Funny Farm

So I've just been to court as the "Claimant" rather than the defendant against a customer. On Sept 1st 2018 we sold a lovely Audi A1 to a young lady, unfortunately due to an admin error by one of our staff we were £1000 short of the agreed price. 5 minutes after sale we contacted the young lady requesting the balance paid in full which she would not entertain as she paid what was on the invoice. Anyway we had no choice but to take the matter to a Small Claims Court. We had our hearing and things went well, we didn't say a word and the Judge stated he was satisfied the case was proven.. "Excellent!!" I thought... Here's where it becomes farcical... The girls started to cry.. The Judge then said to her "have you had any faults with the car since sale.?" .. Yes she said the Turbo has just gone.The car is in the garage!.! I stated "Judge.. No counterclaim was filed by the defendant nor has one being paid for!" .. The Judge stated it was quite within his power to look at the defendants costs of owning the vehicle. "I stated that we are now 7 months since sale".. "I stated that we haven't had the chance to inspect the car or put things right" - The Judge advised the young lady that the fault must have happened in the first 6 months, the girls then said it happened 4 weeks ago. The Judge then said I'm adjourning the case for a counterclaim to be filed. I couldn't believe it...Again the dealer is the Monster!! He's the Ironic thing.. Outside of court I asked the young lady which garage the car was in so I can inspect it immediately, she did not know the name nor have the number. Then I saw the car in the court car park, she quickly drove off in the car that was meant to be in the garage! I couldn't take a photo as my phone was switched off after the hearing. I went back to speak to the Judge but he wouldn't entertain me... Left the matter with Lawgistics.

Thanks Kelly, just downloaded XERO and will have a play today. Much appreciated Frazer

Hi, I might look at Xero. Are you doing the inputting the Margin Scheme calculations into Xero manually or is there some kind of work around?

After speaking with HMRC yesterday, they will be issuing a new directive at the end of the month. What that is they would'nt say!. My guess is they will give business's more time until the software is compatible. We all know that HMRC want all your accounting accessible to them at a click of a button, but for some business's this is impossible until they simplify the tax system (especially Margin Scheme) and they bring out an accounting system we all can use. The cost to me is going to be £70 per month extra to fall in line with MTD. Their estimate was £70 per year.

I was just wondering how everyone's preparations with the HMRC making tax digital (MTD). So far it has been a nightmare as our current database is bespoke as we have multiple investors on individual vehicles. Finding something that suites our needs and links automatically to HMRC for has been a long and painful journey. We asked HMRC for advice, there response was "we understand your issue, however we do not have a solution.. but Good luck". Today after speaking with Auto sales systems who showed me a demo, we may actually have something that suits our needs (Fingers Crossed).. We are not part of the HMRC VAT pilot scheme but would be interested to find out how business's that signed up to it are coping with it??

You gave her 3 months warranty. This has now expired which leaves a claim under the consumer rights act. The car is now over 13 years old with 100,000 miles covered and there is a high expectation of 13 year old parts failing. Any solicitor would argue your case well. However any Judge would want to see some kind of support towards the customer in the first 6 months. This does not mean you pay in full for the fault, but offer a no fault claim goodwill contribution towards a 2nd hand gearbox. I recently had one fitted Cost £150 for part £180 for fitting, they are cheap. Get a quote from your own garage Offer 50% towards the cost (£165). Put this in writing, this then provides evidence that although the fault occurred after sale on an end of life vehicle, you supported the customer in attempting to get her roadworthy again. A judge does not look at the letter of the Law, he/she has a lot of leeway in coming to their sometime biased decisions. The Judges decisions are normally swayed on how the dealer has dealt with the customers situation and how reasonable the customer is being in return. At the end of the day, if you can demonstrate you have tried to get the customer roadworthy again at reasonable cost, and she still proceeds with court action (which incurs higher costs), I'm sure the Judge will see this as unreasonable on the part of the customer and side with you as the victim. Good Luck