Damage due to corporate negligence

[WitchyBabe]

Dear all

 

On 9th March, my car fell into a pothole in a very poorly maintained car park belonging to a national chain of ice rinks. There was an enormous bang as the front suspension spring snapped.

 

We spoke to the rink manager immediately who asked for a written statement, name address and phone number and came out to inspect the damage. I am a wheelchair user and can't be without the car so, rather than wait for the rink's Head Office to get quotes, the manager agreed to us having the car repaired at our mechanic of choice. In the meantime he promised to contact the area manager and arrange for the repair costs to be reimbursed as soon as we provided a copy of the invoice. The car was repaired on 13th March and while it was on the ramp, the mechanic photographed the damage in situ. We also have the broken spring. The invoice and photographs were delivered to the rink manager seven days after the original incident. In the meantime the HSE had taken the rink to task over the state of its' car parking and various other issues. The car park was covered in a layer of gravel (making it worse) and a sign erected warning of speed bumps, asking patrons to remain under 10mph. We were not doing more than 3mph when we fell into the pothole.

 

Despite repeated promises from the local manager, we have yet to recieve a penny or even a letter from the head office to acknowledge our complaint. It cost £115 to get the car repaired because their car park was poorly maintained and I want my money back!

 

What can I do? What should I do?

[Conniff]

You should write recorded delivery requesting payment within 21 days and if that is not forthcoming then send them a letter before action.

Don't bother with the letter before action if your not willing to go to court though.

[WitchyBabe]

I will get the local manager to give me the name and address of the area or corporate manager that he has spoken to and send a recorded letter asap. I already gave a verbal warning I would go to court to get this money back, for all the good it did! It's time to prove I'm serious. After seven months no one can say that I have not been patient.

 

What is a letter of action? Who does it go to and what should it include?

 

Many thanks.

[Conniff]

Thanks for the click.

 

They can't be thinking you are trying to rip them off with a bill for only £115.

 

An LBA is a warning that this is the last request for payment and that you will file your claim in court if they don't pay. That will, of course, cost them more as they will have to pay your fee as well.

 

It's not expensive to issue a small claims for the amount of your bill, £30 if you do it in court and £20 if you do it online.

 

Online is easier (if it gets that far) and you can have a read here:

 

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

 

Here is a very similar story to yours, have a read and take some hints from it.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/garage-services/152027-car-broke-down-after.html?highlight=speed+bump

Edited November 6, 2008 by Conniff

[WitchyBabe]

Hi Conniff

 

Thank you very much for your helpful comments. I'm afraid this company is notorious for being stingy. They really are a modern day scrooge - all profit and no investment. I'm not sure if I can name names here. They won't even pay to properly maintain their icepad and resurfacing equipment. I didn't expect this to be straight forward, but I had hoped....

 

Thanks again. I will be back at the rink on Sunday and will report back on the success of my address hunting mission.

[Conniff]

My pleasure babe. Always do things in writing and by recorded delivery as that way you have a paper trail if things should get difficult.

 

If you need help tracking down the head office of the rink then it is ok to post their name. Posting links to commercial sites is frowned on if it is for commercial purposes or to attract customers.

[WitchyBabe]

Ok... latest news...

 

I managed to catch the rink manager last night between periods during the hockey match. He took my mobile number and gave me his. He said he was having a conference call in the morning (today) with Head Office and the managers of other branches and would confront the company owner publically. I think he's not happy about being made to look like an idiot by the company's head office. He promised to ring in the afternoon to let me know what had happened and if necessary give me the name and address to send the letters to.

 

I got a text a couple of hours ago apologising that the conference call had been postponed until later this afternoon, so I'm currently just twiddling my thumbs and waiting for news. Seem to do a lot of that lately...