Opened a small claims case, now v worried!

[shouldIbecrossaboutthis]

Long story short.

I asked an architect to draw some plans, cost £300. Architect didn't go to planning office as promised & was slow to reply to my emails (3/4 days) so I was worried about paying my bill prior to receiving the plans as thought he might be a scam. I paid the bill 3 weeks late after doing more research on the company and after getting legal advice via house insurance.

Paid the bill and asked 3 times (over 6 weeks) to be sent plans - architect never replied. Sent final 4th email saying please refund money (had to get new plans done!) or else I will open court case (nearly 9 weeks after I paid). Again no reply so I opened the Small Court case.

In addition I hired this architect through mybuilder and you can leave feedback - I left him negative feedback.

Got an email from architect today saying:

1. I frustrated the terms of the contract by paying late and as such architect was within rights to take my £300 and give me nothing in return
2. Architect will be opening a counter claim for "the time and any and all losses associated with my court action" 3)My negative feedback is defamatory and if the architects workload is affected by my feedback "reasonable quantifiable losses" will be sought

I'm a bit stumped here. I know I paid the bill late, but surely that doesn't make it ok for him to skip off with my £300? I'm going to get some legal advice tomorrow but until then wondered if anyone here could help.

Thanks.

What PrH47 said.
Just document everything that happens in relation to this case, every little thing.

Was going to give you some more advice on this then read what prh47 put. I completely agree.

Ia also agree with prh47.

This man is trying to bully you into dropping the claim - that is what the counterclaim, online feedback and correspondence are all aiming at.

Stick to your guns.

Have you written down a time line of what happened when? (i.e. when you instructed him, when he first asked for payment, when you paid, all correspondence between you). This will be useful if this does end up in court to help you explain things to the judge.

Yup I have a timeline. I also have a typed critique (if you like) of his defence Ie. There are misleading parts he has put in like I contacted him for a "progress update" after he supposedly sent the plans.

But I didn't, I emailed him twice, and it says, "Hi x, how are the plans coming along and when will I receive them?". The third and fourth email I sent him (after he supposedly sent to plans) actually has the subject line "failure to deliver plans".

I also contacted him prior to opening the case to say I would open it in 14 days days as I still had not received the plans. He ignored all of these! He also didn't ever tell me he was sending the plans, sure;y that's a common courtesy?

I have written a critique of his defence if you like. Should I send that off with the allocation questionnaire?

Glad to know I'm not going batty. I just can't believe the front this guy has. He sounds sure of himself and that I'm going to lose and end up owing him loads. It's scary. Thanks for the hand holding .

PS> Just one more thing. The court the allocation questionnaire is from is 140 miles away. I'm nearly 33 weeks pregnant. Do I just have to suck it up and travel that distance?

Your "written critique" is what is known as a "Reply" I would head it as such and send it in, yes.

Write to the court and ask for the matter to be moved to your local county court explaining your reasons.

Woop thanks propercharlie!

You're getting some good advice here, so not much to add except I think it worth pointing out that in the small claims court, you cannot recover your legal costs even if you win, other than in very exceptional circumstances which I do not think would apply to this case.

I'm not entirely sure how that rule translates to recovery of the architect's time spent dealing with the claim, but I would be surprised if that was recoverable in the small clams court.

Also, if you have asked for a copy of whatever you signed and he has not provided it then he is not really acting in accordance with the overriding principle of assisting the court to resolve claims proportionately and he really should provide you with a copy forthwith. If the contract doesn't expressly state that he could retain your £300 if you paid late, then he can't. End of. And I bet it didn't say that, because if it did, then who would ever pay before getting their plans?!

Hi everyone, thanks again for the fab advice I have sent off the Allocation Questionnaire so everything is going ahead.

The guy has contacted me again, saying his above "offer",

(ie. 1. Remove my feedback and says I have "exposed myself to a substantial financial damages claim" and I should "take action as a matter of urgency"

1. Cancel my small claims court claim
2. Pay him £100 in damages for "possible lost business"
3. Pay him £50 for compensation due to time he has lost due to my claim.)

Has now expired.

He has made me a new offer, as he believe my negative feedback is damaging his business. He now wants me to:

1. remove my negative feedback from the website
2. cancel my small claims court action against him
3. pay him £200.00 for "possible lost business" due to your defamatory statement
4. pay me compensation to the sum of £75.00 as a contribution to the time he has lost.

Should I just remove the feedback? It is very factual but I'm worried! Surely his horrible reaction to my feedback is more damaging? Should I reply?

Thanks all, again!

Disclaimer - I know nothing about the law or the small claims court. But this looks very much like am audacious move that has worked for this guy in the past. My bet is that his aggressive counter-claim tactics have scared previous unhappy customers off from taking action before so he is trying it again. You have got good advice here - I would not be scared off and I would not take feedback down as it sounds like that is worrying him most.

I would either not reply or reply only saying that you do not wish to discuss it further and will see it settled in court. Others can probably advise on this.

I second printing off every email he sends you. Number them and hand them into the small claims court. He is trying to scare you, that's all. I would leave the feedback up, you have only stated the facts. He didn't provide you with the service you paid for, simple. You don't need to pay for legal advise as you cannot claim it back.

The judge will award you lost earnings for attending the court.

