I've got it in my head that I should take a local minicab firm to the small claims court. Some friends think I'm stupid, others think I should go for it. Perhaps someone on this forum can knock some sense into me? On the 30th July 2018 I called my local minicab firm and booked a cab for 4am the next morning (31st) to take my family to the airport for a holiday. I was told this would cost me £30.00. I live 25 minutes drive from the airport and the flight was scheduled for 0630. At 04.05hrs the next morning with no taxi present I called the cab firm. When the phone was eventually answered I was apologised to and assured that a taxi was on its way and would be with me between 10 and 15 minutes. At 04.20hrs, with no taxi having arrived, I called the minicab firm again. I was told again that the taxi was almost with me but when I pressed the operator for an actual location he admitted the driver was in another area which I know to be at least another 15 minutes drive away, possibly more. (This is not subjective, Google Maps etc shows this to be the case). I felt I was unable to trust the person I was speaking to on the phone seeing as they had already lied to me with the initial claim that the car was almost with me. Worried that I may miss my flight I felt I had no choice but to drive to the airport and use the long stay car park. What should have been a nice gentle beginning to a holiday was a rushed nightmare. If the operator had simply been honest the first time I had spoken to him and admitted no one would be with me for at least half an hour it would have been a lot more helpful & I wouldn't have had to make my last minute decision of driving to the airport; I could have tried to call a competitor or tried my luck with Uber. But I felt I didn’t have time for either. The cost of 8 nights parking at the airport came in at a sizable £239.00!! And I don't really have £239 to throw away lightly. My question is should I take the cab firm to the small claims court to get that money back? My issue is not just that the cab was late but that the operator was lying to me, the combination of which could have meant me missing my flight. Now I’m not completely unreasonable and seeing as my original plan had been to book another cab through the same firm for the journey home on the 8th August, presumably at the cost of another £30.00, I would be willing to accept £179 from them (ie the £239.10 cost of the parking minus the amount I would have paid had the driver turned up). I emailed the cab firm while I was away to express my frustrations and have never received a reply. On return to the UK I sent a letter by recorded delivery (which I can confirm they received) reiterating my complaint and asking for £179.00. I asked them to respond within 14 days. It’s now day 16 and I have heard nothing. So do I take this to the small claims court, something I have never played with before? Or do I give up and just feed my kids bread and rice for the next month? Did I ever receive a text message / anything in writing confirming the taxi I booked? No I didn’t. Did I record the conversations? Of course not. So they may choose to contest my version of events. How can I prove my account? Other than having my wife back me up (probably not a very independent witness) my mobile phone show me calling the cab firm on the 30th July when I booked the taxi. It also shows me calling them at 0405 and at 0420. Why else would I be calling a minicab firm at these times? Why else would I have an airport long stay car parking ticket timed at 0450hrs that same morning? I would like to think that this evidence backs up my account to the standard of ‘balance of probability’. Their website is currently down (I don’t know how long this has been the case) so I cannot see their terms and conditions. Any advice / suggestions to grow up would be much appreciated.

I parked in a local retail complex where you pay to park but recover your money at the tills of a large store that owns the car park, but only if you spend a minimum of £10 in that store. I decided that as I was only going to spend about £7 I wasnt going to pay to park and look forward to receiving the likely "ticket" and have fun afterwards but I was thwarted by someone else placing a sheet of A4 paper over the ticket payment machines saying "FREE PARKING TODAY" in big letters. I just wish I had thought of that. and before you ask, the machines were in perfect working order.

i sent a signed for prove it letter to these clowns , here is a copy of the signiture royal mail have for item Electronic Proof of Delivery for your item rm.png