said you have no proof that they were in the car in the first place.

You have done nothing wrong by putting the videos on YouTube because you have blurred the individuals' faces.

You have complied with DPA.

 

If their business has lost custom because of these clips they can sue you, but on what evidence???

 

How can you quantify how many customers didn't come through the doors because they had seen a YouTube video???

 

Forget about the YouTube business and concentrate on hard facts:

They damaged your car and need to pay for it.

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hi thanks for the advise everyone

 

 

it makes sense what youve said and youve confirmed exactly what i suspected to be fair.

This company has awful reviews.

 

 

In terms of the current situation with them having 1x 8gb usb with photographic evidence on.

.what should i do about that as ive written to them twice asking for it back and they are ignoring me.

 

 

And in terms of the damaged sunglasses, stolen cigars and 1 x 64gb usb they deny stealing it.

 

Surely as I have the name of the person I gave the 8gb usb to with the photographic evidence of damage video clips on and also its on their cctv + i have voicemail confirming it.

.that should be enough evidence for the police to at least get that back for me?

 

The policeman told me he was going to go down and speak to them on thursday but not heard back, he did say he wanted to see the videos though.

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The 8gb usb will be given back to you eventually.

It's not theft because they haven't permanently deprived you of it but "they are reviewing the footage stored on it".

That's what they will say to the police if they get a visit.

 

The other items are lost forever and I feel for you, but unfortunately there's no proof that the 64gb usb stick and cigars were in the car and the police won't be able to do anything about it.

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hi king thanks for that advise again..kind of came to that conclusion in myself but wanted to double check..bought myself a replacement usb yesterday for 20 quid from currys.

 

The thing os about the 8gb usb, if they've sent their final response saying the above as per my earlier posts that their final response is they didnt damage anything and ive also emailed them twice and theyve ignored this..should they have not returned the usb to me by now as i can't see what they'd be reviewing?

 

Right now i am also drafting up the poc which i will post later and am watching every single clip from that day so that i can see if anything else sheds light on that damage.

 

 

I have already found some new evidence as mentioned earlier, the gentlemen who seems to take the car to the workshop and is muttering stuff under his breath as he drives the vehicle and although hes only doing 9mph u can hear the stonechips hit the car.

 

 

.well on the external camera it shows him accidently knocking the car into some sort of black cone thing then reversing out and putting it into a bay.

.i suspect this may have caused the damage.

.you can hear a knock and also see a bit of a shake on the car

..would i perhaps be better to upload this file to here for your opinions on a private file share link.

.its on the external camera so no faces are on the clip?

 

Could i also not say technically this is criminal damage to the police?

In terms of the stolen items then i guess i cannot claim or mention them on the poc- (particulars of claim)

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No, it's not criminal damage, it's an accident.

They need to pay for the repair.

Your evidence are getting stronger and stronger: Hitting something then reversing to go around is clearly the cause of the damage.

Don't forget that by their own pre-check there was no damage to your car when you left it there.

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Hi I see..so i take it i cannot claim for theft of the items in my poc or the 8gb usb given to them am i corect?

 

I am still going through all the clips but think ive found proof the usb was in the car too

..theres a clip where im giving the car to the guy at available car and u hear it say 'usb on' and music playing

 

 

..i also then have a pic of the car when i got it back where u can see the avallable car logo it says no audio attached.

.on top of this i gave available car at the time of reporting the missing item the 64gb usb's packaging (the actual box it came in) and they still have this in their possession.

 

 

Would this not be sufficent proof of the existience of the item in the vehicle?

I accept this doesnt show the cigars or anything.

.but I am thinking if i can prove available car are liars the police might actually investigate for theft..

 

why do you think the police want to see the clips if i cant prosecute for criminal damage?

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As I said, they will give you back the 8gb stick if pressed.

 

For the 64gb, as you have found that clip, I would leave it in the claim,

however the judge will probably come to the conclusion that there's no enough proof that you left it there.

If it goes to court, which I very much doubt.

 

A liar is not a thief, that's why the police would need evidence to prosecute which you don't have.

The police wants to see the clips to asses whether a driving offence has been committed imo.

 

I don't know if they can charge someone for a driving offence on private land,

but I think so, think about supermarket car parks: Private land but subject to rta.

 

This would be easy numbers for them as you are providing the evidence, so doing the leg work for them.

