Cost Plus Sofas won't pay out after losing small claims case

Canakar

Can anyone give me advice regarding this <SNIP> company. We have recently won our small claims case against CPS and low and behold they are in hiding.....have not paid us and i have doubts if they intend to. What are we to do. I just want this sorted!!!!!!!

Ken.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/small_claims_court.html





Enforcing your judgement

Once you have obtained judgement and have a decree, there is the possibility that the respondent will not comply with the order of the court. In this situation, you may need to enforce your judgement. The most usual way of enforcing a judgement is to give the Decree to the Sheriff/County Registrar for execution.
You will have to apply to the Small Claims Registrar to have the Decree sent to you. The Registrar will not automatically send you the Decree for execution in this way. After you give the Decree to the Sheriff/County Registrar, they then go to the respondent and seizes goods or money to the value of the amount set out in your Decree.
It will involve a fee, payable to the Sheriff/County Registrar. If the Sheriff/County Registrar successfully executes the judgement, this fee will be refunded to you.
Information and assistance on enforcement procedures is available from the Small Claims Registrar.

Cabaal

Worth going to the cost plus sofa store in question with print outs of the claim outcome and kicking up the biggest fuss you can inside/outside the store..? .. Ensuring any customers are aware of why you are there

Procrastastudy

Send in the Sheriff - the guy in Dublin a few years back was quiet a character. Nice guy but didn't take any bollocks.

Canakar

Procrastastudy wrote: »

Send in the Sheriff - the guy in Dublin a few years back was quiet a character. Nice guy but didn't take any bollocks.

Thanks for the advice. This is the most unprofessional organisation I have ever had to deal with. Biggest regret of our lives spending our money with them for a sub standard piece of furniture that failed within 9 months of purchase.

Procrastastudy

Canakar wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. This is the most unprofessional organisation I have ever had to deal with. Biggest regret of our lives spending our money with them for a sub standard piece of furniture that failed within 9 months of purchase.

I bought a sofa and bed from them - Sofa is falling to bits. You have to admire the brass balls they have though.

The Sheriff will stand there in the store and will remove stock if they don't pay up. At least that's what he did to me. It was so funny getting the CS director out of his meeting to tell him that the paperwork he'd lost was now resulting in.

Canakar

Procrastastudy wrote: »

I bought a sofa and bed from them - Sofa is falling to bits. You have to admire the brass balls they have though.

The Sheriff will stand there in the store and will remove stock if they don't pay up. At least that's what he did to me. It was so funny getting the CS director out of his meeting to tell him that the paperwork he'd lost was now resulting in.

Did u get ur money in the end? And how much was d fee to instruct a sheriff?

Procrastastudy

Canakar wrote: »

Did u get ur money in the end? And how much was d fee to instruct a sheriff?

No I never pursued it. To be fair some of the damage was our own fault but there were many other issues which, given my background in sales, made me smell ****e - a bit too late unfortunately.

Not sure the fee - but if successful in enforcing your claim they will refund your fee. I assume they recoup their fee from the retailer.

slimjimmc

Canakar wrote: »

Did u get ur money in the end? And how much was d fee to instruct a sheriff?

The Sheriff gets various fees and expenses for various tasks. If property is seized and sold he also gets "poundage" which I think based on the price he sold it for. Some are paid by you and some paid by the other party.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/si/0644.html

Procrastastudy

slimjimmc wrote: »

The Sheriff gets various fees and expenses for various tasks. If property is seized and sold he also gets "poundage" which I think based on the price he sold it for. Some are paid by you and some paid by the other party.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2005/en/si/0644.html

The Small Claims website does seem to suggest in the case of Small Claims enforcement the winning party does get a refund of any fee.

foggy_lad

Procrastastudy wrote: »

The Small Claims website does seem to suggest in the case of Small Claims enforcement the winning party does get a refund of any fee.

Only where the amount taken by the sheriff exceeds the debt plus the sheriffs fees.

Procrastastudy

foggy_lad wrote: »

Only where the amount taken by the sheriff exceeds the debt plus the sheriffs fees.

Id say a few display sofas should cover it

imitation

Can't imagine any business would want the publicity of the sheriff rolling in and taking out a few sofas. The ironic thing is he would probably have to quite a lot as I can't imagine the resale price of a sofa is that high.

