Kitchen Fiasco

[gyzmo]

Fisrtly, report the matter to Consumer Direct if you have not already done so.

 

I am sure you are aware that, in regards services, Sale and Supply of Goods and Services Regs require work to be carried out to a reasonable standard in a reasonable time. Given that they are holding themselves out to be professionals, then the work will be expected to be of that standard, and also the estimating and surveying as well should be sufficient to be able to identify issues.

 

I believe the best course of action involves what has already taken place or been advised - photographs and a log of events, everything in writing. Is this company part of any trade association (it will should say so on any correspondance)? It may be worth looking at what they have to offer in terms of dispute resolution (A court might also expect this if action is being taken).

 

Also be aware that, if credit is involved (I got a fairly decent mark in Credit so am a bit comfy on this now!) there will prbably be antecedent negotiations which will count as representations. These are binding on the creditor as well as the supplier.

 

I think it has already been put that the creditor is equally and severably liable for the work and I know that you have already notified them of the problems. Be aware though that there is the possibility of taking action against the creditor as well.

 

As fo next steps.

1. Report to Consumer Direct and ask them to refer it to your local Trading Standards.

2. Contact the Trade Association if there is one and ask what they can do, if anything.

3. Write a strongly worded but polite letter to the company and I would include photographs. State that you are making time of the essence.

4. Allow 10 days for a response. In the meantime, check With Consumer Direct / Trading Standards to see if they are doing anything. Also obtain a form to initiate court proceedings (N1?)

5. If no response then send the letter before action and allow 7 days for responding. If by this time you have got nowhere then it will probably be a matter fo court. In such a case, I would strongly recommend obtaining professional legal advice.

 

As to the letter, I will try and draft one for you.

[gyzmo]

Here's an example letter that I would write

 

 

Sirs,

 

Pursuant to the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended), I require that you immediately take action o remedy the situation which has occurred following the installation of a kitchen from yourselves.

 

[here produce a bullet point list of the problems]

 

It is quite evident that there have been breaches of s. 13 of the Act, in that due care and skill has not been excercised during the planning and subsequen work being carried out. Furthermore, the work is not being carried out within a reasonable timeframe as required by s. 14 of the same Act.

 

In order to prevent legal action, you are required to carry out the work as per the terms of the agreement, or to re-instate the kitchen to its former condition.

 

Failure to comply with the agreement within 10 days of teh above date will result in legal action against yourselves for costs for the above work to be carried out by a party other than yourselves as well as damages.

 

I trust that this however will not be necessary and that you will immediately comply with your legal and contractual obligations.

 

Yours etc.

[gyzmo]

Oooh - sorry - that post came up after I dont that letter. I am not that well up on court proceedures. I know that a court will want to see al attempts at resolving the matter being taken - to do otherwise will usually incur their displeasure. But waiting a month does seem a bit too much for me. It's not like that kitchen has been done and your waiting for money to be repaid.

 

I personally would go with what you say and give the 10 day notice. But in the absence of anyone else posting something definitive, seek advice on thsi matter as you do not want to lose in court becasue you didnt try the trade association first.

[gyzmo]

Hmmm. Well all options do seem to be reasonable in that the just about comply with rights given by law.

 

I'm not an expert on kitchens or plannng, so could not say whether they should have noticed this (I would hope so) or taken it into consideration.

 

You could accept option 1 and pursue compensation through the courts. Options 2 and three require that you trust them to do the work properly this time. I might be minded to go for number 3 but telling them that the least they could do is arrange for the pipe to be relocated at their expense as compensation.

 

You could also insist that they shoudl hav noticed this anyway, and the negligence is down to them, therefore they should offer more. I woudl certainly write in with a counter-offer, citing the failure to spot this as he reason for the saga in the first place.

[gyzmo]

don't let them take the goods until you are refunded - it's a lien. If they don't refund - they don't get their goods (which you can later sell on to reclaim some money back) AND you get to chase them for the rest. Hopefully it won't come to that.

[gyzmo]

My bad - it's the seller who has the lien (never do finish what I read!) Sorry! :o

[gyzmo]

Hang on, I am in full muppet mode.

 

consumer Credit Act s. 72 states taht any goods supplied must be returned SUBJECT TO....

 

s. 70(2) which states that if, under the terms of a cancelled agreement, the debtor (you) is in possession of goods, he shall have a lien on them for any sum repayable to him (under the terms of the agreement) in respect of that agreement.

 

I KNEW i seen that somewhere!

 

So yes, under the CCA, you have a right to keep possession of those goods until you are re-imbursed, but I would appreciate someone else confirming this

[gyzmo]

You can ask. As to whethr thy will or not is a different matter. Why not take photos as evidence of their current state?

 

I am pretty sure on what I said about the CCA and lien - i'm just a bit of a self doubter!

[gyzmo]

Thta's down to them to prove. If you have evidence tha they were not in such a state when in your care, then they will have a pretty hard job proving otherwise. Also, if yo did claim in court, the court would probably see something like that as petty andcould kick it out. But I would wait until it's picked up firt - it might not happen!

 

Do take photos though definitely and do ask them to sign (they may not) something.

[gyzmo]

I completely agree. I do not see why a court would not allow costs and damages in this case. If they had made their offer along with some recompense then I would have agreed with Chester. But they are behaving disgracefuly. They should be treated as such.

[gyzmo]

What are you offering?!?!

 

Are you happy (or rather happier) with the way things are going?