Help! Beautician ran off with more than £750, advice re: taking her to court to retrieve money

[Prabhleen]

Hello, Thank you for taking your time to read this!

 

I paid a beautician £750 for beauty treatments (laser)

however she has now closed her shop and ran off with the money (without providing a service).

 

 

I have attempted to contact her for a number of months and she always comes up with some kind of excuse for example, the machines are broken and are being repaired or the shop has a leak and is closed.

 

She gives a date for an appointment each time and says the shop will be open "soon" but this is a lie and the shop remains closed.

 

 

I have tried to call her but her number no longer goes through.

I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice as to what I should do please.

 

I am thinking to take her to the small claims court and have done some research, her company is not a limited company, however I am unsure whether she is the registered owner.

I am aware she has a residential address but again I am not sure if this property is in her name.

 

She did not provide me with paper receipts for my payment and said that my bank transfers were proof (silly me I did not question this).

 

 

The only evidence I have are my bank statements and our whatsapp convo (I have taken screen shots of her messages but also have the full history).

 

The saddest thing is that I am not the only one she has done this to, she has hundreds of people on her books and we all have been conned!

 

Any advice or support will be much appreciated, thank you!

[renegadeimp]

before you try court action, you need to do your homework.

 

 

Does she own her home,

does she have any assets,

is there a realistic chance of you actually getting money if you win the case?

 

 

If she has connec hundreds of people,

think about informing the police and encourage others to do so as well.

 

because it really sounds like you have absolutely no chance of geting the money,

even if you win the case.

But you may be able to, if she gets arrested for theft.fraud.

[WarrenBuffet]

Why did you pay upfront?

[Prabhleen]

before you try court action, you need to do your homework. Does she own her home, does she have any assets, is there a realistic chance of you actually getting money if you win the case? If she has connec hundreds of people, think about informing the police and encourage others to do so as well.

 

because it really sounds like you have absolutely no chance of geting the money, even if you win the case. But you may be able to, if she gets arrested for theft.fraud.

 

Hi Renegadeimp,

Thank you for your quick response!

 

I have applied to the land registry service to find out if she owns her property.

 

With regards to assets I am not sure,

she does drive and if she owns the contents in the salon then these are quite expensive (laser machines worth thousands and she has a few of them).

 

I am not really sure how to find out any more information as she has gone off the radar.

I am thinking to start a court application in the mean time?

 

Why did you pay upfront?

 

Hi WarrenBuffet, She was offering a package deal and told us that we needed to pay a £500 deposit and then the whole amount within a few months (which was £1000)

 

however I did not have all of it and so paid her £750 in total.

 

I realise this was not the right thing to do however then I was unaware and thought I had to give her a deposit.

 

An update:

I purchased the land registry documents and the current property is not in her name (but a family member) and the shop is registered under another name: BLUEWATER INVESTMENTS LIMITED.

[dx100uk]

urm shill name too

 

 

https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000000MfTUQAA3

[dx100uk]

have you actually asked your bank if they can do anything?

[Prabhleen]

Yes, unfortunately because I paid her a while ago, it's been too long for them to do anything

[Prabhleen]

urm shill name too

 

 

https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000000MfTUQAA3

 

 

Sorry not sure what this is

[dx100uk]

well why would you use another name..

i'm not the expert on this

someone will pop in soon

but I'm not sure how it may help

[Prabhleen]

well why would you use another name..

i'm not the expert on this

someone will pop in soon

but I'm not sure how it may help

 

 

Thank you dx100uk, she seems very dodgy!

[king12345]

The only hope you have is to get as many people to report her to police/action fraud and gather all reference numbers.

 

Then, get everyone to do shifts outside her home and once she's in meet with all the other victims and call the police.

 

Make sure you cover the back of the house so she won't escape as soon as the coppers knock at the door.

 

Most likely the police will say that it is a civil matter.

Wrong!

 

Print out the fraud act and read it out to the police insisting that she gets arrested.

More victims you get there the better.

 

There's a very small chance that once faced with arrest she might pay everyone off, these criminals usually keep a lot of cash in the house.

