Is anyone in Eastbourne?

Helena

Helena

I'm going to hold a protest outside a bookshop. If anyone is perhaps going shopping there tomorrow, I could certainly do with some support, as it is going to be tough!

Also, any more ideas for action?

More here: http://www.hastingspress.co.uk/bookstack.html

Thank you

Helena

Mike Coombes

I'll be with you in spirit only, Helena.

If the protest doesn't work (and I hope it does) let me know. Debt collection is something I do.

Nefertari

I took out a court order last year as my husband's boss owed him a month's salary. It didn't cost as much as £140(the amount you specify on your site) I can't remember how much it was now, it's easy to do as you can do it all online now. When the boss found out that I had done this he paid up as he didn't want to go to court(probably because he was fiddling the tax) You do get your costs back you know, if you are successful, and I can't see why you wouldn't be in this case. It's awful.Good luck!

Helena

Thank you both!

I phoned the local paper and they said that they are not going to bother to cover my protest because the bookshop is closing down anyway owing to lack of sales/too much competition therefore to them it is a non-story.

Now someone has told me they are "in receivership" whatever that means, therefore there is no point at all in my staging a protest as the shop could not care less about their reputation, because they are closing anyway.

Also, you cannot go to court if someone is in receivership.

My knowledge of the law of debts etc is nil.

Any thoughts?

neil

Quote: (Helena)

"I phoned the local paper and they said that they are not going to bother to cover my protest because the bookshop is closing down anyway owing to lack of sales/too much competition therefore to them it is a non-story."

This sits rather curiously, Helena, with the opening sentence in the link you gave us above:

"The Bookstack, a very busy and profitable bookshop and cafe in the Arndale Centre, Eastbourne, is refusing to pay for books they have sold."

I still think it's a pretty outrageous state of affairs all the same.

Isabella King

As Kateyanne said, the small claims court online is the easiest way. You have to pay the costs up front but it's not a huge amount and you would get this all back if you win. I believe costs are calculated on the amount you claim.

My husband recently used it to sue someone who hadn't paid him. Ended up getting them a CCJ before this person finally began paying at a fiver a week but we got it all back in the end.

Helena

NEil - I said that! When I spoke to them on the phone I could hear the hustle and bustle and the tills ringing. They are still trading, and as you can imagine being in a shopping mall right in the centre of a seaside town, people mill in and out of it all the time. They also have a cafe upstairs and sell via a website.

I'm pretty ignorant of business affairs but even I'm finding it hard to believe that such a busy shop could go out of business, unless its just bad management or spending too much of the income.

I'm sending my boyfriend round there later - he lives in Eastbourne (I don't) so he can give me a field report.

Apparently now they are in receivership I cannot take out a court order on them.

I know it's not a lot of money and I guess my outrage simply reflects my ignorance of business affairs. When you are a tiny publisher operating on a shoestring it's not easy to lose 12 books and keep smiling.

Helena

Helena

Beg pardon its 9 captain swings and one railwaywomen - 10 books, and £65.

Helena

I now have this from the Eastbourne local paper:

Rising overheads close book shop

Competition and rising overheads are forcing one of Eastbourne's independent book shops to close.

Bookstack in the Arndale Centre is calling for a 'business angel' to help save part of the store.

Business owner Derrick Trubshaw, who previously owned Unicorn Books in Terminus Road, has been selling books in Eastbourne for nearly 20 years.

He said, "I am personally devastated to say that for a number of financial reasons, Bookstack will soon be closing down.

"The shop will cease to exist the way it has for the last 13 years but we are hoping that someone might step in and help restructure what has been a very successful business."

Despite being just yards away from Sussex Stationers, Bookstack has competed on price and been a profitable business for more than 13 years.

But rising overheads have hit at the shop's quietest time, making it impossible for him to continue trading.

Mr Trubshaw said, "If we could have just got through the next few months we would have made it, but it has got to a point where Tesco is selling the new Harry Potter book cheaper than I can buy it — we just can't compete with that anymore."

