Nightmare customer won’t pay

[jono_h]

She should be giving you an oppurtunity to fix the snags. Not redo all the work for 5% lessthan agreed.

Write it off, or follow the advice about further action - but don’t get drawn into silly games.

 

[old duffer]

….. and your point is?

my point darling is that court action is the absolute last possible action, not the first. Make it the first and the judge could not only dismiss the case, he could even award costs against you. Protocol is everything in the world of protocol...

 

[johnny2007]

my point darling is that court action is the absolute last possible action, not the first. Make it the first and the judge could not only dismiss the case, he could even award costs against you. Protocol is everything in the world of protocol...

This is correct.
Following the pre-action protocol is paramount in civil cases.

 

[old duffer]

Yes, I told them it needed replacing and they agreed they would be replacing it soon. My quote was just for painting over and explicitly stated no repairs would be made.

Garage was of lighter colour before. She is annoyed it’s the wrong colour however I painted it the colour she specifically asked me to.

Will I look unreasonable if I refuse to go back to fix everything though? As I said to her before I’ll happily rectify end of guttering but the fascia is damaged and the garage door was stained using the materials she specifically requested.

Should my response be to repeat what I’ve offered and if she still refuses after 14 days, take to court?

more like 14 months

 

[FiremanT]

As @Mottie et al have suggested, tell her that you will lodge a small claims case. In some respects you will both lose out- both of you will need to take time off work to sit before the magistrate (which is not refundable). If she doesn't turn up to court, it is very probable that the judge will automatically find in your favour. From memory, the case will be heard in your nearest county court. If she loses and does not pay within a month, the CCJ will sit on file for 6 years and is likely to impact her credit rating https://www.gov.uk/county-court-judgments-ccj-for-debt/ccjs-and-your-credit-rating.

The magistrate will want to see that you tried to correct the situation before bringing the case to court. Thus far,it sounds like you have tried (up to this point).

In a business v individual, the individual can have the case heard in their locality. In B2B, the claimant will have preference. Unless things have changed in 15 or so years