 

If she doesn't and she gets arrested you will need to insist with the officers to search the house there and then (by calling for support) before other family members hide the cash and bank statements showing that she's got your money.

 

If this is not handled by a proper old school officer, I'm afraid the only thing you will achieve is that she would be taken in for questioning and released without charge a couple of hours later.

 

Other ways to recover the money would be pointless (county court claim) or illegal.

Police usually wants to stay out of these matters, so you really have to kick up a fuss and gather as many victims as possible.

 

Also, film the entire event; maybe the coppers will act in the interest of victims if there's a chance that they end up on YouTube.

[renegadeimp]

Lets advise the OP on doing things legally king. Not as a vigilante.

[king12345]

Lets advise the OP on doing things legally king. Not as a vigilante.

 

Calling the police is the legal way.

If you hope that the coppers wait for the fraudster to come back home and arrest her, you'll never get anywhere.

The op needs to do 90% of the police work, otherwise is the usual"civil matter".

Nothing I suggested is illegal.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

The only hope you have is to get as many people to report her to police/action fraud and gather all reference numbers.

 

Then, get everyone to do shifts outside her home and once she's in meet with all the other victims and call the police.

 

Make sure you cover the back of the house so she won't escape as soon as the coppers knock at the door.

 

Most likely the police will say that it is a civil matter.

Wrong!

 

Print out the fraud act and read it out to the police insisting that she gets arrested.

More victims you get there the better.

 

There's a very small chance that once faced with arrest she might pay everyone off, these criminals usually keep a lot of cash in the house.

 

If she doesn't and she gets arrested you will need to insist with the officers to search the house there and then (by calling for support) before other family members hide the cash and bank statements showing that she's got your money.

 

If this is not handled by a proper old school officer, I'm afraid the only thing you will achieve is that she would be taken in for questioning and released without charge a couple of hours later.

 

Other ways to recover the money would be pointless (county court claim) or illegal.

Police usually wants to stay out of these matters, so you really have to kick up a fuss and gather as many victims as possible.

 

Also, film the entire event; maybe the coppers will act in the interest of victims if there's a chance that they end up on YouTube.

 

The OP and her friends will find themselves on the receiving end of an harassment alarm and distress prosecution for that.

The police wont storm someone's house just on the info given so far.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Calling the police is the legal way.

If you hope that the coppers wait for the fraudster to come back home and arrest her, you'll never get anywhere.

The op needs to do 90% of the police work, otherwise is the usual"civil matter".

Nothing I suggested is illegal.

 

The problem is, it may not be fraud. It may be the debtor set up a normal business and something went wrong and the business collapsed. That's not fraud, that's just bad luck. That's why, until some sort of proof of fraud is supplied, the OP can only look at the court option.

[Surfer01]

The problem is, it may not be fraud. It may be the debtor set up a normal business and something went wrong and the business collapsed. That's not fraud, that's just bad luck. That's why, until some sort of proof of fraud is supplied, the OP can only look at the court option.

I thought it was fraud if the debtor was aware that they would be closing in th near future. In addition, taking the money upfront and then not supplying the service is theft.

[king12345]

The problem is, it may not be fraud. It may be the debtor set up a normal business and something went wrong and the business collapsed. That's not fraud, that's just bad luck. That's why, until some sort of proof of fraud is supplied, the OP can only look at the court option.

 

The op said that the beautician is finding excuses and that the shop will reopen.

If the business had gone under she would have said so.

It's clear that she knew that the shop was closing down and took as much money as she could before disappearing.

Someone trying to recover money can't be considered harassment, especially when, as I suggested, the fraudster is not approached, but just monitored so the police can be called at the right time.

If there are ten people claiming of having being defrauded, all with a police reference number, the officers attending the scene might decide to take the right approach.

I say "might" because nowadays they don't care about fraudsters, unless the victim is a bank.

That's why I said that they will try the usual "civil matter" rubbish.

The op needs a carefully thought plan and a lot of luck to find a real police officer taking the correct approach.