I seriously doubt they're interested in the USB stick and cigars.

 

Don't get distracted, claim for the damage that they have clearly done.

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Thanks King and thanks for all your help - sorry to ask but I've never been in this situaiton before.., What you said makes total sense.. I've drafted a POC now and also the mcol claim too..is there anyway i can post this perhaps or send it to someone from cag for them to proof read? ive just googled and edited around basic other poc's ive seen (particulars of claims) so I just wanted to have someone check it before i post the POC..

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hi guys can u let me know thoughts if this is ok for the N1 court form?

 

MCOL BRIEF DETAILS OF CLAIM-

 

hi guys can u let me know thoughts if this is ok for the N1 court form?

MCOL BRIEF DETAILS OF CLAIM-

1. The claimant visited one of the defendant's car dealerships in Castle Donington on Monday July 31st 2017 to have a repair done on vehicle XXXXXX which was purchased from the defendant. The defendant agreed to do this repair as this fault was on the vehicle when it was purchased from them, this was a window fault the defendent accepted was a fault sold to the claimant on the vehicle. The claimant has written confirmation of this from the defendant.

 

2. When the claimant went to pick his vehicle up on 1st August 2017 the claimant noticed that there was damage to the front grill, front bonnet and passenger side door and the original fault had not been repaired.

Some contents left inside the vehicle were also damaged and stolen.

The only person with access to the vehicle was the defendant.

This damage was not on the vehicle before and the defendants pre-check sheets of the vehicle confirmed this.

The claimant made the dealership aware of this damage/theft and they promised to rectify the matter, so the claimant gave the defendant another opportunity to repair the vehicle and damage but the defendant has only repaired the original fault with the windows and not the damage caused whilst in their care i.e. grill, bonnet and passenger side door.

 

3. Under the law of bailment the dealership was entrusted with the car and the responsibility to take care of it whilst it was with them for the repair, the claimant believes the defendant was negligent in this manner and this is how the damage occurred to his motor Vehicle

 

4. The claimant seeks reimbursement of all costs incurred in repairing the damage, loss and also associated costs of car hire and inconvenience.

 

5. Cost of Repairs- £722.18

6. Car Hire Cost £80.00

7. The claimant has spent at least 8 hours trying to deal with repairs, delays in travel, telephone costs, postage costs, organising car hire etc – £80

e8.*Total*-*£882.18

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POC (please let me know if this is ok?)-

 

 

In the Nottingham County Court

Case no. XXXXXXXXXX

 

Between

 

xxx

Claimant

 

and

 

Available Car Ltd

Defendant

 

 

Particulars of claim

1. The defendant operates a chain of car dealership’s which specialises amongst other things in the sale of car motor vehicles.

 

2. The defendant also offers a 3000 mile guarantee on all vehicles which involves most components of the car being covered if faulty on the vehicle subject to the defendant’s terms and conditions/exclusions.

 

3. On the 31/07/17 the claimant visited the defendants Car Dealership branch at XXXX.

 

4. With his motorcar make XXXXX registration number XXXX

 

5. The claimant had made prior telephone contact to arrange under the 3000 mile warranty for some faulty windows and spark plug rail bolts to be rectffied for the vehicle which the claimant had notified the defendant of. The defendant had agreed to repair this fault on 31st July 2017. The defendant confirmed in writing the car purchased had specific faulty components and they would rectify this as per the above.

 

6. An employee of the defendant known as ‘Olly’ checked the claimant’s vehicle on 31st July 2017 for any damage and only noted that the drivers side alloy wheel had slight marks on it.

 

7. The claimant was instructed to leave the vehicle after the inspection of the vehicle with the defendant where it would be kept in the defendant’s premises.

 

8. The claimant did so and then gave the motor vehicles keys to the defendant’s employee in trust and good faith.

 

9. The claimant noticed that the employee did move the motor vehicle as he left the claimant’s premises. The claimant did not see where the defendant moved the vehicle too.

 

10. The claimant received a phone call on Tuesday 1st August from the defendant’s employee called ‘Olly’ stating the car’s faults had been rectified and to collect the vehicle in the afternoon.

 

11. The claimant went to pick up his motor vehicle from the defendant’s branch and on being given the keys to the vehicle and shown the vehicle by the defendant noticed and pointed out to the defendant’s employee that there was damage to the edge of the front bonnet of the motor vehicle, front chrome grill area on the front bumper and also to the passenger side door. The claimant also noticed the original window fault had not been fixed when he tested the windows.

