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Did you have a formal contract clearly stating that he was going to supply a finished video and when?
I got married abroad two years ago and had someone fly out to film it.
He turned up as he said he would and within a month of getting back he had sent us a small clip that he’d edited together (about 1min30s long).
Since then we were initially in regular contact, but excuse after excuse was piling up as to why he hadn’t finished the film.
Obviously far too late I started some due diligence research and found countless people on wedding forums complaining that they were in exactly the same position.
After multiple attempts to contact him and with the threat of legal action, he replied and offered to send the raw unedited footage over as a gesture of goodwill so we at least had something. The a month or so later said the film was finished, but that he would now wait until he heard from any lawyers before proceeding. We instantly replied and said if he just sent us the film that would be the last he heard from us, but no response.
He’s now not answering the phone or emails. His old website hasn’t been updated for 18 months and after doing some digging he’s now set up another website and is doing more weddings. Looking at his Instagram he is still up to the same tricks with plenty of people asking where their films are in the comments - comments which get deleted pretty quickly.
My initial thought was to press on with legal action through small claims court maybe? But again I have found posts on the internet from people stating that they’ve done exactly this and he’s just ignored any judgement.
They’re now in the position where their bills are mounting up on top of what was already a considerable amount for the wedding film and getting no where.
Has anyone been in a similar position before?? What would you do next?
I’ve found his postal address on line so I now have that. I’ve also found his personal Facebook page but again he isn’t responding to any messages on there either.
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Did you have a formal contract clearly stating that he was going to supply a finished video and when?
Last edited by adrianw; 24th May 2020 at 11:04.
Yes. With timed deadlines that the work would be completed by.
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Then he is in breach and you can sue him, I’m not sure if you could claim any damages, My guess is that financially it won’t be worth it, if other people are reporting the same thing, it might be deception or fraud, have you contacted trading standards or the police?Originally Posted by pauly
No we haven’t contacted anyone yet. We’re just about to start working out exactly how to proceed then life took over for a few months.
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Unfortunately winning a case in small claims court is a very different thing to actually getting paid/action, as these people are finding. If it's a monetary matter, then the usual remedy is to instruct bailiffs (which may not be cost effective...) but in your case I presume you want the footage more than the money.
You say that you have his address - how feasible would it be for you to visit him (after lockdown, obviously)?
Not very. I’m in East Kent, He’s at the opposite end of the country in County Durham.
Bailiffs was another option I’d seen, but like you say I’d much rather have the finished footage than the money.
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Take him personally to court - not the company, use his home address as opposed to the company, when bailiffs start knocking on the door of his personal property he'll most likely have a change of heart.
I say this with the voice of experience.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Surely that would depend on the structure of his company, you can only take action against the company you dealt with.
From what I can work out he’s a sole trader and just keeps setting up new websites and associated social media to distance himself from the poor reviews.
The annoying thing is the standard of his work is exceptional. He just seems to take on more than he can handle and then only completes a small percentage of work he’s already been paid for as he’s too busy flying off somewhere for the next trip.
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Mr X trading as - worked for me,
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
If you have his confirmed address send a 'Signed For' letter giving him 14 days from tracked receipt to make good, if not done you will immediately escalate via small claims/county court for money lost, expenses of court, statutory interest at 8% etc. (the details of which you'll find online). Just to say best check that the local court is operational just now as no point in threatening if you can't submit the case due to COVID!
It's a small filing fee and most likely he won't defend so automatic win for you, worst case assuming you have a bulletproof story is court grants you the win meaning he'll pay one way or the other even if it means the court-appointed baliffs chasing him (anyone saying they never get paid haven't pushed it hard/correctly enough).
As with others, the above is my own experience; it's a simple process really just get your facts right and written down nice and clear.
I think more research tomorrow, collating my evidence and then penning a letter is exactly what I am leaning towards.
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How hard would it be to contact everyone else you can find through social media and set up a group to take action against this guy? The power (and money) of a large group has got to be better than chasing him as an individual.
From reading it seems that that’s exactly what another group did, apparently unsuccessfully, around 18 months ago
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https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome
Everything you need to know is linked. Easy to start a claim.
Follow the Pre-Action protocol of sending a ‘Letter Before Action’ and then decide to take it further if required using the court process as detailed.
You may well win your claim. Getting paid is another matter altogether.
About 18 months ago we did an extension on our house, and had planned to redo our main family bathroom at the same time which included a small amount of electrical works - probably £300 worth at most. We used an electrician who had done numerous projects for me before. He was An ex-marine and I thought was honest and trustworthy.
For one reason or other we didn’t do the bathroom at the same time as the extension, but he sent me his final Invoice he had included the bathroom work. Because I trusted him and thought I knew him I said I’d pay him the full amount but on the agreement he came back in a couple of weeks to complete, which he agreed to.
After that, he totally vanished, to the point where within 3 months he was no longer industry accredited. I went to his business address (approx 1 hour drive) to find he had moved, and not left a forwarding address. I thought that was it, and was resigned to losing my £300, but this left a real bad taste in my mouth. So I went back through all of my emails from him and on one email there was a signature with a totally different address 3 hours in the opposite direction to his first address.
