A good threat of legal action requires three things.
First, have a clear objective and be clear about what you want. e.g. “I want you to finish the renovations I contracted you to undertake. Finish them or compensate me to get someone else to finish them”.
Second, do your homework. Know both your position and the other party’s.
Lastly, make it sound like you know what you’re doing. Use a lawyer - an initial letter doesn’t cost the earth.
But before you even think about threats just ask nicely, it often works. Also don’t commit the same action you’re complaining against.
3 responses so far ↓
George // 25 July, 2008 at 5:14 am |
How would one threaten legal action against a mobile phone provider that has consistently failed to terminate my account, despite me trying serveral times since MAY! I just want to give them a kick up the backside and stop being so incompetent!
Richard // 26 July, 2008 at 1:22 pm |
I had a 4 month battle with my landline company once just to get a correct bill.
What you could do, depending on the law in the UK, is write to your provider saying that you want you account terminated and will bill them for your time should the fail to do so and you need to follow them up again. You could then dispute any failure by them to pay you for your time. that kind of thing has worked here in NZ against telemarketers that kept calling people against their wishes – might not work in this case but it would be amusing.
Daniel // 3 April, 2009 at 3:07 am |
In the UK, filing a civil suit is actually fairly simple. Look on the internet for an N1 claim form – fill it out and send it to your local county court. The court will charge you around £200 and serve the papers on the defendant. It’s then possible that the defendant will want to take up ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) to resolve the matter out of court, saving time and money, which would be the best option for the both of you.
The other option is to file a CPR Injunction against the company. Fill out an N16A form and send it to your local court. The cost is relatively lower. There will be a court hearing lasting (in most cases) no more than a day or so. The Judge may then decide to grant the injunction which will order a company or person to cease doing something.