 

12. The claimant immediately made the defendant’s employee who was present whilst this occurred aware of these faults/damage and was verbally informed by the defendant’s employee they would rectify this.

 

13. The claimant left the motor vehicle with the defendant again on 1st August 2017 to rectify these issues.

 

14. The claimant then wondered how the damaged occurred to his motor vehicle.

The claimant reviewed the dash cam from the motor vehicle and found video footage that showed the defendant’s employees driving the motor vehicle in an excessive, angry and aggressive manner with a lack of care for the vehicle and had knocked the vehicle in their workshop.

 

The claimant also saw the defendant’s employees driving his motor vehicle with no seat belt on and using mobile phones and cleaning the vehicle with dirty and inadequate equipment.

The claimant was alarmed that a lack of care had been taken with his vehicle by the defendant’s staff.

 

15. The claimant notified the defendant’s employees of the dash cam footage found and on Tuesday 1st August 2017 . The claimant was contacted by the defendant’s branch manager who requested to see the footage and stated he would investigate on receipt of the video footage being put on Youtube.

 

16. The claimant then received a phone call on Friday 4th August 2017 from the defendant’s employee ‘Olly’ to state that everything had been rectified and the defendant was just awaiting a replacement chrome grill for the motor vehicle which would arrive on Saturday 5th August 2017.

 

17. The clamant then received a phone call on Saturday 5th August 2017 from the defendant’s employee called ‘Olly’ stating the motor vehicle was ready for collection but the replacement part (bumper/grill) had not come into stock yet and was on ‘back’ order. The claimant was informed to pick up the vehicle and that the defendant would inform them when the part came into stock.

 

18. The claimant on Saturday 5th August 2017 picked up the vehicle and noted that the front bonnet and grill had not been repaired and the passenger side door damage had only received a partial repair.

The defendant’s employee ‘Olly’ gave the claimant a receipt of work and pointed out in writing that ‘point/repair 3 was a fault passed to sales’ in reference to the front bonnet and grill.

 

The claimant then discovered that contents left inside the vehicle had been damaged and stolen.

The claimant immediately reported this to the defendant.

The defendant’s employees searched the vehicle for the stolen items but were unsuccessful in discovering these items.

 

19. The claimant rang the police and filed a theft report for the stolen/damaged items with Leicestershire Police.

 

The claimant also made the police aware of the driving offences the defendant’s staff have conducted whilst being in care of his vehicle- driving using a mobile phone and driving without a seat belt on.

 

20. The claimant was promised by the defendant’s employee known as ‘xxx’ that the theft would be investigated. The claimant to date at the time of this being issued has received no further contact about this.

 

21. The claimant then sent an email to the defendant’s branch manager with his concerns and electronic links to the video footage on Saturday 5th August. The claimant asked the defendant’s employee to rectify the matter within 7 working days and/or to provide a mediation scheme to dispute the matter through

 

22. The claimant telephoned the defendant on Friday 11th August and was told that the matter was being investigated.

 

23. 10 Working days passed and the claimant received no response from the defendant via telephone or email.

 

24. The claimant then received an email from the defendant’s branch manager ‘xxxx to state that they denied any liability and they referred to the claimant as ‘pathetic.’

 

25. Estimates of the cost of repairs to the claimant’s vehicle indicate that the vehicle is significantly damaged due to a lack of care conducted by the defendant’s employees.

 

26. The damage to the claimant’s car was caused by the defendant’s breach of contract in that their employees who failed to use reasonable skill and care in carrying out the window/spark plug rail repairs.

 

27. By reason of the defendant’s breach, the claimant has suffered loss.

 

Particulars of loss

 

28. The claimant has taken the motor vehicle for three independent inspection quotes. The cheapest of the three quotes was £722.18 which the claimant has had to pay.

