Legal advice please

[muchy_]

Hi all, bit of advice needed here.
My wife and I viewed a new mooring on Saturday and we liked it so we went to see the chap that owns it and said we would have it from the beginning of April.
We left him the cheque and signed up.
It wasn't until the next day that we thought about the parking arrangements for the yard and went to have another look only to find the parking would not suit us.
The next day we phoned the chap and told him that it wasn't suitable for us after and apologised for wasting his time and that we would not be requiring the mooring after all.
To this he swore at my wife and called us time wasters etc to which she again apologised but said we would not be taking the mooring. He said that because we signed for it we were now liable for it and he would be cashing the cheque and that if we cancelled the cheque he would take us to the small claims court.
We have now informed him in writing that we wont need it.
Have we done something wrong?
Is he right and we are now liable for it?
Is there anyone out there with expierience of this sort of thing?

Any help would be appreciated.

PS no money has actually changed hands, no services were used and he has incurred no charges or cost as a result of this.

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[jimi]

'fraid you've completed a contract and consequently too late!

<hr width=100% size=1>.. whit way roon should it be again ..

 

[bob26]

Did you sign a written contract?

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[MainlySteam]

I agree entirely with Jimi and add that in the case of any dispute he has a cheque to prove that you entered into a contract with him.

Possibly the best you can do is to offer him a cash inducement to keep the mooring (in which case he can then sell, or whatever, it to someone else and make a bigger profit) or get rid of it yourself to someone else, hopefully recovering your money.

John

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[carl170]

I thought you had a seven day cooling off period when you signed any contract for goods or services. This should be in the contract small print. Take you to small claims court for what? Swearing at your wife counts as assault! Tell hi,me you'll see him in court.

I would cancel the cheque immediately, then tell the guy to P*** Off. Boating does not need people like him! I have made all sorts of errors and misjudgements (I am a total newbie) and have found people very friendly and understanding.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

Carl

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[jimi]

Erm extremely bad advice!

<hr width=100% size=1>.. whit way roon should it be again ..

 

[muchy_]

I have looked at the trading standards website and as far as I can tell there has to be a 7 day cooling off period and if you change your mind you have to let them know in writing within the seven days....which we have done.
Is this right do you think?

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[l'escargot]

Cooling off period is only for financial services & credit, swearing is not assault. Speak to Citizens Advice or a solicitor, you entered into a contract which you need to extricate yourself from. One way or another it is likely to cost you some money, it's just a question of how much.

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[supermalc]

You say in your post 'Have we done something wrong?. Well in my opinion, yes you have.

This is a personal opinion, rather than a legal one, but.....I would have anyone who goes back on his word, lies, or in other way does not do as he says hung, or shot.

There is too much of this, leading to the sad, decrepid society we find ourselves living in.

Sorry to be a bit strong, but after having every time waster in the world contact me, or come to view my little boat, which has been described by the prospective purchasers as 'exactly as I described it' and 'good value for money' I find the whole business very frustrating.

If I can ring a gentleman at 9pm at night, travel 220 miles and pay him in cash at 1pm the next day, I simply do not understand why others cannot do the same.

If you say you will be at a certain place, or do a certain thing, then be there , or do it. If you make a mistake, at least be enough of a person, accept the losses etc. on the chin, learn from it, and do not try to blame others, or make others pay for you mistake.

<hr width=100% size=1>Malcolm.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/malcsworld/>http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/malcsworld/</A>
Take a look at my boating pages.

