How to Recover My Bike From Dealer in Receivership

[Corpulent Tosser]

As title, my bike was in for repair and in the meantime the company went broke, closed and a receiver now controls the company.
I emailed and was told they will get in touch soon, that was a week ago, I emailed on Thurs saying I wanted to pick the bike up on Sat, today, but got no reply.
Can anyone advise how long this normally takes and any steps I can take to speed things up.
Thanks.

[Mercdriver]

Can you not arrive with the log book showing you are registered owner and demand bike back now?

[KTMsm]

These things are handled one of two ways

Either you go down and forcibly take it back / break in and remove it

Or you could be waiting up to a year and you might not get it back at all

I'm in the Trade, it happens a lot sometimes other customers / creditors will take your bike in lieu of their debt etc

[Yellow Lizud]

Mercdriver said:

Can you not arrive with the log book showing you are registered owner and demand bike back now?

Firstly the 'log book' V5 does not show who the registered owner, only the registered keeper.

Secondly, who are you going to 'demand' the bike back from, when the premises are all locked up and deserted??

OP the only way you will get the bike back is by working with the receiver and hope they play nicely. Good luck.

[Wackywoo105]

This sounds like a great scam. I'll get a mate to set up a garage. I'll do a bit of work for him and invoice him a cool £1M. Then he can get some fancy cars in, go bust and I'll get the cars.

I really hope it's not as easy as that.

[Lefty]

KTMsm said:

These things are handled one of two ways

Either you go down and forcibly take it back / break in and remove it

Or you could be waiting up to a year and you might not get it back at all

I'm in the Trade, it happens a lot sometimes other customers / creditors will take your bike in lieu of their debt etc

Yeah. Easy to say but I think the best bet is option A. Get it back before you can’t.

[Corpulent Tosser]

Yellow Lizud said:

Firstly the 'log book' V5 does not show who the registered owner, only the registered keeper.

Secondly, who are you going to 'demand' the bike back from, when the premises are all locked up and deserted??

OP the only way you will get the bike back is by working with the receiver and hope they play nicely. Good luck.

Thanks
Forcibly taking it back is not an option, the receiver has secured the place with professional security.
I’m fairly sure I will get the bike (eventually) but when?
I was hoping there might be someone who has gone through it before who might know the possible timescale, and how to encourage the receiver to work with me.
Playing nicely is probably good advice, but right now I am very frustrated with the whole issue.
The bike is also 100 miles away, the dealer close to me went bust less than a year ago, seems bike dealers aren’t doing well.

[Smokey Bear]

Call the receiver and tell them you want it on such a date. If they won’t play ball tell them report it stolen and tell the police you know where it’s being held.

[Sebring440]

Smokey Bear said:

tell them report it stolen and tell the police you know where it’s being held.

Hey, that'll work!

Until you tell the police the whole story and they tell you it's a civil matter.

[ChocolateFrog]

If you break in and take only your own stuff how much trouble do you get in if you can do it without damaging more than a padlock?

[Corpulent Tosser]

ChocolateFrog said:

If you break in and take only your own stuff how much trouble do you get in if you can do it without damaging more than a padlock?

I think it could be a world of trouble, breaking and entering is serious, besides even if I got in it’s a big place and I’ve no idea where my bike is so I would probably have to move stuff to get it.
I emailed the receiver and said I wanted to come Saturday (past) but got no reply, I’ll try phoning the receiver on Monday and see if I can speak to anyone.
Maybe I should speak to an insolvency lawyer.

[sugerbear]

Ring them every day and make a nuisance of yourself. Tell them you need it for work, tell then you can pay for the work done. Just keep onto them every day until you get it back.

[KTMsm]

Email

My sister is a solicitor when she needed a reply to something. She phoned the company every half hour

It's a lot harder to ignore

I would also say you are currently having to hire a bike so your costs are getting ever higher and you wish them to be added to the bill

It is their duty to reduce costs which hence should speed up the recovery of your bike

[Fatboy]

Corpulent Tosser said:

I emailed the receiver and said I wanted to come Saturday (past) but got no reply, I’ll try phoning the receiver on Monday and see if I can speak to anyone.
Maybe I should speak to an insolvency lawyer.

You need to phrase the emails differently - tell them that you're coming to collect it on x date, unless they get back to you with an alternative date you're taking it they agree.

That way you put the ball firmly in their court, effectively force them to reply...

[lancslad58]

Fatboy said:

Corpulent Tosser said:

I emailed the receiver and said I wanted to come Saturday (past) but got no reply, I’ll try phoning the receiver on Monday and see if I can speak to anyone.
Maybe I should speak to an insolvency lawyer.

You need to phrase the emails differently - tell them that you're coming to collect it on x date, unless they get back to you with an alternative date you're taking it they agree.

That way you put the ball firmly in their court, effectively force them to reply...

He's already stated
"Forcibly taking it back is not an option, the receiver has secured the place with professional security."

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Do you know if the work was done ?

The receiver must collect debts due etc so they will likely view it they have a lien until paid.

I would have thought that for many reasons they wanted customers bikes gone and bills paid asap.

Keep calling.

I would also do as above and say you will collect on x. Please confirm what work was done and the bill which will be settled in full.

If they then don't reply I would think the police can be involved as they are not given it back when offered payment.

[Jamescrs]

Corpulent Tosser said:

I think it could be a world of trouble, breaking and entering is serious, besides even if I got in it’s a big place and I’ve no idea where my bike is so I would probably have to move stuff to get it.
I emailed the receiver and said I wanted to come Saturday (past) but got no reply, I’ll try phoning the receiver on Monday and see if I can speak to anyone.
Maybe I should speak to an insolvency lawyer.

No such offence as "breaking and entering" in England and Wales at least.

You may get arrested for Burglary should the Police turn up and find you there but that wouldn't stand up because you are retrieving your own property.

Trespass is is not a criminal offence but a civil offence

On the face of it I think Criminal Damage would be the most serious offence, assuming you cause some damage getting in there, not that I'm advocating you do it.

[Crafty_]

Is there any route to charging the receiver expenses until the vehicle is returned (e.g. public transport/taxi fares for essential travel - getting to work etc).

[Corpulent Tosser]

To answer some questions
The dealer is in Edinburgh, I am near Aberdeen so will need to organise a trailer or van to pick up
my bike.
Work has been done but not complete. There are a couple of electrical faults and last time I spoke to the dealer I was told the ABS light was still coming on. So the parts they ordered and fitted didn’t work, I see a problem arguing that I shouldn’t pay for parts that it turned out weren’t required, however if the receiver says pay the bill or we keep the bike, I might have to pay and try a small claims court action, probably unsuccessfully though being realistic.

[gazza285]

Sounds like a nightmare. I don’t think that small claims will get you anywhere, your argument over the bill isn’t with the receiver.

It might not seem very fair, but I would say paying the bill and arranging the collection is the only way forward at this time.