I had a nightmare when a disgruntled male friend claimed that I owed him money. I posted on here about it and got great advice. He was taking me to court but to bully me to pay up before it went to court. The lies and length he went to with them was unbelievable. I refused to budge and he made an absolute fool of himself in court. These judges are really intelligent and can see through bs. Good luck.

You cant send the court anything that mentions an offer to settle - they are, by nature, without prejudice, so don't do that. You can however bring it up at the end of the hearing if you win. There is some small leeway to recover costs (above and beyond the fixed costs you'll be entitled to anyway if you win - issue fee, hearing fee and allocation fee, and witness expenses) if the other party has behaved badly. We can deal with that nearer the time.

Stand firm.

If the feedback on the website it totally factual and true then it cannot be defamatory, don't worry. Ignore him and just follow whatever instructions arrive from the court. You could however, if you wanted, warn him of the point I make above about costs. Something like - "please be advised that although costs are usually not recoverable on the small claims track, if you continue to harass me and threaten me with spurious and vexatious claims if I refuse to withdraw, I reserve the right to raise it with the court as regards the recovery of costs pursuant to CPR 27.14(2)(g)."

Next thing you will get is an order that will say something like (1) the claim has been allocated to the small claims track (2) by x date you must serve all documents you intend to rely on on the other party and file the same with the court (3) by x date you must serve a witness statement on the other party (and statements of anyone else you intend to rely on) and file the same with the court (4) the hearing will be listed after x date with a time estimate of x hours.

Make sure you meet ALL of those dates.

As I always say on here though, don't take someone's word for what you should do on the internet, the above are just suggestions, get some legal advice :)

Have you kept a copy of your feedback and his reply?

I did go to the citizens advice and they said it was open and shut, in my favour. I paid for plans, I don't have the plans. They weren't sure about the defamation claim and suggested he was all bluster and it wouldn't come to anything.

I want to put the feedback on here, and take out names etc for you to judge. Do you think that's ok, or making it worse? I do feel it is very factual.

He says, my feedback implies that I have received no level of plans or service in return for my payment.

This could be a validish point as he sent the plans to the councils (without telling me). I can't get them. And I still haven't seen what he sent them.

God what a nightmare, why didn't he just send me the bloody plans!!!??

Any yes, I have copies of everything!

I couldn't wait for you guys to come back as this is really starting to worry me, so I replied with:

"Hi again XX, thank you for contacting me regarding this issue.

To reiterate, I have received no plans and I have paid, no matter how late, £295 for that privilege.

That is why I will not be removing my feedback on [the website] as I believe it to be a fair, accurate and factual representation of my dealings with [his company]. I think other people need to know that if they pay you late you may not give them their plans, as has been the case with me. As I have previously mentioned I am not seeking to ruin your reputation but merely to give a fair and accurate report of my dealings with [his company]. Maybe it is your derogatory reply to my feedback that is causing a financial loss to [his company]?

I assure you I have received no plans and the courts will plainly be able to see this. Therefore, for the second time, I will not take you up on your offer to remove the feedback, cancel the claim, pay you damages and additional compensation.

My allocation questionnaire has been filed and I'm sure we will discuss this further at a later date.

Many thanks, [me].

I don't understand, why would he send plans to the council without showing them to you first. You instructed him, you were his client and should have seen the plans. Sounds very unprofessional and you paid him for a professional service.

You probably are doubting everything because as someone else said you are a normal rational person and expect others to conduct themselves in a similar manner, they don't.

The judges go by the facts, what was agreed and what was delivered.

That sounds very reasonable to me. I hope he now refunds your money before it goes to court.

Thanks Tressy, The only thing I can think is maybe he panicked when I said I was going to file the claim? Maybe he thought if he sent them to the council the court would consider them sent (even though I can't get them and did try) and I wouldn't have a case? That's the only thing I can think? But he was still too stubborn to send them to me and let me, "get away with" paying late?

Really don't worry about this OP, his spurious "counterclaim" is designed to rattle you, don't let it! You have a very straightforward case and this man sounds rather deranged. I would either ignore any further correspondence from him or simply write a very factual response along the lines of:

1. I paid for a service I didn't receive.
2. You have refused to refund my money despite not having any entitlement to keep it.
3. My feedback simply states the above and, as such, gives you no cause of action against me whatsoever.
4. If you wish to resolve this matter without it going to court, simply return to me the money which I am claiming and I am prepared to drop my case. If you continue to refuse to do so, I have no alternative other than to pursue my claim.

If, as he now claims, he sent the plans to the council, do you know when he did so? If it was after you filed your claim, it won't help his position one bit.

Thanks suburbandweller, sadly the council wont tell me when he sent them as the application is in his name and isn't open to the public and as such is protected by DPA.

This guy is living on mars! He is making this shit up as he goes along!

I would not removed the feedback, if things do go further I think they could use it against you if you did remove it. As in say that it was degrading to his company as you removed it!

Xx

Also if you have filed your claim I would cease all contact with him because it is just giving him more ammunition and is unnecessary x

Everything he says is a lie.

He hasn't sent anything to the council: planning applications are public documents, and if a application

Oops, don't know how that happened. I'll start again.

Everything he says is a lie.

He hasn't sent anything to the council: planning applications are public documents, and if an application is made by someone who doesn't own the property there is a special notification procedure to follow.

Talk to trading standards, I bet they are familiar with this guy.