 

[paulrossall]

If you had agreed to take the mooring and next day changed you mind and went back as you did and said you had changed your mind and apologised, as you have done, then the ball would be in the other chaps court and he would have had to take you to the small claims court. I suspect he would not have bothered and even if he had the judge would have looked at what was reasonable, particularly the quick change of mind, and you might have got away with it.
HOWEVER!
A signed cheque is in effect you admitting that legally you owe a debt to someone. If you stop the cheque the other chap can immediately apply to the court to make you bankrupt, which immediately freezes all you bank accounts etc. and you are in deep trouble. If a limited company stops a cheque then whoever it is made out to can apply to the court to declare the company insolvent and cease it trading, again immediately freezing the companys bank accounts.
In effect you should treat handing over a signed cheque exactly the same as if you handed over a wad of notes.
If you are buying something costing more than £100 always pay by credit card as you then have a claim against the credit card company if things go wrong and they will still be there when your supplier is long gone. IMHO. Paul

<hr width=100% size=1>" there is nothing-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats".

 

[MainlySteam]

While I cannot speak specifically for the UK, I can add that in addition to L'Escargot's excellent advice, cooling off periods also commonly apply in most western jurisdictions for the case of door to door sales.

In which case, if you advertised for a mooring and the guy came to your door uninvited to offer it to you then you might find there is an out, but I suspect the outcome would still be unfavourable unless it was the seller's business brokering/selling/leasing moorings rather than it just being his own as a private individual.

John

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[polarity]

lots of info here <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.txt>http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/calitem.cgi?file=ADV0043-1011.txt</A>
not so good I am afraid from an initial read. Unless the mooring was in someway missrepresented.
Having just had someone mess me around for 4 months lying about buying my flat (whilst doing the same to at least one other) I can see both sides of this one!

Good luck!

Paul

<hr width=100% size=1>Paul
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.polarity2.com>http://www.polarity2.com</A>
OSTAR 2005

 

[sailorman]

an Englishmans word is his Bond !

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[banana]

swearing is assault. if one has been threatened or feels to have been threatened then it is assault. try swearing at someone in the street and then when arrested say it isnt so. try swearing at a policeman.

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[Birdseye]

I'm no lawyer, so what follows is my opinion and not legal advice.

Sounds very much like you have entered a contract to purchase. There is no cooling off period. However, its not clear whether you have completed ie taken posession. If you have then I would have thought your only answer was to re-sell the mooring. Welshing on the cheque will create a debt that he can claim for in court plus expenses / costs. Dodgy for your credit rating.

If you havent completed, then leaving him with the mooring would entitle him to claim for breach of contract - his losses / costs etc. But it does give you a chance to investigate title etc and see if there is any let out there

If the money involved was significant, then get a lawyer. If not, best thing might well be to accept you've landed yourself and re - sell. These sort of disputes have a way of escalating out of control cost wise.

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[Steve Clayton]

Can I ask Muchy what is so wrong with the parking arrangements that he wants to extracate himself from the contract?

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[supermalc]

Mine is, I just wish a few others were.

<hr width=100% size=1>Malcolm.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/malcsworld/>http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/malcsworld/</A>
Take a look at my boating pages.

 

[colvic]

All legal stipulations regarding contracts, cooling off periods apply MAINLY to sales involving a firm. Is the chap you are dealing with a private individual or a firm? If private then "buyer beware and look before you leap", though he may be persuaded now a few days have passed. If a firm its worth spending a few quid to get some professional advice.

Phil

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[uke73]

I agree swearing at a person would technically be an assault, having said that if you swear at a Policeman you are more likely to be busted under Section 5 of the Public Order Act!

Not a good idea

Neil

ps On the small claims court side of thing IIRC neither party can hold the other liable for costs or lawyers etc so if you represent yourself and lose you'll probably only have to pay the guy what you owed him anyway and if you win then bonus!! You can buy books on the small claims process at most bookshops which should help you. Also if the guy take out proceedings against you and you live miles away from him you can have the action transfered to a court local to you and make him travel to you and really piss him off!!

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[Capt_Marlinspike]

You have made an agreement, under Enghlish Law this is a contract. The fact that you made over a signed cheque confirms this. End of story. Cooloing off periods etc do not apply.
If you think this is unfair look at it from the other point of view, if you had done everything that you did and then turned up with your boat and the vendor had said he changed his mind how would you have felt?

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