Small claims court - defendant is threatening to counter claim if I dont accept

[AtW]

When he wins in court he'll be able to claim monies lost due to having to go to court - imagine how many £120s that would be.

So go for it!

[BrilloPad]

Have you been sued by the toilet cleaners from Glastonbury yet?

[vwdan]

I believe the offer to settle for 45£ is on top of the 120£ already paid (not instead)! In that case I would take it until the end... worse than let the joker get away with charge you 120£ is to get away with further 45!!!

Can't you just counter offer to get back 60£ (from the 120£ you paid) with the excuse that that will put the value at a reasonable and fair amount (if for example the average for the cost of this service would be in that region), and you will drop the case. He probably won't accept it but at least will show some good will from your side and the will to settle it!

Ah, if your interpretation is correct then I'd agree

[psychocandy]

When he wins in court he'll be able to claim monies lost due to having to go to court - imagine how many £120s that would be.

So go for it!

no he cant claim that

[psychocandy]

Have you been sued by the toilet cleaners from Glastonbury yet?

Ha ha reckon I did tulip out my bodyweight x2 in the space of 48 hours mind. Crazy it was!

[psychocandy]

Indeed £45 is a reasonable offer. He probably has to pay the cost of the no claims court fee and then call it quits.

No I paid the £100 because I had no choice. I paid £25 court fees. So £125.

Hes offered £45. So basically £20 towards the £100.

Yeh I know its a small amount but hes been a right twat from day one. When I said no thanks to ANOTHER £100 to bring the car back he took offence at that, basically gave me 24 hours to get it shifted or he'd charge storage fees he reckoned. In the end I had to run around to get something sorted asap for £55 to get it home.

Sorry but I still think keeping quiet, knowing full well you're going to bill then lumping it on when the customer has no choice is dodgy...

[AtW]

No I paid the £100 because I had no choice. I paid £25 court fees. So £125.

You've filed court case without following pre-litigation protocols?

Oh dear.

The judge is going to tear you a new one.

[northernladuk]

Sorry but I still think keeping quiet, knowing full well you're going to bill then lumping it on when the customer has no choice is dodgy...

You're actually right. Praying on feckless stupid pillocks is well out of order.

[Mordac]

Long story - got into an argument a local garage who charged me £120 for towing my Mrs car in for repairs (it was 3 miles). My argument was he offered to collect and never said it would be chargeable let alone at a premium. Only found out when he presented the bill and wanted another £120 to bring it back (I got someone else to do for £40).

Anyway, the guy is a complete cock. Found out after hes got a bit of reputation for ripping people off like this. I had to pay to get the car back but complained.

Thought it'd be a laugh to take him to small claims court. Yeh its £120 so nothing but Mrs car/Mrs money so she was dead keen. And there was the entertainment value for £35 anyway.

So the guys responded - unless I accept his offer of £45 hes going to take it further and counter claim for his wasted time and the stress I caused. WTF?

Surely you can't do that. Defeats the whole object of the small claims court where the individual does not get steamrollered by superior legal resources and money.

After all, imagine taking Tesco or someone to small claims and them threatening to sue you to scare you off.

Anyone know what the rules are?

Does he have a signed contract? If not, he probably won't win, but for £45 it's probably not worth the hassle. I'd settle.

[PCTNN]

Similar thing happened to me years ago: a garage charged me for towing my car, never mentioned costs and made it sound like they were going to do it for free.

I asked for an explanation but at the end since it was "only" £45 quid I just paid. Nevertheless, I left them a couple of negative online reviews.

I knew I caused more damage than they did to me when the garage phoned me asking to remove such reviews. They're still there