Hi I recently bought a carpet from Carpetright which had to be ordered. My fitter picked it up and started laying it. I saw it was the wrong colour and we returned it to Carpetright and had to wait a week for the correct colour to be supplied. My fitter charged me £200 for a day's abandoned work, which I thought was fair enough. I asked Carpetright to make good this loss but they refuse, saying that terms and conditions state that I and the fitter should have checked the colour!!!! This would have made no difference, as it took a further week to supply the correct colour. My loss occurred because I booked the fitter and he had no work to do. How should I proceed against Carpetright, trying to sneak out of doing the decent thing? Do I have a legal angle under consumer protection law or negligence? Thanks.

Here is the Carlisle case in pdf form (I hope) as an attachment CarlislevClydesdale.PDF

Sure, but I have a scanned transcript of this Carlisle v Clydesdale Bank case if anyone is interested.

Jansus I now have a scanned copy of this Carlisle v Clydesdale Bank judgement. Makes instructive reading as it was decided by a High Court judge and is therefore influential on the lower courts. Noone should go to court to apply to get a stay removed before reading it! Or it might be shoved in their face by the judge and defendant, and you need to know what you have to argue, and what is not covered in the judgement. ie the banks should not take enforcement action for the penalty charges during the stay, and the stay only remains in place til after the hearing in January 2008. The judge does not seem to make reference to cases that had already been agreed for settlement prior to the OFT action, nor does it really seem to deal with financial hardship. Does though seem to allow the banks to continue to levy charges and interest! Of course the FSA allowed an exemption for already agreed cases and financial hardship, when this deal with the banks was stitched-up. I was told in court that the case dealt with that, but I cannot see reference to it. How do I upload it to the site? It is a pdf file on my harddrive. Cheers MartyR

Jansus I will ring the defendant solicitors and the court tomorrow to see if I can locate this friggin Carlisle case (or is it Carlyle?) Cheers MartyR

Thanks Jansus. We need to see a copy of this Carlisle v Clydesdale Bank case somehow. The District Judge seemed to think I could easily obtain a copy, but I can't see it anywhere on the internet. I might try the defendant solicitors. It only seems fair that they let me see it before the next hearing which is to argue whether or not my account is a business account and therefore exempt from the stay. Although it is a normal current account I have used it for business receipts, and the DJ is willing to hear argument whether or not this makes it exempt. The defendant argued that because I was acting in breach of the terms and conditions it is not a business account. I want to argue that just because it is against the terms and conditions does not make it NOT a business account, as that is how it was being used. Obviously I need to do legal research on this point before going ahead with the hearing as I am on notice that I could be liable for all costs so far! Luckily I have lawyer friends who I hope can give me a good steer. If you find out where I can see this Carlisle case, please let me know Many thanks MartyR

I applied to have my stay set-aside and went to court last friday. The bank sent a barrister and they thrust this Carlsle v Clydesdale case at me and said effectively, "that blows all your arguments out of the water"! Unfortunately I had never heard of this case (Leeds Mecantile Court HH Judge Behrens?) As the hearing was for 5 minutes and I was being jostled out by the bank's counsel, I could hardly ask to read it. The DJ was very good at making sure I knew the name of the case, and I said I am sure I can find it on the internet. Unfortunately I cannot. Does anyone have a link to it or know where I can read it so I can see if indeed all my arguments WERE blown out of the water. Fortunately I also argued that although my account is a normal current account, as I pay in business receipts it is de facto a business account and exempt from UTCCR issues being tried in the test case. The DJ said he would be prepared to hear argument on this (although it is against the bank's terms and conditions allegedly) to use a current account for business purposes. When I said I wanted to have the case adjourned to argue this point the bank's barrister argued that I was a vexatious litigant and should be put on notice of full costs liability if I return to argue this. So if I go back and argue this point and lose it could be costly. Any advice? And please can someone point me in the direction of this Carlisle v Clydesdale Bank case please? Many thanks

At my hearing today to attempt to set-aside the stay, I had a Carlisle/Carlyle v Clydesdale Bank case quoted at me, which the DJ and defendant barrister maintained blew most of my arguments out of the water! It is a Mecantile Court authority allegedly. Does anyone know this case which i think is quite recent. I would like to read it to be sure that it really does blow my case away. Only wish I had known about it before the hearing (which was for 5 mins so hardly time to say "let me have a look at that"!) Thanks Marty

I went to court today to have my application to have my stay set-aside. The bank sent a barrister. My application was copied from above, and I tried to argue a few extra points. The case was listed for only 5 minutes so the whole affair was rather rushed. Thats and hourly rate of £2880 as my case has cost £240 in court fees so far! The District District Judge quickly told me that all my points had been considered and rejected in a case in the Mercantile Court Carlyle v Clydesdale Bank or similar. I cannot find this case. Does anyone have a link to it please so I can see if all my arguments were indeed rejected in that case? I wish I had known about this case before it was thrown at me in court. No time to read it obviously. I argued that my account is de facto a business account and not covered by UCCTR (the issue to be determined in the test case), although it is a normal account which I pay business revenue into and out of. This is the only argument which the DJ was interested in hearing further argument on, and the hearing to set-aside the stay has been adjourned. But the bank's barrister tried to convince the DJ that I was a vexatious litigant! and I have been put on notice that I could be liable for all costs if I proceed and fail. Any help much needed and appreciated.

My case was stayed and I wrote to the District Judge and he has agreed that there will be a hearing on 21st Sept to decide whether or not my case should be heard. Not sure if my bank will send a representative. Now I have all the additional work to prepare for this! Take time off etc. I will argue the points in the application, and that the delay is causing hardship and further charges, contarary to the FSA agreement. Any others got any ideas for how I should persuade the District Judge to let this case go to trial before the test case is heard? I will also ask him to make the bank stop penalising me until the test case, as I have been prevented from making a claim, but the bank has NOT been prevented form charging me! Please give me some arguments. I really cannot afford to wait until the test case is resolved. I am also argung that my case should not be stayed as my business revenues are paid into this bank account, and business accounts are not covered by the Unfair Terms In Consumer Contract Regulations. The main issue to be dealt with in the test case. Thanks

The County Court had given me a hearing date in September so I cancelled my holiday! It then stayed the case and gave me 7 days to apply to set this stay aside. I did so and have just phoned the court to check on progress. The girl in the court office said that my application had never been received and anyway I should have sent another application fee for £65. So I have to resubmit the application (another evening's work!) and that makes £125 court fee plus £100 allocation fee and £65 application fee. The courts are making good money out of this and doing sod all for it! It's a national disgrace. The girl in the court office then said that my case should not have been stayed anyway because a date had already been set, and only new case were supposed to be stayed! But that my slot would now have been filled (the date I have cancelled my holiday for) What a nightmare. I hate banks! and our justice system doesn't seem to be much better! Help!