Trouble at Mill!

To all Members and Colleagues,

Sorry to interupt your "train" of thoughts but our favourite model building
business rears its head up once again for discussion. The name escapes me at
the moment but I seem to remember it has feline links to it! I'm sure you'll
recognise this company as his reputation for taking customers money and then hiding
behind company laws and giving you nothing but lies, false promises and,
if you are lucky, poor workmanship is getting well known now!

I have recently got a County Court Judgement against one of his companies after
five years of his deceit, lies, excuses and false charges for work which just was
not done and am hoping to use it as a lever to put a stop to his activities all together.

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 13/10/2017 08:00:40

Consequently, I am appealing for anyone or anyone you know who has had any
dealings, anytime, with this company which resulted in any outcome which you
would construe as stealing your money, breaking Supply of goods and Services Act
or fraud to contact me with a view to collecting as many Witness Statements as
I can to build a solid case to go back to court with to prove that he is not fit
to be a company director having fed on our trust and the love of our hobby!

Many Thanks
Crank

( If you would like to respond to this please reply in personal messages )

There are many outstanding vendors in the world of model engineering. We are lucky to have them.

However here have been several firms (some are repeat offenders) accused of less than honest practices on this forum. To avoid confusion, or those pesky big question marks over readers' heads that appear when confusion sets in, I think it would be wise to be just a little clearer about who we are talking about here. Maybe a reference to the county or shire the business is in, or a part of a postal code to watch for, if a name may not be published.

I for one would like to be sure, so I can stay well away from this particular model eng vendor.

Apart from that wish I have no connection to any vendors other than as an occasional customer, and I do not know who the subject vendor of this post is.

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 13/10/2017 19:25:27

it has feline links to it!....you got me stumped!

Big cat, sounds just like links.

Companies house entries make interesting reading

Bill

Why on earth the reluctance to mention the name of the company? Makes it sound like it's one of the advertizers on this site or something like that and just creates confusion.

As a (retired) journalist, let me ask you to be careful with the libel laws, which apply to all forms of publishing including websites.. I know it sounds daft, but in some circumstances you can get into trouble for telling the truth. The company has already been identified in that most of us have guessed it. I suggest anyone with a complaint goes through the local trading standards department and/or the small claims court. I am not defending this company - just sounding a warning.

I've never understood why they have a picture of an Ocelot in their adverts

Rod

A county Court judgement will be a matter of public record, including the name of the defendant. So referring to it by name in that context could not be libellous.

And generally speaking, a company can't sue you for libel/defamation, unless perhaps it is a one man show which this one appears not to be? And you are unlikely to run into trouble publishing anything that is true, providing it is in the public interest, eg to the benefit of the public (forum members) to know this company has trouble delivering on its promises and has been in court for the same. Quite often owners of business threaten to "sue for libel/defamation" as a means to bully unsatisfied customers into not spreading the word around. Very very rarely does it come to actually happen. It costs a fortune to mount a libel/defo suit, and juries tend to be sympathetic to the little guy customer rather than the bullying businessman.

How about "Name and shame" ?

Thanks for your responses gentlemen.

I was dipping my toes in the water so to speak by not naming the company involved to see what the reaction would be and I can see that more than one or two of you have had some unpleasant experiences with Mr Cat who is the sole director of all his ltd companies. I don't see why I shouldn't name the company as it is a fact that the CCJ was ordered against Lynx Model Paint and Machining Services Ltd .

The more factual encounters I can gather the better. He was grooming his son to take over as he works for him but.i'm not sure if he knows fully his dad's carryings on as he seems to keep a lot of his nonsense close to his chest .

I could write a lot more about my experience with him but wanted to keep it based on true facts rather than my personal feelings of frustration,disappointment and expense!

By the way, I was looking at the Lynx displaying its non existent magnificent tail. Must be an Ocelot !

Regards

Geoff

.

One hopes the CCJ has already resulted in a recovery of the appropriate compensation, if not then from information at companies house I suspect it might have been a waste of time and effort.

The filing history with companies house shows an ongoing lack of on time filings and a company with few assets

A quick examination of companies with the same/previous director/directors as (05305685) shows a possible separation of activity across multiple companies at a similar/same address, some of which have previously being Dissolved (and previously dormant) (06983161),With a Proposal to Strike off (05305658) or in Liquidation (05140767)

Following a CCJ I'd be looking to engage the services of a High Court Enforcement Officer

FAQ here

The advice is always not to bother trying to get a CCJ unless you know you can enforce it.

Frequently a much more effective way, if the debt is over £750, is to issue a Statutory Demand, as a precursor to a bankruptcy order (a personal trader) or winding up order (if a limited company).

Ooops, I seem to have added this company to WOT (web of trust), anyone using the companies website will at least see some indication of the problem.

Firstly, I will mention that my job for 41 years until I retired last year was corporate insolvency.............

I just had a quick look at the papers filed at Companies House for Lynx Model Works.

Zero assets, debts of £245,000, liquidators fees unpaid, and I note the liquidator has already filed a Statutory Demand against Mr Clarke, and even they have only been able to partially recover.

Mr Clarke is now refusing to cooperate with the liquidator, and legal steps are being taken to enforce his co-operation.

In my opinion, and my experience, it is unlikely that anyone that has given money to Mr Clarke and not received their goods is likely to ever see a penny of their money back, depending on which company had their money.

It will almost certainly be a waste of time taking any action against him, as I suspect you will be a long way down a long queue, to which there is no pot of gold at the end of.

I have, of course, seen this behaviour many, many times over the years, particularly 'Phoenix' companies that spring up from the ashes of previous deceased companies, almost always with the same directors. I have attempted to get similar acting directors struck off at Companies House in the past as unfit to hold the position of director, sadly it is rare anything is done about them.

No chance of anything libelous in the above, all the documents, sums and comments made are a matter of public record.

If you pay someone a deposit, always use a credit card. In a case such as this you may then have recourse from the card provider.

Edited By David Standing 1 on 23/10/2017 22:19:08