Ken.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110603/BUSINESS/110603016/Bank-America-pays-debt-instead-losing-furniture?nclick_check=1

It was a foreclosure defendant’s revenge fantasy.Two burly Collier County sheriff’s deputies and a homeowner’s attorney strode into the Bank of America branch on Davis Boulevard in Naples with a court order and an ultimatum for Manager Erich Fahrner.
Fahrner’s choice: Write out a check for $2,534 in attorney’s fees for the couple wrongfully slapped with a foreclosure lawsuit by the bank, or a William C. Hoff Storage moving crew waiting outside would start hauling out furniture to be sold at public auction.
“I’m leaving the building with either cash, a check or a whole lot of furniture,” attorney Todd Allen said just before walking in.

Collier court documents show that they bought a house in Golden Gate from the bank for $165,000 in 2009. They paid cash, no mortgage.But somehow the bank and its attorney, the David J. Stern law firm, became convinced that the couple had a mortgage and was behind in the payments, Allen said. Bank of America filed for foreclosure Feb. 16, 2010.
The bank voluntarily dropped the case two months later, but never paid the couple for Allen’s fee despite an order by Circuit Judge Cynthia Pivacek.


A case from America in 2011.

ScouseMouse

imitation wrote: »

Can't imagine any business would want the publicity of the sheriff rolling in and taking out a few sofas. The ironic thing is he would probably have to quite a lot as I can't imagine the resale price of a sofa is that high.

Would it not be simpler to stand outside with photocopies of the judgement and hand them out to people going in to buy stuff?

The customers would not buy anything and the management would get the message.

dudara

superscouse wrote: »

Would it not be simpler to stand outside with photocopies of the judgement and hand them out to people going in to buy stuff?

The customers would not buy anything and the management would get the message.

And leave yourself open to possibly being removed by the Gardaí?

There is a legal official channel open to the OP in the form of the Sheriff and that is the way they should proceed. There is a high embarrassment factor in sending the sheriff into a business.

foggy_lad

The op must also remember that the local sheriff is most likely a local business person just like the owner of the furniture shop and the sheriffs around the country have been very slow to act on court judgements and take goods from business premises in their locality.

ScouseMouse

dudara wrote: »

And leave yourself open to possibly being removed by the Gardaí?

There is a legal official channel open to the OP in the form of the Sheriff and that is the way they should proceed. There is a high embarrassment factor in sending the sheriff into a business.

How can the gardai remove you?

Thinking about the premises on long mile rd in dublin. You could stand on the public footpath telling people what happened and showing them the court judgement. Absolutely nothing illegal about it!

There is no way you could be removed on PUBLIC property.

Procrastastudy

superscouse wrote: »

How can the gardai remove you?

Thinking about the premises on long mile rd in dublin. You could stand on the public footpath telling people what happened and showing them the court judgement. Absolutely nothing illegal about it!

There is no way you could be removed on PUBLIC property.

I can assure you; placards, leaflets etc does noting to deter people - they just think they're dealing with the local nutter.

dudara

superscouse wrote: »

There is no way you could be removed on PUBLIC property.

I'm reasonably sure that Gardaí can remove people from public property if they feel they are being a nuisance.

But leaving that aside for a moment, taking that course of action will make you look like a loon standing outside haranguing the place. Take the course of action that will hurt them financially.

ScouseMouse

dudara wrote: »

I'm reasonably sure that Gardaí can remove people from public property if they feel they are being a nuisance.

But leaving that aside for a moment, taking that course of action will make you look like a loon standing outside haranguing the place. Take the course of action that will hurt them financially.

I see your point but imagine if prospective customers walked in with a photocopy of the award asking what the story is. It would kill confidence in cps and would catch their attention instantly. Look like a loon? Dont think so at all!

If it was me, I wouldnt hesitate dropping them in it.

sunny2004

I was heading to them today, NOT GOING NOW !..
I dont get why companies go on like this, there are plenty of options in the market place, why not do the right thing ...

ScouseMouse

superscouse wrote: »

I see your point but imagine if prospective customers walked in with a photocopy of the award asking what the story is. It would kill confidence in cps and would catch their attention instantly. Look like a loon? Dont think so at all!

If it was me, I wouldnt hesitate dropping them in it.

sunny2004 wrote: »

I was heading to them today, NOT GOING NOW !..
I dont get why companies go on like this, there are plenty of options in the market place, why not do the right thing ...

Theres a good example

goz83

I was considering getting a new bed from them soon. Not a chance now.

Yamanoto

Perhaps the Sherriff could seize an iMac for you OP, clearly wasted at Cost Plus Sofas.