Might need legal help, Where do I go?

[Kwacker]

Hi all,

I might need some legal help. I have bought a piece of equipment and believe the person we bought it from is in breach of contract (verbal contract). First of all they sent us an machine that was not the one we looked at, this was exchanged for the one we did look at, but the Health and Safety report doesn't have the correct serial number on it.

As we are a new small company and don't have a lot of money! Where can I go to get legal help?

Daniel Cukier
A&C Stoneworks

[mondeoman]

Try Trading Standards in the area the people you bought it off. Failing that, ermmmm, any local solicitor should be able to help with advice for a reasonable cost.

[joospeed]

try to join the FSB (federation of small businesses) .. don't know how they class a small business, but they seem to have some clout! have helped me out with all sorts of help, legal, professional, health and safety, employment law .. you ask and they find out the answer. fantastic resource and quite cheap too

[bobthebench]

Trading standards really only does consumer issues. You are a trader so expect no interest. FSB is a good start, but the term "verbal contract" is just a cash cow to suppliers. If they are reputable, they might settle up, if not, legal fees can become HUGE. Sometimes a less orthodox approach works best - threats and publicity.

Willing to go over basics if you e-mail me off-line.