Filing a small claims / suing a company

[Sarah Parmer]

Hello, 

I purchased a DJI drone (large Chinese company) about 3 months ago for 20,000 baht in Bangkok, it went crazy and flew away / crashed. 

The drones record all flight info (like an airplane's black box), and I have enough data to prove that the drone should not have behaved as it did and win damages/replacement. 

DJI have notoriously bad customer service, they refuse to communicate any other way than email and don't answer any direct questions and take days to respond. 

So I really want to bring a small claims legal case to them (or something to get their attention), to claim that it should be a warranty case and I should get a full refund/replacement. 

They have offered first 10% then 15% then 20% then 25% final solution discounts, I counter offered with 50% as I am tired of the situation, but they ignored me. 

Is there a way I can start to put the wheels in motion to take them to court? Or any other options available to me? (I'm from the UK on an extended holiday)

Sarah

 

[impulse]

Short answer:  No.

 

Life's too short to spend it on that kind of aggravation over a few hundred $$$, against a Chinese company, and in Thailand.  The odds that you'll get any satisfaction are far exceeded by the odds you'll end up miserable.

 

[FritsSikkink]

You have to start a legal case against a Chines company, based in ...........?

Your best bet would be to do it from the UK as in Thailand it will cost you a fortune with very small odds to get anywhere. 

 

[Briggsy]

If you want to get some money back or at least cost them money, you might be better researching if this company have any assets in the UK. Far more chance of a result there.

 

Failing that, the court of Facebook is the most user-friendly court in Thailand for dissatisfied customers.

[blackcab]

It would cost you much more in legal fees than you could hope to recover.

 

You will need a Thai lawyer and it would take months. I hope you bought the item using a UK credit card.

 

If so you can get a refund from your card issuer.

[FritsSikkink]

50 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

If you want to get some money back or at least cost them money, you might be better researching if this company have any assets in the UK. Far more chance of a result there.

 

Failing that, the court of Facebook is the most user-friendly court in Thailand for dissatisfied customers.

They have draconian defamation laws too.

[ballpoint]

Was your drone registered?  As far as I'm aware, every DJI model has a camera and therefore must be registered with both the NBT and CAAT, and have insurance, before being allowed to fly in Thailand.  This includes even the smallest 'Spark' model.  You may open up a can of worms by taking them to court in Thailand, and may win the case only to be hit by an "up to 100,000 Baht fine and/or up to 5 years in prison".

[Sarah Parmer]

58 minutes ago, blackcab said:

It would cost you much more in legal fees than you could hope to recover.

 

You will need a Thai lawyer and it would take months. I hope you bought the item using a UK credit card.

 

If so you can get a refund from your card issuer.

Hi, thanks for your response

yes I bought it with a UK debit card.

do you mean just explaining to the bank that I have been ripped off, and not in anyway claiming from the drone company? 

[Sarah Parmer]

3 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Was your drone registered?  As far as I'm aware, every DJI model has a camera and therefore must be registered with both the NBT and CAAT, and have insurance, before being allowed to fly in Thailand.  This includes even the smallest 'Spark' model.  You may open up a can of worms by taking them to court in Thailand, and may win the case only to be hit by an "up to 100,000 Baht fine and/or up to 5 years in prison".

Hello, 

Yes I had both a license to operate and insurance

[Sarah Parmer]

Yes it seems pretty futile to attempt anything from Thailand. I'm sure I would have to start by translating all email correspondents to Thai which is nearing 100, then hiring a lawyer etc...

Filing from the UK, would I actually have to be back in the UK for the court hearing etc.? plus when I briefly looked at the process it's hard to sue overseas companies and I'm unsure about DJI's UK assets. 

[blackcab]

23 minutes ago, Sarah Parmer said:

Hi, thanks for your response

yes I bought it with a UK debit card.

do you mean just explaining to the bank that I have been ripped off, and not in anyway claiming from the drone company? 

 

Sorry but I said credit card. If you used a UK credit card you could have claimed under section 75 of the UK Consumer Credit Act and received a refund.

 

You can't do that with a debit card.

[varun]

Just forget about it.

