WA Breach of Contract - Who is Liable?

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LillyK

Member
7 February 2017
1
0
1
Hi All,

I am trying to work out who to take to Magistrates court for breach of contract and refund of money paid. I have taken my case to the WA Department of Consumer Protection who were unable to conciliate due to parties not being willing.

  • I signed a contract for service and made full payment of $885 on 22/10/15.
  • The business was apparently sold in July 2016.
  • The new owner was a staff member of the business and had been my customer service representative since March 2016 (so business continued as usual).
  • In December 2016, I requested termination of the contract and part refund of money due to the service not being what I paid for.
  • The new owner informed me that I was not actually a client of hers as she had not acquired the liabilities of the business from the previous owner - only the business name and equipment. She told me that I would have to contact the original owner as that apparently is who my contract is with.
  • At no stage was I informed that the business was being sold nor that my contract for service was going to be ignored. I asked the new owner why she did not inform existing clients of this new arrangement and she has not answered that, however told me that she continued doing business with me out of "good will".
Obviously I have been misled by the new owner, but I am not sure who is actually party to my contract and therefore who I should take to court.

Help would be greatly appreciated!
 

Lance

Well-Known Member
31 October 2015
852
123
2,394
Hi Lilly,

That's a really complicated situation. The original signed contract, does it detail a contract between you and the company, you and the company under the named proprietors or you and the proprietors? I think that would determine where the responsibility lays.

Something doesn't sound right though.

I have never heard of a service provider selling their company without existing contracts going with it. If that were the case the outgoing owners should have notified all clients. To be honest the easiest way to sort this out is probably to take the company with the current proprietor to small claims court and have the Magistrate decide if they are liable.

If they aren't take the previous owners. The last time I went to small claims it was $25 (it might be a bit more now). The safest option is to engage a lawyer to look through the contract and determine who is liable.