Bookstack also has a Reader's Coffee Shop. Mr Trubshaw opened the coffee shop nine years ago and offers customers comfy sofas and free coffee refills.

He said, "Lots of my regular customers have told me they keep this place a secret because they want to make sure they get a seat every morning."

Sherie James, who has worked in the coffee shop for around four years, said, "It is like a little club up here.

"Everyone is so friendly. I have made so many friends so I will be sad to leave and I don't have another job to go to."

Bookstack will close in the next three to five weeks and 13 people will be out of a job, including Derrick, his son Mark, 29, and daughter Nicola, 24.

But staff and customers alike will be sad to see the store close.

Lynda Scott-Williams, of Old Town, is a regular customer at Bookstack. She said, "It is very sad, I have always shopped in Bookstack because I try to support local businesses.

"I am concerned for the future of independent book shops."

Jane Hay, another of Bookstack's regular customers, said, "We must fight for our local businesses.

"They have just opened a Starbucks in the Arndale and before long every town will just have the same shops."

Bookstack has slashed its prices in a closing down sale and Derrick added, "I would like to thank our many loyal customers and hope they find some bargains in the sale."

Carol

Contact the receiver who has been appointed and register your claim with them, they will be dealing with the winding up/finding a new buyer etc.

Radames

Helena - Carol's advice is sound. When a company is in receivership, it actually continues to trade but under the supervision of the receiver. Since the receiver is normally an accountant, he should already know they owe you money. Unfortuantely, when it comes to dishing out whatever money is left, the receiver and government (tax, VAT etc.) get first cut. Trade creditors get what's left over divided up on a pro rata basis.

Good luck with your cause.

Neph

^^ which usually equates to about 10p for every pound they owe you.  Once the bank and the inland revenue have finished with them there is usually little left over, as if there was they wouldn't have been in trouble and gone into recievership in the first place.

Helena

Thanks everyone. I won't go to too much trouble as it's not a fortune, but I will send a copy of the invoice to the receiver. But how can I find out who that is, or is there just one per town, like coroners?

Alik

You might be able to find out from Companies House in Cardiff Helena, or maybe the Official Receiver's office can help. 

Carol

There should be a notice somewhere in the shop window if shut down already, or if still open inside in view for customers.
May also have been a notice in the local paper in the public notices.

Hickey

Hello Helena,
This struggling novice writer rarely has the chance to offer anyone on this site any useful piece of advice, even on grammar, but I still have a day job…so…

The government (VAT and Inland Revenue) are no longer preferential creditors. (‘Creditors’ being the people who are owed money or goods by the businesses)
This means that everyone who is owed should get an even cut, including you.
The receivers will be the accountants who are winding up the business, but in some cases business come out of ‘receivership’ and continue to trade with some of the debt wiped off. (It gets complicated…) By law they must display a notice of receivership in plain view and this will give you the name and trading address of the accountant’s – hassle these people, hassle them lots.
I’d really advise you to attend the ‘creditors meeting’ and the accountants will be able to tell you where and when it is to be held.
It is attended by the accountant’s, (sometimes even the business) and anyone who is on the creditors list (you) can attend and put forward your case.
Good luck
Hickey

mrsherlockholmes

People who glibly say “Take them to the small claims court” may not realise that this is often a totally fruitless procedure as the defendant is not obliged to take any notice whatsoever of the Court!.

  This is what you do:
a)  Go to your county court office and get CLAIM FORM N1.  Fill this in (3 copies) and give in to office with a fee (based on amount claiming - £30 up to £300 is minimum)
b)  The form will be sent to the defendant and you will be sent a “Notice of Issue”. This form will have a date “deadline” which the defendant is supposed to answer by.
c)  If the claim is ignored by the due date, you fill in the part of the “Notice of Issue” form called “Request for Judgement” and send it to the court.
d)  You will then be sent a copy of “Judgment for Claimant (in default)” which has been sent to the defendant.  This tells them they have to pay up including costs of fee plus interest.

