Help with bed manufacturer

[Era]

Hi! I’m the owner of a clothing brand, it’s a start up.
And we were supposed to be launching our line September 2019.
I said ‘supposed’ as the company I went to to deal with the pattern cutting and the sampling, dragged the whole process for a year now.
I was told at the very beginning that the deadline for the production been finalised was July 2019, when I went to have a meeting with the pattern cutter December 2019, she presented me with some samples-not all of the pattern I paid had been developed into samples- out of 12 samples I was expecting, I was presented 7- she said she was still working on the others.
When asked to show me the patterns, she said they were in the office- and couldn’t go there to pick them as there was another meeting.
She lost 30metres of silk I ordered-never been found.
And, last but not least, she presented me with an invoice of £1000 for the sampling, which all had wrong measurements, not resembling the ones I saw when showed the toiles.
She added that she apologised for the delay, and from that moment on, she would have considered us as one of the main client of her company.
I need some help as to tell me if I have any duty to pay her.
Can I, in any way, avoid paying her for the damage she brought my way?
Now I’m getting someone else to fix my samples and see if I can in any way still launch my brand or not.

 

[The Byre]

If you can document and prove the costs she has caused for you, itemise them and put them all in an invoice to the pattern cutter, inc. the 30 m of silk. I bet it comes to more than £1,000.

In your previous post a year ago, you were advised to go to a trade fair. Did you go?

 

[Era]

Thanks for your reply.
I did go to the textile fair in Paris last year. And all the fabrics this lady used, were the ones I sourced from there. And all the invoices add up to £4500 in expenses for fabrics and trimmings.

 

[The Byre]

Something along these lines perhaps -

Dear Mrs. Stoat-Posture,

Please find enclosed a list of costs totaling £4,500 that we have incurred as a result of your inability to provide one single useable sample of your work. You will note that it includes the sum of £1,500 for 30m of pattered silk fabric which you managed to either lose or destroy. Each and every cost has been documented and can be proven in a court of law.

I note with some amusement that you have invoiced us for the sum of £1,000 for your efforts. Unfortunately, effort alone does not constitute supply or delivery. None of your patterns were in accordance with our orders or even in accordance with those patterns you showed me before ordering. Your work was so substandard that I can only assume that the invoice was intended as a joke.

As a direct result of your none-delivery of useable patterns, we have lost a full year of trading and have subsequently used the services of a different pattern-maker who has been able to deliver in full accordance with our requirements and without delays or losing any fabrics.

If you consider the matter closed and inform us in writing that you no longer seek payment for effort alone, we shall do likewise and not ask our lawyers to litigate for the £4,500 that we have lost because of your gross incompetence.

Yours sincerely,

Eva Millie-Toolie,
17, Oil-Drum-Lane,
Scunthorpe.

 

[Era]

Many thanks for your help! You have made my day.
I really appreciate!

Will keep you posted.

 

[The Resolver]

Era - The Byre has drafted a great letter. If I could offer a slight addition you should say at the end "to litigate for the £4,500 that we have lost plus compensation for the loss of a year's trading , all as a result of your gross incompetence, itself causing a gross breach of contract. This will place the claim out of the jurisdiction of the small claims track of the court and thus enable us to claim in addition our legal costs against you " .

'Incompetence'is a value judgment, 'breach of contract' here is a clear undisputable fact.

Era, please, report back the outcome.

 

[MOIC]

What did your contract say with the sample maker?

Do you have a contract?

There are always two sides to a story . . .are we only getting one side?

 

[Era]

Good evening to everyone! Many thanks for your reply.
We had a call with the lady who cared to do te pattern cutting etc, and she only cared to apologise for the delay blaming the delay on our part.
At first blaming the lack of participation from our part as to bring the material- which has always been at their company put in a box and forgotten by them.
Then blaming us for not being able to return her WhatsApp calls in July- after she was explicitly told we were in col ed in a car crash the previous week, and were not able to continue comunicati g- however she knew what she had to do and how she had to do things- instructions were given- apparently she needed continuous reassurance.
Additionally she mentions the fact that the first invoice for the samples was paid 1 month after she issued, blaming this as another reason for the delay- where the payment of invoices shouldn’t be a reason to hold projects, as in many business you have up to 60 days to pay up- but this doesn’t mean service in the meantime isn’t provided.
At the end she said she would accept half of the amount of the invoice, and would again express the apologise for the pain and distress created.

As I said at the very beginning of the post, this is a start up, as such a lot of things are not given for known, and I’ve tried to do my research as much as I can.
When I asked this lady to sign my contract, she said that at the very end of the service I would have signed and revised everything with her and her boss. Up to this date, I haven’t seen my contract- there are just invoices paid by my partner and lots of emails and text messages as proof of the services provided.

 

[MOIC]

Additionally she mentions the fact that the first invoice for the samples was paid 1 month after she issued, blaming this as another reason for the delay- where the payment of invoices shouldn’t be a reason to hold projects, as in many business you have up to 60 days to pay up- but this doesn’t mean service in the meantime isn’t provided.

Sample costs are generally paid for in advance.

 

[Era]

Sample costs are generally paid for in advance.

I have expressed myself in the wrong way, the invoice was issued for the pattern cutting, and the lineup, not the samples. Once she finished the samples-6 out of 10 she invoices us.

 

[Era]

Hello everyone,
After a meeting with the company that we contacted for the pattern cutting, sampling and production today, we were asked to let them know how we wanted to procede.
We took the 6 samples and the 7 patterns with us, however, the patterns were supposed to be 9, two patterns were missing.
We’re going to have another meeting with the owner, but as we already informed the pattern cutter, we are not going to pay any money to them, as long as we're concerned, because the damage caused to us is way bigger then theirs.
We’ll go one of this day to pick up the fabrics and we’ll get the samples modified by another pattern cutter, make new samples and try to sell the ones we think can be sold.
I honestly was left speechless when the lady dealing with the pattern cutting told us that because she understands our frustration for the delay, she would ask us to pay half of the invoice and not the whole amount.
Is there anything else I could do? Have I exhausted all my options?

 

[MOIC]

Have you paid any money for the 6 samples and 7 patterns that you have taken?

Is the pattern cutter independent from the owner?

Does your contract state that you can take the samples and patterns before full payment?

Has it been suggested that the samples should be amended for final approval after the first samples have been tested?

I understand that you may not be entirely happy with the final outcome, but this could be down to communication (both you and the pattern maker). Delays often happen when samples are being made and it’s normal for ‘first’ samples to be amended before final samples are approved.

At the very least, you should be open for the company you have used to correct any faults you say exist.

To take all the patterns and samples without making an offer first, may not be the right thing to do.