harassed by old livery owner...

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lucyjay11

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hi all,

I recently moved yards about 2 weeks ago, when i moved i asked for the livery bill which was for four days. It consisted of the following;

four days livery at £33.60
two bales of straw at £5
Services on 17th June, which made this bit total £55.60.

Now this, i honestly dont mind paying, however she is also asking me for £50 for grass seed and hard core as apparently my horse made the entrance to field muddy. My horse wasnt the only one in this field and feel that this is unfair as i pay for my horse to have grass and feel that this should include this.

Shes now harassing me (calling me upto 4 times a day and leaving voicemails each time) i have told her to send me the bill and i will pay my livery of £55.60 but she is refusing to do this untill i accept that i pay the £50.

I'm not contracted there, although i did give notice that i was moving. i emptied my old stables out and bleached and disinfected them, however shes still not happy with this. I always paid my rent on time and was always up to day. Shes also threatening RSPCA with how we loaded my troublesome yearling as he was a complete nightmare to load. This i am not too fussed about as there are no marks on him and hes completely happy in his new home!

Everyone else has said shes just miffed that i have left, but i just wanted to know where i stood on this.

What should i do?
 
dont give it to her i wouldnt expect liveries for hard core in the gate way thats a load of tosh .... let her call RSPCA she hasn't grounds to and if RSPCA dont do anything about jamie gray i doubt they do anything about her squabbles and anyway she has no actual evidence only hear say about how you loaded your horse

She is being totally un reasonable . Tell her gateways are normal wear and tear no yard including mine would expect you to pay grass see or gravel she is living on another planet.. Tell her your not paying that but you will pay your bill. , and if she keeps harassing you tell her you will report her for harassment keep any texts you get from her don't answer the phone that way if she leaves a message that's more evidence for you
 
lucyjay11 said:
Now this, i honestly dont mind paying, however she is also asking me for £50 for grass seed and hard core as apparently my horse made the entrance to field muddy. My horse wasnt the only one in this field and feel that this is unfair as i pay for my horse to have grass and feel that this should include this.

Shes now harassing me (calling me upto 4 times a day and leaving voicemails each time) i have told her to send me the bill and i will pay my livery of £55.60 but she is refusing to do this untill i accept that i pay the £50.
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With no contract, you are not obliged to pay anything. As you were, quite rightly, happy to pay what you actually owed, and she is being silly, I would pay nothing until you receive a formal demand from her. When you get this, if it includes the extra, forward payment minus it (I am actually doing a similar thing with my old livery!!). However I wouldn't blame you if you didn't pay a thing as she's being so ridiculous to deal with. She sounds a nutcase. Horrifically unprofessional!! xxx
 
Well i didnt load my yearling, the Guy i hired with the trailer did as i was struggling. i went to deal with my Tb and she is saying that she has CCTV of HIM hitting my horse, if she has then i would love to have it. But i have never hit my horse, and she has scared me with this treat.

I am going to pay the £55.60 but nothing else, but what would you advise about the RSPCA matter?
 
She is prob blowing hot air. You were not around when the incident happened so your not liable anyway,

what did the guy say the one who is allegedly being blamed does he say he didn't or did??

I would tell her go ahead call them


what are they going to do ??

Take your horse away * yeh sure they wouldnt*
fine you no they wont
take you to court to get your horse??? why??? no evidence you didnt do anything wrong even if that guy did hit him?
RSPCA dont do much at the best of times why would they act on a small claim someone hit the horse to get in the trailer!!

how many i wonder are guilty of smacking to get in a trailer i wonder???

you could say why were you videoing my horse with out permission??(unless yard cctv).

I would just ignore her if she says it again say your going to report her for harassment tell her not to contact you again you will send the monies owed and thats all.

. Tell her if she persists in trying to contact you once you have given her the monies owed you reserve the right to take matters further ( that usually means small claims)
Bet that will shut her up
 
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i would suggest you send the cheque for the livery £55.60. i would also supply a covering letter (keep a copy) saying enclosed cheque fot £x in full and final settlement of livery. if you dont have a contract then she cant bill you for maintenance. the RSPCA will do diddly squat. and if it doesnt involve you only the transporter then her argument wil be with the transporter and the rspca. keep the letter very short. ie enclosed cheque for £X in full and final settlement. if she banks it she is acepting the payment. sadly the rspca is a waste of space. so no worries there.
 