The fact that the business registered at that address is totally different from a beautician, reinforces the fraud theory.

Fraud is spiralling out of control because fraudsters are very confident that the police will not do anything.

In one of my threads I wrote about my former tenants advertising my property and taking deposits from poor victims.

They were caught red handed but police decided it was a civil matter.

When they disappeared they left 7 victims up and dry.

It also took many months for dwp to stop their benefits despite my prompt report highlighting and providing evidence that they had left the country.

This is taxpayers' money.

These fraudsters must be stopped.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

I thought it was fraud if the debtor was aware that they would be closing in th near future. In addition, taking the money upfront and then not supplying the service is theft.

 

Where so the proof they were aware.

Hoe do we know everything was going great an then the bailiffs went in on a ten grand warrant and cleared the company out?

Where is the fraud there? You see what I mean. You are going to have to prove some sot of fraud to the police to get them on board.

Not all money going missing or not paid back is fraud.

[Surfer01]

Where so the proof they were aware.

Hoe do we know everything was going great an then the bailiffs went in on a ten grand warrant and cleared the company out?

Where is the fraud there? You see what I mean. You are going to have to prove some sot of fraud to the police to get them on board.

Not all money going missing or not paid back is fraud.

 

I would think that they knew that they were closing as they took a ratehr large deposit and then demande the balance upfront.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

The op said that the beautician is finding excuses and that the shop will reopen.

If the business had gone under she would have said so.

It's clear that she knew that the shop was closing down and took as much money as she could before disappearing.

Someone trying to recover money can't be considered harassment, especially when, as I suggested, the fraudster is not approached, but just monitored so the police can be called at the right time.

If there are ten people claiming of having being defrauded, all with a police reference number, the officers attending the scene might decide to take the right approach.

I say "might" because nowadays they don't care about fraudsters, unless the victim is a bank.

That's why I said that they will try the usual "civil matter" rubbish.

The op needs a carefully thought plan and a lot of luck to find a real police officer taking the correct approach.

The fact that the business registered at that address is totally different from a beautician, reinforces the fraud theory.

Fraud is spiralling out of control because fraudsters are very confident that the police will not do anything.

In one of my threads I wrote about my former tenants advertising my property and taking deposits from poor victims.

They were caught red handed but police decided it was a civil matter.

When they disappeared they left 7 victims up and dry.

It also took many months for dwp to stop their benefits despite my prompt report highlighting and providing evidence that they had left the country.

This is taxpayers' money.

These fraudsters must be stopped.

 

I think you will find it comes under causing harassment alarm and distress to sit and watch s debtors hour like that if caught.

Or are you saying that a dca can sit outside your house just watching you until you pay up and nothing you can do?

Fraud is a bad thing yes, but wasting police time by confusing fraud with genuine civil claims is just ruining it foe those that actually need the police.

 

Now if the op has ANY proof of fraud whatsoever, then fine, tell us what it is and we can advise.

But having ten people in the same boat isn't proof. That's just proof a company failed owing lots of people money.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

I would think that they knew that they were closing as they took a ratehr large deposit and then demande the balance upfront.

If I buy a car, I pay a large deposit and then balance before delivery. Does that mean that could be fraud?

A lot of businesses require payment in full for a product or service before it starts.

[Prabhleen]

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you so much for your responses, I'm not sure which way to take it.

 

Yes as you mentioned she did know she was closing down

(maybe she is in a lot of debt hence why she started offering these "deals")

a lot of people took on only for her to disappear.

 

I will try to get as many people on board with me but I wonder whether there is another way forward?

 

Is the court option not a good one then?

 

Sorry I am new to all of this so not really sure what route to take.

[renegadeimp]

Before you do anything else, you NEED to do your homework.

[king12345]

Taking someone with no assets to court is just a waste of money.

[Prabhleen]

Before you do anything else, you NEED to do your homework.

 

 

I appreciate you saying I NEED to do my homework, but how? I've purchased land registry documents, I don't know where she is or anything so not really sure what other homework I can do from here? Any thoughts much appreciated!