To turn down this settlement offer

[Maybebabymy]

I have been in dispute with a company who are trying to charge me for a service they have not provided. I signed a contract with them, but they misrepresented the service they were selling.

I am stuck in a contract to pay them just over £600 per year for the next 5 years! For nothing. All they have done is filled out a short and simple form for me.

I have not paid and will not pay. I've invited them to take me to the small claims court. Today they offer to let me pay the first years invoice only, and they'll terminate the contract for the remaining 4 years.

I told them to stuff it and that they must take me to court.

I think that by them giving up so easily even when I've told them point blank to take me to court shows they know they have acted dishonestly.

AIBU or should I just accept their offer (I won't) .

It's hard to say without knowing what the service was. Is it something that you can prove wasn't done or is that lack of service subjective to opinion?

Hard to say without the full facts but imho if they have capitulated so easily that's because they know they're on a sticky wicket. I wouldn't accept but it very much depend on how willing you are to play the game (because that's how it is) and how risk averse you are.

With £3000 at stake, a couple hundred spent on professional legal advice would be sensible. Specifically you need advice on whether the contract is likely to be enforceable or not.

Is it advertising? just a guess.

This probably isn't their final offer, they are just testing the water to see if you accept. I'd probably let a dispute resolution lawyer take a quick look to assess the probability of winning the case for you.

Bear in mind that they might be just protecting their position. You can't generally get your costs back in a small claim unless you can show the other side acted unreasonably. If the offer is a more than reasonable one and you stick to a line of "see you in court" they might try and get costs.