I havent spoken to the guy since i moved, theres no marks on him, hes happy playing and messing around with my TB. no behavour issues (i.e headshy) hes a happy little chappy. If anyone sees my boys they will know they are looked after, my tb is an ex show horse and my yearling is a showing prospect!

it was yard cctv apparently. i told her i will send the monies i owe and she now seems fine with this, im just scared of losing my boys :(
 
I know, just scared me that's all. Those boys are everything to me! I think she's just being a malicious little c*w, I'm going to pay what I owe, with the covering letter and leave it at that.

She left me a message earlier basically saying she's going to tell my parents! I'm not a child, I'm 22 yrs old, have my own house and whatnot! And I don't even speak to my parents and she knows that!
 
I would pay the livery bit ( with letter as advised above), ignore the grass seed / hardcore bit and tell her that I will pass her message on re the RSPCA to the transporter as it is actually him she is reporting.
 
Agree with sending a cheq for livery and covering letter with details of what you have paid for and nothing else. She can sue you for the 50quid, yeah right lol
then I would barr her number from your phone and then she can't contact you.
You can then move on, if she can't or won't then that's her problem. what a numpty! (her not you)
 
Thank you all for the advice, I feel so much calmer now!

I wouldn't so much mind if I had been a bad livery, but I really haven't! I've always paid on the 1st of each month the correct amount and have never been late! When I left, I cleared all the bedding out of the stables and cleaned and bleached it! Which I didn't really have to do either as I wasn't contracted but I did. Everything she has asked me to do whilst I was there I have done, and everything she has done for me she has been paid for!

Feel a little fustrated at this as there are far worse liveries than me out there! I just simply left the yard and gave notice and I'm getting grief!

My horses are my life and I would never,NEVER mistreat any animal! My animals are all softies! Waste of the RSPCA's time even ringing me!
 
Keep messages, texts and any letters. If she carries on have a word with the police about harrassment. I would pay the livery owed with a letter saying what the cheque is for and completely ignore the request for £50.
In fact, re-reading your thread, she's leaving voicemails 4 times a day - have you kept them? If so speak to the police now!
 
Sounds like we had the same yard owner! I also had a similar problem - got a bill on leaving for backdated livery as she told me the price went up X months ago and she 'forgot' to tell me I was underpaying, for having feet trimmed by her farrier (which was a lie) - all sorts. I actually paid in advance as I was away on business a lot and was in credit!!!!!!! Anyway she made death threats on the phone - the police took it seriously and visited her. I then got a letter from her solicitor with the money SHE owed me.

The horses will not be taken away from you. I worked in animal welfare - the RSPCA will do nothing, just log the call and I doubt it would be looked at or thought of again - they are used to nutters acting out of spite. Pay her for the livery but nothing else - send it registered post with copy of the letter etc and call the police about the harassment. A visit from them may be what she needs to bring her down to earth.
 
asell as what i said above I know some voice mails disappear after a time from the phone download them onto your computer on a file or cd as well as the text as a back up if they disappear from your phone

or if you cant hold your phone over recorder and record the message on to a tape
 
lucyjay11 said:
I know, just scared me that's all. Those boys are everything to me! I think she's just being a malicious little c*w, I'm going to pay what I owe, with the covering letter and leave it at that.

She left me a message earlier basically saying she's going to tell my parents! I'm not a child, I'm 22 yrs old, have my own house and whatnot! And I don't even speak to my parents and she knows that!
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Make sure you sent registered so that someone has to sign to say they've received - always handy to have if you need it when say didn't receive
 
I run a livery yard and fairly up to speed with the law in this area. My advice to you is the same as everyone else. Send her the money you owe and nothing else. You do not owe her for fair wear and tear to her field gate area, whatever she may say. Do keep copies of any correspondance and then forget all about her and her groundless threats. People like that give us decent yard owners a bad name!
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
i would suggest you send the cheque for the livery £55.60. i would also supply a covering letter (keep a copy) saying enclosed cheque fot £x in full and final settlement of livery. if you dont have a contract then she cant bill you for maintenance. the RSPCA will do diddly squat. and if it doesnt involve you only the transporter then her argument wil be with the transporter and the rspca. keep the letter very short. ie enclosed cheque for £X in full and final settlement. if she banks it she is acepting the payment. sadly the rspca is a waste of space. so no worries there.
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^^^ This, as above if she banks the payment she is accepting "full and final settlement"
 
Agree with "Monkers" above. This gives YO's a bad name and makes me see red. I'm a (DIY) YO and think its completely ludicrous that you're being billed for seed and hardcore etc.

