Owner wanting me to buy back pony or going to court!!!

Mike007 said:
No ,its not splitting hares or even hairs . Someone said earlier that the courts are not about right or wrong ,they are about winning and loosing . I do agree ,though I have found over many years ,that the Law is not "an ass" merely those who misuse it are. I have fought some fairly bloody battles through the civil legal system (in one case ,all the way up to the master of the rolls) .My experience is that the further up the chain one goes , the saner the judges are. The best advice I can give anyone is ,no phone calls, everything by letter. Write a letter the way you would like to hear it read out in court. ( a skillful letter writer can write a letter that means one thing to the recipient and entirely another to a judge).Keep a file of all correspondence .and always try to be seen as having been reasonable (even when you arnt)
Click to expand...

Where's the like button?

A damned good post!
 
Do not go to citizens advice! They are not lawyers and will give advice based on their own interpretation (and won't understand anything equine). Contact a specialist equine solicitor and use the free half hour of legal advice you are entitled to. Check with your house insurance - you may be covered with them and they may cover any legal costs.
 
Citizens Advice now run Consumer Direct, which consists of people well versed in consumer law. They have always given me good advice and quoted the relevant law.
 
ycbm said:
I take your point, but it's actually quite difficult to imagine any private sale where the owner says 'he has never cribbed/bucked/reared/whatever' and genuinely not know that the horse/pony has done exactly that, but the new owner can find out that it has and bring a court case and lose because the owner was telling the truth as far as they knew. It's easy to see a car gear box failing and the owner not know, but a pony rearing and bucking?
Click to expand...

But just because it bucks or rears for a new owner does not mean that it ever did this for the previous owner. Horses are not machines and horses are unpredictable, behaviour in one place can frequently be different to another.

In a sale between a dealer and a private purchaser then it would be upon the dealer to prove that the horse was as described prior to sale, whereas in a sale between two private sellers it would be upon the buyer to prove that the seller deliberately misled them.

This is why I believe OP should gather as much evidence as she can with regard to the ponies behaviour beforehand as well as ensure she has a copy of the advert and the sales receipt. If all of these indicate that the pony was as described then there has been no breach, ideally OP should take legal advice and get them to deal with it.
If OP has no access to free legal advice and cannot afford it, then I believe that she should write back stating that the contract was struck based on the advert (copy enclosed), the viewing, an offer and acceptance. That the receipt clearly states that the viewing was the main clause of the contract and that independent witness statements can be obtained as to the accuracy of the advert. Further state that this supports your view that the contract has not been breached, state that as a private sale you described the pony to the best of your knowledge.
 
Mike007 said:
…….. . Someone said earlier that the courts are not about right or wrong ,they are about winning and loosing . I do agree ,………
Click to expand...

It was me. 'Laws' are set in place to protect the populous, speeding restrictions for instance, but when we 'refer-back' to the Law and ask for adjudication (civil matters for instance, or even appeal), so we're seeking an 'opinion' and as you so rightly seem to imply, by applying argument which will appeal to those who're charged with decision making, so we leave aside the rights and wrongs whilst attempting to 'persuade'! :)

I too have defended myself, and it's surprising what the layman can get away with when being unfettered by protocol, they have a degree of freedom and despite the odd raised eyebrow from the bench. :wink3:

Alec.
 
Good luck, you are past the point of offering to take him back now anyway, even if you had the money, as they're now asking for livery costs. Chin up,
 
This is par for the course to up the ante with each letter. It was what was tried with me. They can't do it. It's how the solicitors work. You'll get a third letter and then probably won't hear any more from them because they haven't got a leg to stand on.
 
Ballerina said:
I'm going to solicitors tomorrow .
Click to expand...

I'd advise, strongly, that you take charge of the work which your solicitor does. Generally, in cases of litigation, both solicitors will pass letters backwards and forwards, even though both will be well aware of the eventual outcome, whilst in the interim, running up charges which will have the complainants wishing that they hadn't started.

Tomorrow, and as a first step, I'd again strongly recommend that you take all the evidence which you have, ask for an opinion, and then dependent upon the reply, go away and think about where to go next.

Rest assured of one thing; Giving any legal counsel free rein could well end up with a bill in excess of the sale value of the pony. Solicitors are extant and to earn a living and it's often (generally) at the expense of the client. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but some times it isn't.

As everyone else, Good LucK!

Alec.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top