Dodgy company

[lizwizz]

I have recently paid a deposit for a new garage door. The company in question has now twice failed to turn up to fit it and now I am unable to get a reply from their number. I have contacted the address at the bottom of the invoice and they have not heard of this company. The website defaults to a different seemingly unrelated website. I have contacted trading standards who suggest I write to them at the given address to say they are in breach of contract. What else can I do? The people who came to give me a quote all had coats with the company name on and it all seemed legitimate.

[lynziclare]

is there a company registration number on the invoice?

[gammaray]

I'd suggest that they have taken your money and run. The web site probably redirects to the hosts site, because either the web site has been closed down or the domain name is up for sale or renewal.

If possible you should go round to their premises and see if the company trading from there is seemingly related to the one you gave the deposit to i.e they are doing the same sort of work, you recognise any of the employees. They may well have closed down one company and started another to avoid any debt liability created by the first company. If the company is limited you cn check the companies house web site and do a free check on their company number. This will give you the date of incorporation, if and when they last sent in accounts etc. The manes of the main directors should be printed at the bottom of the page along with thier company number. You can check the directors against the list of disqualified directors.

The bad news is that despite this you are unlikely to see the money again. Just don't give them any more.

[themas]

Did you pay by credit card? If so, & it was more than �100 contact your credit card company - they have joint liability.

[lizwizz]

No there is no company number on the invoice lynziclare.
No I paid by cheque themas. It was meant to be a deposit for the materials

[insol]

if you let me know what info you have, company name and address i'll see what i can find out for you. no promises though.

[lizwizz]

Company is called One. Address on invoice, DBH house, carlton square nottingham NG4 3BP, but they hadn't heard of them. Phone number was 08700 0075700. Appreciate any help. �100 is alot of money to me.

[insol]

Sorry i couldn't find any details on this company.

where did you find out about this company? if it was from the yellow pages, or paper contact them to see if they have a billing address for the company they may or may not give it to you but if it was from the paper they may be interested in the human interest side of the story and do a piece there are probably others like you out there.

I presume when you paid by cheque you gave it to them personally when they came round to measure up, contact your bank and get a copy of the cheque it will have their bank details on it. you should then be able to write to their bank and see if they would pass a letter on to themselves.

If all this fails to produce any results then really your only recourse is to go to court and obtain a judgement against the company at least then with the copy of the cheque you will have there bank account details enable you to obtain a freezing order over the assets in that account to pay your debt and costs.

[lizwizz]

Thanks insol, thats really good of you. I have contacted the Yellow Pages and they have already given me an address I didn't have, so I've made some progress already! I'll keep you posted.

[bigbubba]

If a personal cheque is obtained for deliberate fraudulent purposes then it can be clawed back by your bank for upto six months from the original date of clearing. Speak to your bank, they will be able to help you. I have had to do this a couple of times in the past.

Bubba