As YO I wouldn't consider this to be the responsibility of a livery. If horses cham up the gateways and make them muddy, then hey that's what horses do and if she can't deal with that then go away and forget horses and keep alpaca's or something.

Ditto advice: pay what you owe (use recorded/signed for delivery) and let her sue you for the rest - she'll do sweet FA coz (1) it will cost her to take you to court and (2) it won't be worth it for such a p!ddling amount, and she knows it and (3) her yard will get a lot of negative publicity.

She's probably tried this on with people before and they've paid up rather than make a fuss; good for you for standing up to her.

Don't think you need worry about the RSPCA issue either: CCTV footage from a yard camera is not in any likelihood of good enough quality to use in any "prosecution". Think she's bluffing on this one like she is on the payment issue.

What a horrid experience for you. Please be assured that not all yards are like this - I feel equally outraged at your experience.

Good luck in the new yard. Enjoy!
 
Im a yard owner and if I aint got it in a signed contract I aint got a leg to stand on, end of!!! i once had a livery do a moonlight on me and bounce her last 4 cheques on me, there was nothing i could do, my advice is pay the outstanding livery bill but if the phone calls etc continue £25 will pay for a solicitor to send them a letter warning them of harrsment and that will see em off, as they are being totally unreasonable, poached ground and muddy gateways are part & parcel of being a YO. Goodluck.
 
Pay the livery bill but refuse to pay anything else, and tell the person that unless she ceases telephoning and harassing you, you will contact the police. You should also suggest to her (if as it seems, she doesn;t have a leg to stand on) that if she wishes to pursue her case she should do so through the small claims court.
 
I agree with the others on here.
pay the livery bill, send a brief letter as others have said.

"Please find enclosed balance of £xxx" etc.... Do NOT enter into a discussion/conversation or otherwise with her on any other subject.

She can bill you for the hardcore, but it doesn't mean that YOU have to pay, anyone can type out a bill and say that you owe it.

Livery does not attract a service charge like the rental of a commerical property for example.
So you do not get a bill plus a 3% service charge each month,

Your livery fee/bill that you pay includes the upkeep of the property by the livery yard owner/or manager (if they rent it).

In all honesty it sounds to me like a very unprof set up and one that is perhaps struggling for money (captial to spend on maintaining the place) or has bad land management/too many horses on the field.

Personally I'd pay the bill and ignore the rest.

Sounds very stressful, and it's easy for us all to say 'ignore' but it will calm down and go away after a while.

She has little in terms of a legal leg to stand on for all her threats, perhaps she sees in a you a nice person who she can have a 'go' at.

RSPCA - erm - I have more chance of winning the lottery I keep forgetting to play!

Relax, well try anyway. Sounds like a good idea to move yards!
 
I'd go to pay the woman in person and get a receipt for the payment you have given her without getting into any arguments along with your partner or a friend as a witness.

I'd also ask to see the evidence in which she recons she's going to report to the RSPCA, if she has CCTV of you, you have a right to see the footage of the claims she is making against you or indeed the transport company you used.

Basically it sounds like she's using very underhand tactics to get you to play into her hands with this extra money she's trying to charge you, which in itself is a joke.

I really wouldn't lose any sleep over it, if the RSPCA wanted to prosecute everyone that used a bit of brute force they would be marching round the horse box sections of most competitions centres and shows, they'd have a field day!:rolleyes:
 
I'd tell her to get stuffed! She should have had a written contract with you stating what you owed and when and what you were responisble for i.e hard core, grass seed, etc. The RSPCA if they have any sense won't become involved in what is in all senses a disagreement between two people. She sounds like she is being vindictive, incredibly stupid and causing you trouble because you dared leave the yard. IMHO she should be more professional towards her clients.
 
How awful for you. She sounds like a bully, and if she keeps harrassing keep a log, record and inform the police. I agree RSPCA won't do anything. I would just pay what you owe send a cheque if possible so it's traceable and block her number.
Stay strong xx:)
 
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