That is all that happens for your fee.  If after all that you do not get paid you go back to the court and ask for a “Warrant of Execution” for which there is another fee (£35 if the money owing is up to £125; £55 if more than that amount).  The court can then send bailiffs to seize goods to the value owing.  See Helpful Leaflets EX321 and EX322.

You can issue the claim online (www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk) and get guidance leaflets on the procedure.  I have found these leaflets sadly lacking in the detailed minutiae required and the staff at my local court less than helpful.  Have a careful read of the following though before proceeding:
EX307  The small claims track
EX301  Making a claim?
EX302  How to make a claim
EX304  No reply to my claim form
EX50 County Court Fees
All these should be on the hmcs website as pdf files or you can pick them up at your local county court office.  There is a lot of information on the website but often difficult to pin down because of terminology eg I was ages looking for “Judgment in Default” which threw up nothing and eventually found what I required under “Warrant of Execution”.

Since August 2005 I have been pursuing the rogue POD publisher UPSO Ltd for money owing to me from unpaid royalties.  I eventually went the SC Court and a claim was issued on 11th October 2006 (cost £80).  As this was ignored I applied for a Request for Judgement on 30th October.  As this was ignored I applied for a Warrant of Execution on 23rd March 2007 (cost £55).  This was issued by the court in the defendant’s area and a bailiff is to try to execute the warrant.  Since that Warrant I have had two letters from the court – one to say the bailiff went to the defendant’s premises on 7th May, the other to say he went on 5th July.  On both occasions he was unable to make contact with the debtor.  It looks as though the bailiff is not likely to be very successful if he only visits once every two months!  The Warrant lapses after a certain length of time (a year I think) unless you pay another fee to extend it.

As the Small Claims Court is often mentioned on these threads it might be an idea to copy and paste the above into a file so you will have it should you need it in the future!

It is my considered opinion that the laws in this country from the Small Claims Track to the Court of Human Rights are designed not to assist the honest assert their rights but to defend the guilty.

Helena

I thank Sherlock for his long email and everyone for their advice. FOr £65 owed it is simply not worth my starting to pay out £30, then another £35 to pursue him through the courts. I am just going to send my b/f to the shop (he lives in that town) and get the address of the Receiver, then just send her/him an invoice, then forget the whole affair. I'll just have to write it off as a loss.

I'm beginning to appreciate more and more the services offered by my wholesaler. At first I fliched at the 50% they take, but for the freedoms from packing, posting, labelling, invoicing, and chasing up bad debts, it is worth every single penny. It's only 10 to 15% more than the bookshops take, anyway.

For example, Railwaywomen retails at £30. Let's say a distant branch of WH Smith phones me to order one: I give them 40% off, so I only get £18 from them for the book. I have to raise an invoice, file a paper copy, wrap and label the book, walk to the Post Office, queue up, pay £4.25 postage. Deducting 20p for the packaging materials I make only £13.55 from the sale. Though I give my wholesaler 50% I make £15 from the sale of each book and have no work and no invoicing and no bad debts!

Helena

neil

I notice that Amazon, Helena, is selling your book for £19.80. How does this affect you as author and publisher?

Helena

Amazon sources from my wholesaler, who pays me £15 per copy regardless of who buys it.

It's hard to see how either of them is making much profit out of the book, selling at £19.80 means only £4.80 profit to share between them.

Amazon has devalued my book against my wishes. You may be interested to know that they did not seem my permission for this price reduction. It makes it hard for me to sell on my website at full-price, of course -- I have to match Amazon, AND meet the cost of postage, because Amazon don't charge for postage (I believe) for items over £15 (is that right?).

Again its the big boys dictating the terms of everything. Depressing, but what can one do?

Helena

Helena

BTW I just want to say that what has happened to Sherlock is absolutely and utterly disgusting and disgraceful and I am ashamed that it is a publisher in my own town that has ripped him off. I'm absolutely appalled at the way they have treated him. So there!