Customer complaint

[Burdekin]

Sounds like the second person has ripped them off or cost a lot more than they thought so trying to get some money out of you. Bet they will come back with something like, we will accept £500 and won’t take it any further. Just ignore them is what I would do, it’s not a reasonable request and doesn’t warrant a reply.

 

[Other Daniel]

I would advise against ignoring them.
Stick to your guns, by all means, and it does sound as if
you have grounds to refuse compensating them.
But, don't ignore them. Acknowledge their communications
with courteous, but firm, replies.
It will look so much better for you, if the case is taken further.

Edit : Oh, and do keep a log of all your interactions with the client,
just in case.

 

[Kayos]

By law they have to give you the option to repair first.

I'd respond, asking for proof they tried to contact you. Without that any legal action will fall at the first hurdle

I have had this first hand, claimed a boiler heat exchanger split, ruined the boiler, kitchen and wooden floor. They had it all fixed and here was a £37k bill for me to pay.
Didn't even make it to court, one letter from my solicitor stopped them in their tracks

 

[northwest]

Sold something to a "customer" and it was back in a fortnight "broken" - he had definitely taken it apart, put it back together under the strict proviso he wouldn't fiddle again, yup, back within the week: But it is under warranty. No, repair is chargeable. Threatened me with all sorts "the officials at trading standards" everything. I wrote and said that I would send it back to the importer for their opinion and a week later and a bill for £48 it was returned to me. Six weeks ago I wrote to him giving him two weeks to collect or it would be up for sale to recover my costs, it is out on the rack right now at half price! it will be gone within the week and he can go suck eggs.

 

[Nick DV]

Probably reversed into them and whoever repaired them f***ed them up!

 

[Kram]

If gate is onto public land/road go and have a look unannounced and see what has been done.
Do you know what they had issue with? Paint/powder coat finish? Rust? Welds? Fitment? Wrong colour?

 

[ajlelectronics]

My response would be to be "helpful". Write back expaining that it is the first you have heard about any dissatisfaction and enclosing either a copy or a link of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

It'll not get to court, but if you get any bluster, I would like to write the defence documents for you.

 

[gaz1]

Golden rules for handling customer complaints:

1. Acknowledge
2. Investigate
3. Respond

This gives you an opportunity to put right any genuine mistakes, whilst protecting you against people trying in on.

Courts will always ask what efforts had been made to reach a resolution before going down a legal route. Presenting a bill for remediation to a supplier without having made a complaint or giving the supplier the opportunity to assess and remediate first is a sure way to have a claim thrown out of court, particularly where the supplier can show they investigated as soon as they were made aware of the customer complaint.

at moment its

ignore whilst you take legal advice
investigate as its a driveway gate
take photos as your on a public highway cant stop you

acknowledge there letter
respond in a civil matter asking what work has been carried out using aj's comment
wait for a response
reply asking for photo evidence if not in there response
gives you time to investigate your own photo evidence and also newly taken evidence
investigate there response with there photo evidence
then reply

you have your own dated steps to take in this and they have there own dated steps to take always record what you did and what was done once you was informed of any complications within your work

 

[jsf55]

Ask for a copy of the the receipt for the repairs, then contact the person who repaired it for more information ?

 

[mike os]

Ask for a copy of the the receipt for the repairs, then contact the person who repaired it for more information ?

Not really.. thats not your business unless it is required to prove costs

 

[Matrixx]

I would reply that you are sorry to hear there was an issue, but as they have left you no way to correct the issue , or contacted you about it, you cannot be liable for any costs they have incurred.

if you are worried about it get a solicitor to write a letter for you , they shouldn't charge much for the first letter (it a token fee). After that they charge by the second (got the T shirt)

 

[ajlelectronics]

Ask for a copy of the the receipt for the repairs, then contact the person who repaired it for more information ?

It is of no interest to the retailer. The customer has to report the alleged fault and give the retailer an opportunity to deal with it. The customer cannot resort to "self help" unless the retailer refuses to hear the complaint and rectify it.

 

[Rich#1984]

So I’ve been and have a look as far as I can see they have had a one gate changed and a post replaced but as I was sat in the van a neighbour came out and tapped on the window apparently the gent who live there has tried reversing onto the drive and hit the gate damaging it and the post so they have had another company go and alter/repair it she has said she will tell anyone the same so needless to say I won’t be refunding any monies paid to me I’ve heard nothing from the customer since anyway

 

[8ob]

So I’ve been and have a look as far as I can see they have had a one gate changed and a post replaced but as I was sat in the van a neighbour came out and tapped on the window apparently the gent who live there has tried reversing onto the drive and hit the gate damaging it and the post so they have had another company go and alter/repair it she has said she will tell anyone the same so needless to say I won’t be refunding any monies paid to me I’ve heard nothing from the customer since anyway

The thick plottens

Bob

 

[bourbon]

got to be said, seems like an 'open and shut' case.

 

[Brad93]

I'd still acknowledge the complaint and put forward that you've passed by and noted the damage to the gate

 

[roofman]

Now reply to them saying that you have surveyed the job and will be issuing an invoice for your time on this matter..

 

[Dev]

So I did a drive way gate for a customer around 6/8 months ago they messaged me this week saying they had had to have the gate rectified at a cost of over £1000 they never messaged me to to say anything was wrong with the gate as I would have rectified it myself without question but now they are saying the want the original amount paid off the drive way gate as compensation I’ve never had one complaint from another costumer so how do I handle this without ripping his neck out like road house

Maybe a reminder to have a formal ‘terms of business’ that you provide customers that covers scenarios like this as in: If you accept the goods as delivered if there are any defects you’d have x months to notify me and if any work carried out by a 3rd party voids all warranties’

 

[redlig]

I believe the polite expression is jog on

I prefer " sex and Travel"

 

[gaz1]

So I’ve been and have a look as far as I can see they have had a one gate changed and a post replaced but as I was sat in the van a neighbour came out and tapped on the window apparently the gent who live there has tried reversing onto the drive and hit the gate damaging it and the post so they have had another company go and alter/repair it she has said she will tell anyone the same so needless to say I won’t be refunding any monies paid to me I’ve heard nothing from the customer since anyway

now i do hope that you have recorded that statement

it is in your best interests to go back and ask the decent person if they would sign a declaration that they have seen this happen

now if it goes to court and you have this evidence you can have some serious fun and claim all your funds + extra for a false claim in court and i would allow it to goto court and use it as final evidence against the small claims court

used at last minute just before court proceedings and then you want to go into the small claims court and then make a claim against the owners