As luck would have it, I had a work trip which took me within 20 mins of this new address, so off I went. Knocked on the door, guy sh@ himself. I asked if we could talk in the car and told him he owed me money. He asked how much, we did a bit of back and forth and settled on an agreeable figure, which he transferred there and then.
Cool story etc. Sometimes you have to confront people face to face to get what you are owed.
(No problem there - trips from the home counties to Co. Durham are apparently exempt ...)
Haha. I’ll just wait until I’m self isolating with symptoms to make sure I definitely won’t get into any trouble over making the trip!!
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I don’t think it’s as simple as you are saying. If the OP had a contract with, we’ll say, Joe blogs wedding photography ltd, and then the guy winds that company up as a bankruptcy, that’s the end of the matter because his contract was with the company and the company no longer exists.
I bought a set of alloys and tyres off a company in Bradford years ago via the internet. We spoke on the phone to discuss what I was after and my budget, I confirmed the style of alloy that I wanted (a deep dish design) but when the wheels arrived, there was only a 1-2” dish on the rear wheels and the fronts had no dish at all. In effect they looked NOTHING like the photo of the wheels that I had based by decision on.
I called them to let them know of my disappointment and that I wasn’t accepting the wheels as they looked nothing like the picture. Fast forward many months and over 2K in solicitors fees and I got nothing. They closed shop, were no longer trading and I couldn’t claim a thing. Except not only were they still trading, they even had the same phone number, but there was still nothing I could do because it had gone to court and a representative of theirs claimed the business was no longer trading.
The OP said the following:
Maybe try one of the consumer rights people in a weekend newspaper - eg Katie Morely in the Sunday Telegraph? Although the main outcome is getting your film, she usually writes about the cases she takes on empathetically so a missing wedding video (possibly one of many) might appeal.
The fact that other judgments appear to have been ignored doesn't bode well as a route to getting your films
ATB whatever you decide
It’s very simple to launch a small claims court claim. Paperwork is easy and can be filed online. You can’t claim damages but you can claim back the fees.
Unfortunately it’s probably harder to actually get the money from an individual than a large company. I took a hospital to court for an unsuccessful operation, they wanted to charge me for a second go. The judge at the first hearing suggested it would be hard to win, but the hospital folded and coughed up, probably because it’s cheaper for them to pay than defend.
An individual will likely defend themselves so little cost for them involved. But if you’ve exhausted other options small claims is the way to go. You need to pay filing fees, but these are fairly cheap and are paid by the other party if you win.
All you’ve got to lose is the filing fee and your expenses. I say go for it.
Thanks all for the links and advice.
I’ll get something in writing and sent off to him this week.
How are Royal Mail evidencing delivery for their signed for services at the moment?
I know some couriers are waiting until you answer the door and then asking to take a photo of the parcel inside the house. I’m not sure I’ve seen the postman doing that though.
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Does that matter? I know a scumbag who has an airport transfer business and he’s a one man band. He’s declared bankruptcy four times to avoid paying money he owes but there he is, still trading. He sets up as a ltd company every time.
If he's a sole trader and at face value your case looks pretty watertight, if after receiving judgement in your favour, apply for a garnishee order on his bank account(s), this should focus his mind. If he trades under various Limited Company's, you may be out of luck. Good luck either way.
Once again, the OP believes the man to be a sole trader so has nothing to do with Ltd. company protection; if indeed the case then he's exposed to a personal court action.
Do the signed for letter
I personally would make it look like a package so that he does actually bother taking it
Then go SCC
Immediately after tin win - which you will, put in an attachment if earnings - costs buy is added to the bill
You’ll get your money
Not in one go me thinks, but you’ll get it
Unfortuntately, it sounds like you're dealing with a scrote. This guy clearly doesn't care about CCJs and isn't going to play by the system. It might be worth weighing your chances and decide is it worth the extra money and effort to chase this or is it throwing good money after bad. If this guy had any decent footage/pictures, he'd surely have just sent them to you. Chances are they are poor quality or non-existent.
He’s done us a trailer and he eventually sent all the raw footage. What we’re waiting for him to do is produce an edited together film.
The trailer is awesome, I think he just takes on too much and then can’t finish what he’s already started.
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Is this latest development or did I miss this in the thread above? If I'd managed to get the footage, not sure what action I'd be taking from here.
This is all above. He is supposed to have edited all the raw footage into a film of the day. All he’s done is a short trailer and then, eventually a Dropbox full of unedited video clips.
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Ah...missed that. If SCC costs are minimal I'd be tempted to start a claim but if costs of pursuing this mount up, I'd be inclined to not throw good money after bad and just keep hassling the guy.
He sounds like a nightmare though. Everyone knows proper post-production takes much longer than actually shooting.
It sounds just like that guy on here that used to take on too much watch repair work and people ended up chasing him after he had their watches for years in some cases! Ultimately, he didn't seem like he was out to fleece people, he just took far too much on and suffered some personal health issues too but just kept on taking the work on, keeping peoples watches and not responding.
Ok, I’ll admit I’m not up on these things but can a lone trader not be a ltd company? And if so is it not possible that the OP didn’t know the guy (possibly) traded as a ltd company?
There’s no record of either his old or new company on Companies House....
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That being the case then you can go after him direct.
Doesn’t matter if it’s signed for, the postal rule applies regardless. The letter just needs to be properly addressed and stamped.
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