**I'm fully aware of the clickyness of some people on this forum FLOYD and yes this will get very interesting, very soon....Not really surprised that you want this thread closed down. The thing is fella, I've got nothing to hide.....did you take my money? Uh, yes.....was the car as described? uh, no........and I woud love to se the reaction on your solicitor fce when they et presented with 'all' of the facts! If you'v been caught up in a scam then hold your hand up and say so, if not then what thefuck has gone on. And let's be honest TOP TRUMPS!!! Please. As for trying to come up with any excuse not to have the car???????????????WHAT THE FUCK!! I paid you up front, you took 7 months to deliver and the car you tried to deliver was 3 years older!!!
A few days later I returned to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS with copies of photographs of the advertised car, in addition to copies of all listing details.
I spent an hour or so checking the 1992 car's VIN details and taking photo's as proof for future legal reference, a mate of mine ran a check confirming the DVLA details were correct.
As Julian Barnes wasn't willing to discuss it, and had categorically stated that I would have to speak to his solicitor, I sought legal advice.
I employed the services of a sollicitor in late July '08.
My solicitor spent a few day searching through the evidence that I had kept and concluded that SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS didn't have a leg to stand on, it was a clear cut case.
The very fact that the delivered car was 3 years older than the car that I had paid for made any defence by SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS futile.
21st August '08: A reltively feeble attempt was made by Julian Barnes solicitor to divert the attention away from the facts, but it was clearly an attempt to gain more time for their client to sqaure himself away.
Making reference to the car being a 'specialist used track car' and stating that the car had been 'newly painted' in Japan before beig shipped to the UK.
It was also stated that the car 'was' runnig 600BHP and that since I han't driven it, how could I say that it wasn't.
**I'll post hard proof at the approriate time later where Julian clearly states that the car is running 450BHP, something that DRAGON PERFORMANCE (not dragging them into this) but they were supposed to map it.
On several occassions this is stated clearly, so, to answer your point Julian 'no, I don't have a built in dyno machine strapped to my arse, but I can fucking read! and to be a honest when dealing with people like you, I think a bullshit detector woud be more useful!""'
The excuses for shipping delays just came flooding out, basically the excue was that the seats caused the delay....uh, 7 months fella???
Check the dates of the e-mail fella, that just don't add up!
and finally stating that the shipping costs weren't paid up by me when I came to pick up the car, uh....do you think!!
Initially Julian Barnes (via his solicitor) refused that there were any grounds for the car to be rejected and stated that they would need more time to reqeust a copy of the SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS advert from ebay.
My solicitor, aware of the delaying tactic immediately responded by offering them a hard copy of the listing from our own file.
(as I said, I kept copies everything).
My solicitor pointed ou that the fact remained, cosmetic damage and poor finish aside, the delivered car was a 1992 model and not a 1995 model.
Julian Barnes denied that there was anything wrong with the car and that again there were no grounds for it to be rejected, basically bullshitting his own solicitor.
At this point my solicitor forwarded copies of the photographs taken during the 2nd visit to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS, clearly showing the condition of the car.
Julian Barnes was forced to conceed and offered a refund of £12,500 (ie. the cost of the car) but refused to pay back the cost of the carbon door cards and the pair of Bride seats (£1700).
It was stated that Julian Barnes didn't have the money immediately available and that I would have to wait until the car was re-sold in order for the money to be made available and requested 28 days to do so.
Julian Barnes solicitor was told in no uncertain terms that I wanted a full refund of the £14,200 paid to Julian Barnes.
At this time (Septembr '08) JULIAN BARNES of SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS listed the car for sale; carbon door cards and bride seats included, with a starting price of £12,000.
The listing was headed 'MAZDA RX7 WIDE BODY 450BHP FULLY REBUILT SIDE PORTED'
*Hmmn, 450BHP....interesting that.
though in the description it still stated power as 600BHP?
The listing also states:
Quote: "Since it's arrival we have just had the car painted in baysid blue, it was freshly painted in Japan but 'we was not 100% happy with the finish'.......it will be going to Dragon Performance later for a remap, we have had it mappd to a safe 450BHP"
The car was later claimed to have been sold by Julian Barnes for just £5000.
I spoke to him asking when I would get my money back and he informd me that I wouldn't be, as he only got £5000 for it (just go's to show how bad the car actually was!) and also said that after he had paid the shipping costs and paid for the re-spray there was nothing of the £5000 left.
He told me that I "should have taken the car when I had the chance" and to "let he solicitors deal with it".
He also gloated that "SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS probably wouldn't be around for much longer anyway".
My solicitor sent numerous letters to Julian Barnes solicitor, but they kept replying that he hasn't got back in touch with them.
Meanwhile my legal fees were escalating and I was forced to seek barristers advice prior to issuing court proceedings against Julian Barnes.
18th December '08: My solicitor recieves a letter from Julian Barnes solicitor stating
OUR FORMER CLIENT: JULIAN BARNES
"We can confirm that we are no longer instructed by Mr Barnes in this matter and have recievd no further instruction from him since October '08"
13th February '09: My solicitor recieves a 'PROPOSED VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT" by Miss Karen Kinnish (Julian Barnes fiance') claiming that she now owes me £12,500 and not Julian Barnes?
19th February '09: We recieve a letter with regardsto Karen Kinnish PROPOSED INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT
My solicitor quetioned this as the dipute had always been with Julian Barnes!
**I'm sure you can see where this is going!**
The barrister spent a lot of time sifting through the fine detail and also concluded that this was a very straight forward case and that SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS were clearly in breach of contract.
In the mean time the PROPOSED INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENT was progressing.
Total value of unsecured credit: £106,079:66
Reason for financial difficulty: Credit facilties used to pay for general expenses, whilst aso buying cars and covering shipping costs.
(more detail on this later!)
Quote: "Up until 2006 I was a housewife and my partner was the main breadwinner. After his income fell due to the financial climate, I decided to become self employed selling motor vehicles. The first year I traded I made a small profit and was confident that this would improve. The second year I made a loss, due to my inexperience. I now realise that although was selling vehicles, my profit margin was far too low, after paying shipping costs and other expenses, I was operating at a loss, I was naive and was paying too much for vehicles and spending too much on them before selling. I have now made major adjustments to my business operation and have in the past 6 months concentrated on selling slightly lower priced vehicles with a better profit margin. I have also reduced my staff costs and my partner, who works for me has taken on the extra hours to clean and polish the vehicles. I have also been given a small business reduction in the rates on my business property. As higher priced vehicles are more difficult to sell at the moment I feel that I have madethe right decision and I am on target to make a profit based on my previous 6 months figures. I have also been awarded a perentage small business reduction on my business rent and rates.
I was stung in 2007 by someone I was sueing for breach of contract. I won but lost the 8k in the end because he pulled the shame shitty liquidation stunt. I got what is known as "a paper victory". Hate to say this but be prepared to get nothing back. In the end the only real winners are the solicitors.
