small claims court

[shellfishb5]

Good Morning i dont know if this is posted in the right section.
Can anyone offer some advice please.
I got home last night went and collected my mail, and found a small claims court form.
What happened was that i ordered a pair of perscription glasses from a small opticians, whilst waiting for them to be made i lost my glasses so claimed on my house insurance they insisted that i use Doland opticians. So i phone opticians that i had ordered glasses from and explained what had happened, the woman on the phone got abusive, then got a threatening phone call from owner of the lab making the lenses, i explained what had happened. A few days later i received a letter asking me to pay a reduced amount for the lenses of £190, i wrote back telling him to shove offer. then yesterday i get this claim from court to £215 hes claiming himself not through solicitors. As far as i am concern i signed no agreement, paid no deposit and its not my fault that Insurer insisted on me using Dolands. So what do i do with claim form deny it, agree to it or what any advice please

[enaid]

Re: small claims court

Hi Shellfish,
As these are prescription lenses and are being made especially for you, I would imagine the lab is entitled to charge you. I may be wrong on this so wait for another opinion. Have you not tried to come to some compromise with your insurance company?

[Paule]

Re: small claims court

I presume that as these are prescription that you must have either had your eyes tested by the optician or provided hom with your prescription.

Can you give us an idea of the timescales involved please
- Order Date
- Glassed due to be ready date
- Cancellation of order date


on first impressions, I would tend to think, as enaid, that these will be a bespoke item and therefore would be able to claim the fee for producing them, but lets get a bit more information first. Dependant on timescales involved you may be able to negotiate.

If possible can you scan a copy of the Court form up after removing personal details, or type out exactly what they are claiming.

As it is in the Court system we need to move quickly to work out how to acknoeldge the claim against you.

PKea

[shellfishb5]

Re: small claims court

I presume that as these are prescription that you must have either had your eyes tested by the optician or provided hom with your prescription.

Can you give us an idea of the timescales involved please
- Order Date
- Glassed due to be ready date
- Cancellation of order date


on first impressions, I would tend to think, as enaid, that these will be a bespoke item and therefore would be able to claim the fee for producing them, but lets get a bit more information first. Dependant on timescales involved you may be able to negotiate.

If possible can you scan a copy of the Court form up after removing personal details, or type out exactly what they are claiming.

As it is in the Court system we need to move quickly to work out how to acknoeldge the claim against you.

PKea

Order Placed Jan08 told glasses would be ready in 14 days,
Lost original glasses 7 days after order placed
2 days placed claim with insurer so phoned optician to cancel order.
I provided them with my perscription.
Basically he is claiming costs for specialist (there only varifocal)
lenses of £190 + costs = £215.
intitially he sent me a letter asking offering me a reduced payment of £190 which i refused. Glasses were going to cost £240.

[Paule]

Re: small claims court

Do you have exact dates, so we can work out the timeline

This is my take on the dates

day 1) Order Glasses and provide prescription
day 9) Cancelled Order

To me it seems you entered into a contract by giving him your presecription to produce glasses, and cancelled over half way into the contract.
To claim full cost i would presume he would have to prove that lens were already manufatured by the lab on this date.
If lens were ready i would tend to believe that his is in his rights to claim for the cost of the lens.
If they werent produced he would be able to claim for any charges to lab may levy for setup etc.

Can you type out what the Particulars of claim say when you get chance.

PKea

[shellfishb5]

Re: small claims court

will post details tomorrow thanks for your help

[Paule]

Re: small claims court

will post details tomorrow thanks for your help

No probs, thats what we are here for

PKea

[Guest]

Re: small claims court

I would tend to agree with with enaid and PKea here. I know it is not what you wanted to read, but you have satisfied the requirements of a legal contract with the first optician. Clearly you were happy to pay for the glasses or you would not have ordered them. It may be that you will end up with two pairs, which considering you lost a pair, might not be a bad thing.

Once we have seen the details of their claim we can advise further.

A further option for you to consider might be to call your insurance company and tell them what has happened and have them relax the rule that says you must use a particular optician. This I am sure is possible, you are their customer after all. If they fail to agree, then check your policy to see if you have legal expenses cover and then make another claim on that policy as you are being sued and, like it or not, they are implicated due to their policy of insisting that their clients use a particular optician. This should lead to an amusing legal quandary for them

[Mochamoos]

Re: small claims court

ok going to be vague here cant think of the words I want....

Does the thing that gives you 14days to change your mind apply or is that just services?

[Guest]

Re: small claims court

A cooling off period?