 

29. The claimant has had to request car hire due to the damage caused by the defendant to the motor vehicle due to the time it will take to repair the vehicle. This cost has totalled £80.00

 

30. The claimant has also totalled bills in postage, telephone calls and time equivalent to £80.00

 

31. Therefore the claimant seeks damages of £882.18 plus interest pursuant to S.69 County Courts Act 1984.

 

32. I believe that the facts contained in the particular of claim above are true.

 

Signed

 

Date

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Think you need to send a letter before claim to the companies head office giving them 21 days to settle, before you issue the claim. If you don't do this, then you might have a problem in not following pre action protocols. The courts don't like people issuing claims without having given notice to the defendant that they were going going to do so, giving chance to settle. In the letter addressed to the companies Managing Director at their head office, you give full details of the losses you suffered as a result of their companies behaviour and provide details of how the loss value was calculated. Given them 21 days to settle or you will issue the court claim.

 

In regard to your particulars of claim, these only need to be the basic outline of your claim and later on if it progresses because the garage want to defend it, you provide much fuller information.

We could do with some help from you.

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If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

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As uncle said, you need only a very short summary of the case.

Did you issue a letter before action?

I lost track a bit.

If you haven't you need to do so.

Also, avoid using words like "stolen"; you can say "missing" or "misplaced".

The initial claim should be something along the lines of:

1. The defendant is a car repair dealership

2. On (date) I took my vehicle (make model and reg) to their branch in (place) for repair to (describe repairs as listed on their invoice)

3. The defendant performed a pre-check inspection on my vehicle noting that the only damage to it was a scratched front left wheel rim.

4. On (date) I returned to collect my vehicle and immediately noticed that the front grill, bonnet and front panel were damaged and some items left in the car were missing.

5. Despite several attempts to resolve the situation, the defendant failed to repair the damage caused to front grill, bonnet and front panel.

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Not poor, but too wordy.

 

Your initial POC just needs to confirm the basic reason (s) for the claim and the amount.

You don't need to give every detail, as that will come later in the process.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

If you want advice on your thread please PM me a link to your thread

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the first part was my brief poc and the second is meant to be my full poc?

sorry if i didnt make that clear.

 

I had a call from the cops,

apparently they aren't impressed

they called me pathetic in their final response.

 

The cop said they are on phones etc on private land and they cannot do anything,

but to send all the cam footage so they can try get them on something..

 

have no idea if thats good or bad

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hi guys

am a bit stuck on what to do now..

 

was driving the car yesterday and took it for a wash.

.noticed the same window they fixed is now letting in 2-3 cm of water.

 

I also now see theres a warning light coming on for a brake light which seems to be intermittent.

I read apparently on my cars forums the earth light is a common fault and you can fix it yourself,

but with the car being a 2014 reg and only bought from them approx 3-4 months ago,

i cannot just add these faults to the current claim can I..

 

am i right that I'd have to contact Available Car and ask for them to be rectified first?

i suspect the warning light they are going to say is excluded from their warranty as i had a read

and it excludes electrical components but am i not covered under the sales of goods act?

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hi guys

took the car for a wash and noticed a very small amount say 1cm of water getting through the window.

 

Contacted them about the above and this and said i did think this correlated to the window fix which was seals/scraper.

.they said it doesnt and my 3 month warranty with the ran out on august 10th

 

 

..i mentioned about the sales of goods act and they said thats obsulete now

and unless i can prove the faults were on my car they are wear and tear and not covered.

 

I was under the impression that products such as a car should last a reasonable timeframe and be satsifactory and fit for purpose under consuimer laws?

am i wrong here?

 

I did record the telephone call anyway so I have proof I raised this with them, but value your opinions?

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CRA replaced SOGA

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

DCA's view debtors as suckers, marks and mugs

NO DCA has ANY legal powers whatsoever on ANY debt no matter what it's Type

and they

are NOT and can NEVER  be BAILIFFS. even if a debt has been to court..

If everyone stopped blindly paying DCA's Tomorrow, their industry would collapse overnight... 

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had a look and does the below points not still cover me?

 

1 Every contract to supply goods is to be treated as including a term that the quality of the

goods is satisfactory.

 

2 The quality of goods is satisfactory if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would

consider satisfactory, taking account of—

 

(a) any description of the goods,

(b) the price or other consideration for the goods (if relevant), and

© all the other relevant circumstances (see subsection (5)).

3 The quality of goods includes their state and condition; and the following aspects (among

others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a) fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;

(b) appearance and finish;

© freedom from minor defects;

(d) safety;

(e) durability.

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ive been chasing them everyday for the spare usb back,

they ve now said i can't collect it but when the branch manager is back he'll be in touch to arrange it

 

could i start the poc anyway and add costs in for usb etc later?

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