Small Claims Court Expereince ? Advice Needed Please

[Oblomov]

I have a Small Claims Court proceeding soon. We booked a party for ds at a softplay centre. It was full to capacity, plus more, and the service was very poor. Dh and I were very upset - I had been there many times before - happily. Many of our friends were unhappy with it too.I wrote a letter. She replied. Didn't apologise or address any of our issues. She offered 3 free entries, but we felt that this was not good enough compared to the silly amount ( with hindsight - never again) that we had paid.
But her attitude hurt the most. Wrote 2 more letters. No response.
So started proceedings.
She admits nothing.

Can you give me some advice as to what will actually happen in the courtroom.

I could get statements from the people who attended our party. But do I need to write to her, to ask for the names of 'independant witnesses' - people who were having their party at the same time - is that necessary ?

Any experience / advice appreciated.

what are you claiming back? the cost of the party only, or more?

also, did the party go ahead? and did the kids play there and get party tea etc..

what does she say in her reply to the court papers?

she might not even turn up, and judgment will be made in her absence

have taken people to c.c in my old job....it is a bit of a palaver, but judge sees you in a room, not in his robes, IIRC..

Well I did put down the full cost. On the form, it allows the person the opportunity to admit part of it and state how much they would give - I naievely thought she would do this.
The party did go ahead. They did have tea.

She said that she thought the service was ... fine and that they admitted nothing.

from her POV, you still had the party, used the services and ate the food..so why should she refund you and more besides? IFYSWIM
being devil's advocate here.....

I said that we couldn't get to our table, becasue it was so full. Our table was already taken. No on said there were drinks provided.
I had to go back and forth to the entrance to collect our guests and it took me minutes to push past all the people. The receptionist seem unable to cope.
She refused to comment on any of these actual issues.

very disappointing no doubt

Becasue I complained at the time to the man who said he was in charge of my party and he did nothing.
I said this in my court statement.
She returned with : the supervisor is a woman.

I thought, wow this is really petty, I have already explained that I complained to the person who told me that he was in charge.
Her " it is a woman', is like grasping at straws and not atleast accepting that I did complain at the time.

beacuse the place was overfull , form a H&S point of view, she could get into trouble for that.
My pn mums and I went there many times, often every wednesday. They thought it was awful.

it must be so frustrating when you have spent all that money and had a horrible time, and disappointed for the children too

when does it go to court?

are they going to give you their POV to take to court...

cannot remember if you can do that.or if they need to come to court

sot play lady might be hoping this all goes away, or that it will not be found in your favour

also, you cannot prove the place was filled overcapacity....

I have to return the forms by the end of the month. I can ask for a months grace, and it suggests we try to settle it ourselves. Plus this would give me time to ask her for independ witness, names, if it is suggested that I need to go down that route.
Do I need legal advice, re what evidence I need , when going to court. Do I need to get in there again and take photos of how bad it is when it is full to capacity ?

you can speak to the court and they can clarify about evidence etc

i would certainly try to settle , but sounds like it will be an uphill struggle...have you added the court fees on to the amount you are claiming?

the photos you take now won;t be of value as they don;t reflect how it was when you were there and that is what is relevant if she was in breach of H&S

am happy to be corrected on any of this by any practicing lawyers, BTW !!

Yes, becasue they have a signing in for every child. They could, make sure that people leave after their allotted time. They did this near the end of our time. But only to allow others in.

Thus I KNOW that it was full capacity for the full hour that our children were playing.

But then , there were other people who were also having parties, who should have left, but returned back in. The woman behind us, admitted this. This shows that not only was it full, but that it was overfull ,becasue there were people ther who were not supposed to be.
I could write to her, to ask for names of other parties that day. Ask her for the records of the capacity that day.

you could , whether they will give you the records is quite another thing..but might show you are serious and encourage a settlement

I appreciate you ideas lula. Should I just let it drop. A part of me can't, only becasue she is so rude about it.

well, i would look to settle, going to court is a PITA, and no guarantee that you will win especially as you actually had the party....

hmm......

if you do it, you need to do it wholeheartedly,.....why not go to the CAB and see what their opinion is, they often run free legal clinics, which might give more of an idea

also, if you do take her to court, you must appreciate you can never go back there

I would say this is not worth going to court over. I don't think it will be worth it financially.

Its a tricky issue - legally re services provided. Easy if you but a tv and it doesn't arrive. But if you spend a lot of money, prepaid, on a service, it was rubbish, complained at the time - whether it was a holiday, a restaurant dinner for your parents 25 wedding anniversary - or whatever it was, wouldn't you be narked ?

definitely be narked

but would i want to add to the narkiness with the potential hassle and no guarantee of any money back and potentially a bigger hole in my pocket due to the court fees

go to CAB, find a free legal clinic before you issue proceedings....

I have already paid mY £30 court fees. I have tried to ring CAb many times, but unable to get through

I would be narked enough to never use the palce again and to warn my friends away from it yes, after I had used the 3 free tickets offered, but the court action in all honesty is unlikely to succeed given the nature of a soft play area is to feel overcrowded imo.

I would be narked enough to never use the palce again and to warn my friends away from it yes, after I had used the 3 free tickets offered, but the court action in all honesty is unlikely to succeed given the nature of a soft play area is to feel overcrowded imo.

you might be better actually going to the CAB as they rarely have someone free to answer the phone

I'm being honest here and dont think you will win. You paid for a service and got that service - albeit it didnt meet your standards. They didnt guarantee you that the place would not be full.

I've been to court many times for work and i dont think the judge will order a refund as you did actually get what you paid for. If you hadnt had the party, you would have had a case - like ordering goods that dont arrive etc.

Having said that, you might win, if the defendant doesn't appear in court, the judge will usually find in your favour. Also she might settle before the case. If you've already paid the fee you could just chuck the papers in and see what happens. But be aware that you don't have the right to insist she settle out of court. Its up to her to do so or you might have to go the whole hog and then if she wins you may have to pay her costs as well as your own. As this is such a small sum though the judge may well say each party carries their own.