This would not apply in this case as the order was for a specific product and which cannot be sold to anyone else. This is why an eye test is performed and a prescription exists. Goods ordered specifically to meet a consumer’s requirements are exempt from such regulations.

[shellfishb5]

Re: small claims court

I would tend to agree with with enaid and PKea here. I know it is not what you wanted to read, but you have satisfied the requirements of a legal contract with the first optician. Clearly you were happy to pay for the glasses or you would not have ordered them. It may be that you will end up with two pairs, which considering you lost a pair, might not be a bad thing.

Once we have seen the details of their claim we can advise further.

A further option for you to consider might be to call your insurance company and tell them what has happened and have them relax the rule that says you must use a particular optician. This I am sure is possible, you are their customer after all. If they fail to agree, then check your policy to see if you have legal expenses cover and then make another claim on that policy as you are being sued and, like it or not, they are implicated due to their policy of insisting that their clients use a particular optician. This should lead to an amusing legal quandary for them

I already have new glasses and have had them for 2 weeks now.
Because of my financial situation cant afford to pay for other pair, if i have to pay him it will be about £1 a month.

[Guest]

Re: small claims court

I already have new glasses and have had them for 2 weeks now.
Because of my financial situation cant afford to pay for other pair, if i have to pay him it will be about £1 a month.

I am not sure I understand. You wrote that you had ordered a pair of glasses and that they were going to be ready in 14 days but that you lost your only pair before they were ready and therefore, made an insurance claim and have received a pair from another optician, paid for by your insurance company.

Had you not lost your glasses, how were you planning on paying for the pair you had ordered and were waiting for?

[shellfishb5]

Re: small claims court

This is what is under particulars of claim

Particulars of claim

Mr **********
ordered a pair spectacles fitted with expensive special lenses. As the spectacles were being finished after 10 days he cancelled the order as the lenses had not been cut into the frame we sent the lenses to him to ask for payment. He has answered our request by stating in writing that we know where to shove our request.We reduced the amount we asked for by not charging for the frame and also by offering the lenses at a reduced rate.
Mediatiion will not work in this case.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
My Points
lenses were varifocal not classed as expensive special lenses
When i phoned shop to cancel glasses woman in the shop didnt know if the glasses were finished, surely if they were finished then lab would have notified shop.
I dispute that the glasses were ready when i phoned, if they were finished why did it then take two weeks to post them to me.
I dispute that he offered reduced rate on lenses, when i ordered glasses i picked £70 frames the total price of glasses was £240 minus £70 for frames leaves £170 so his idea of special offer was for me to pay £190.

So i was going to return the Acknowledgement of Service form which gives me another 28 days to submit defence, as i want to dispute full amount of claim. I have written everything down on form.
What do you think my chances are with regards this matter any advice please.

[Paule]

Re: small claims court

. He has answered our request by stating in writing that we know where to shove our request..

What were the contents of this letter?

I dispute that he offered reduced rate on lenses, when i ordered glasses i picked £70 frames the total price of glasses was £240 minus £70 for frames leaves £170 so his idea of special offer was for me to pay £190.

Have you got the invoice that shows this breakdown?

When i phoned shop to cancel glasses woman in the shop didnt know if the glasses were finished, surely if they were finished then lab would have notified shop.

To be honest if someone phoned me up at work and asked if a job was ready, I wouldn't know without checking.
and they state:

As the spectacles were being finished after 10 days he cancelled the order as the lenses had not been cut into the frame we sent the lenses to him to ask for payment

which answers your question

I dispute that the glasses were ready when i phoned,

so they are admitting that the lenses hadn't been cut to suit the frame, but they would still need producing prior to them being cut.


Personally i Think you will be liable for some of the costs, and that if you dispute the full amount you may lose.
I would admit part of the costs, which if you can produce the breakdown will give an idea of how much you admit to.

Sorry if thats not what you wanted to hear.

PKea

[Guest]

Re: small claims court

I would be careful about attempting to defend this claim as in my opinion any defence you could offer is tenuous at best.

The company you ordered your glasses from are entitled to expect payment at least for the work they have done thus far on the basis of quantum meruit. The glasses were ordered and part finished specifically to meet your requirements before you cancelled the order, thus breaching the contract. Their claim is a very simple one and I would fully expect them to win.

You state in your post #11 above that "Because of my financial situation cant afford to pay for other pair, if i have to pay him it will be about £1 a month" and you have not answered why this is suddenly the case. Clearly you were not intending to pay for the pair you ordered at that rate, so why do you imagine the Claimant, much less the Court will accept that this is all you can afford now?

You should admit the claim and make arrangements to pay before this reaches the stage where you will have to pay further costs and suffer the potential damage of a judgment against you.