Small Claims Court

[Garryc]

....Has anybody taken BMW (UK) or the dealer to the small claims court?

and before any muppet starts mouthing off about how great BMW is.

I've bought 3 bikes in 5 years and travelled 140K miles fully serviced at dealers...

So no time wasters please

 

[Neil W]

Have had three genuine problems with BMW kit and spares over the last four years which my local BMW dealer was a total ar*e about, refusing to rectify the problems and lying to me regarding the sales of goods act and warranties.
BMW customer services , however, dealt with all three problems very quickly and efficiently and resolved the issues without it having to go as far as the small claims court which I was more than willing to do.
Just make sure of your rights , give the dealer the chance to sort things out and have anything they say or do confirmed in writing or verbally with a witness then put he facts to BMW .
If you still get no joy on a genuine complaint take them to the small claims court and make sure the national motorcycle press get wind of it if the results are in your favour.
With all of the issues I had they were genuine well recorded faults with kit and spares that had been well recorded on this site so I quoted that to BMW .

 

[Garryc]

...court is the last option but as the dealer nor BMW customer service is interested it leaves me no other option.

...its not the money aspect but the principle.

 

[Gecko]

Principles can be expensive. I am sure that any law suit against a large corporation will be vigorously defended. If they can't pay their way out of it then they will have to throw all their legal resources at the case to overwhelm the plaintiffs case. Unless you are absolutely certain of your case I'm afraid you could be on to a hiding to nothing no matter how strong your conviction might be. They will delay and stall and question and waste huge amounts of time - your time - which they don't care about. Their lawyers (probably in house employees) will be getting paid to wear you down and tangle you up with legal technicalities and waste your life until finally you either give up and settle out of court or simply give up. Sorry to be so much of a party pooper but I have seen it with big companies and organisations and this is how it works time and time again.

Having said that , what kind of person are you if you really don't stand up for your principles. My wife has taken the European Commission to court on an employment discrimination matter (she works for them) It has taken 4 years of her life, thousands of pounds in legal costs and after losing at the European Court of First Instance where the case was in our opinion, politically knobbled, the appeal case was launched. The opinion of the Advocate General has come out a few weeks ago in favour of over turning the first court ruling and awarding judgement ih her favour but..... that's just the Advocate General's opinion. This is the highest legal authority in Europe but still the court of appeal can decide not to follow that opinion and rule against the appeal.
It takes a very special determination to take on any large organisation in court and see it all the way to victory. Are you ready to go all the way

 

[Annette]

Principles can be expensive. I am sure that any law suit against a large corporation will be vigorously defended. If they can't pay their way out of it then they will have to throw all their legal resources at the case to overwhelm the plaintiffs case. Unless you are absolutely certain of your case I'm afraid you could be on to a hiding to nothing no matter how strong your conviction might be. They will delay and stall and question and waste huge amounts of time - your time - which they don't care about. Their lawyers (probably in house employees) will be getting paid to wear you down and tangle you up with legal technicalities and waste your life until finally you either give up and settle out of court or simply give up. Sorry to be so much of a party pooper but I have seen it with big companies and organisations and this is how it works time and time again.

You don't get all that hassle with the small claims court. You make your application (you can do this online). Send in the forums with all relevant documentation and send a copy to BMW. The court sets a date and generally a decision is made on that day. The small claims court was set up to stop all that mentioned above.

 

[Joe Bar]

It would probably be worth sending BMW / the dealer a solicitor's letter setting your claim / issues, and your intended course of action should they fail to respond.

If your case is even half valid, this is usually enough to prompt them into action.

 

[iletts]

Have a good read here first:

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

I have used the small claims court several times with success, both against individuals and large companies. Follow the steps given at the link, make sure you inform the respondent what your problem is and the resolution sought, and warn them that you may seek redress in the Small Claims Court. Give them a reasonable (14 days) time to meet your request before you go to Court. It is remarkably easy and cheap, in my experience large companies will usually pay up, rather than incur hefty legal costs which they cannot recoup. The Court's decision is FINAL, and you will only get your Court costs back if you win, you may be able to claim reasonable expenses, but that isn't garaunteed.

Best of luck,

Yours, Perry Mason

 

[bowser]

claims court

Had a friend who took Harley to court over a bike that did a set of main bearings in 3 years, harley refused to entertain it said he had to pay for the engine rebuild etc. He got it done at an independent dealers and got the whole lot back in the small claims court.

 

[pint7x]

I used the online small claims court over an unpaid invoice (from the time I was working for myself) and it worked a treat. Cost me £35, but well worth it.

 

[Voyager61]

The key thing about the online small claims service is to ensure that the detail of your claim is technically water tight ... you don't want to be caught out by a technicality.

It may be worth getting a consumer law specialist to look at this for you before you submit a claim ... who will also be able to assess the chances of success.