Practically no court will entertain your case and you'd need to pay a lot more than 20,000 baht to get a decent lawyer out of bed.

 

For all we know, you did not operate the drone properly.

 

Chalk it down to stupidity and move on.

[robertson468]

Suggest you start by getting a Lawyer to write a letter to the Company to say that if you do not get satisfaction by...........(date) you will be taking legal action against them.  If you are not successful in getting compensation or get no response, I would put it down to "one of those things in life" and file in the "going nowhere box".  Good luck

[GAZZPA]

34 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

Suggest you start by getting a Lawyer to write a letter to the Company to say that if you do not get satisfaction by...........(date) you will be taking legal action against them.  If you are not successful in getting compensation or get no response, I would put it down to "one of those things in life" and file in the "going nowhere box".  Good luck

Yep, I agree, this is the best solution. You will never win a case like this in this part of the world. There is no consumer protection here so it's a risk you take buying high value stuff. The only exception is buying a big "global" brand product from an authorised dealer then you won't have a problem getting a replacement if proven faulty.

 

So, I think send the legal threat, sit on it and hope that they respond to avoid any legal action. Personally I doubt it.

[gaff]

2 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

Sorry but I said credit card. If you used a UK credit card you could have claimed under section 75 of the UK Consumer Credit Act and received a refund.

 

You can't do that with a debit card.

 

Is it easy to do a chargeback in UK ? Not as easy as in US I guess, where just a phone call or email is enough to be refunded, whatever the reason (lie) is.

 

 

 

[Seeall]

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

If you want to get some money back or at least cost them money, you might be better researching if this company have any assets in the UK. Far more chance of a result there.

 

Failing that, the court of Facebook is the most user-friendly court in Thailand for dissatisfied customers.

And then the first thing they do is use the most incredible "defamation law" suing you....

[new2here]

I have to agree with the others, on the whole, the level of consumer rights rules and the system and process in place to enforce and protect them is just not of the same standard as that as perhaps in countries like the US Or regions like the EU. Right or wrong is a different conversation, but this is just to say that IMHO, on a comparison basis alone, you don’t have the same level of rights or protections here.

Could you move forward with legal action? Probably... but... before I did I’d want to first take a hard look at my case critically looking at the facts, what law, laws or company policies/warranties I have, what are the economics in play— then make a choice if the value is there for you to expend money to move forward.

IMHO, unless you have a pretty solid written warranty and documentation showing a failure, and the amount of money is material, I’d probably just move on or accept one of their compromise solutions.


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[Suradit69]

6 hours ago, Sarah Parmer said:

DJI have notoriously bad customer service,

If they're so notoriously bad, why did you choose to deal with them.

[khunPer]

6 hours ago, Sarah Parmer said:

Is there a way I can start to put the wheels in motion to take them to court? Or any other options available to me? (I'm from the UK on an extended holiday)

It's cheaper for you to forget the 20,000 baht (£400) than considering a legal case; even if you win, your costs might be many fold higher than the outcome – i.e. are you going to sue a Chine company as a foreigner in Thailand? If the company has already offered you some compensation, be (very) happy, take it, and move on...?

[Aquaman2016]

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/visa-mastercard-chargeback/


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[snowgard]

Don't listen to all this comments. The most of they never gone to court or had similar problems and tried to get their money back. The consumer protection here is not so bad as they tell.

 

This website will help you about your problems: http://www.ocpb.go.th/ocpb_eng/main.php?filename=index___EN

 

 

[William C F Pierce]

If your Credit Card company is satisfied with your answer after contacting the supplier for their comment. Then they will refund you and take the money back off of the supplier through the international banking system. A Credit Card is a valuable insurance on anything over purchased over £100 in the UK.

[gaff]

4 minutes ago, William C F Pierce said:

If your Credit Card company is satisfied with your answer after contacting the supplier for their comment. Then they will refund you and take the money back off of the supplier through the international banking system. A Credit Card is a valuable insurance on anything over purchased over £100 in the UK.

 

But I am wondering what could try to do a Thai seller not happy to lose 20000 thb ?

 

It seems to be the reason why lazada does not accept some international credit cards ? Too easy to get refunded...

 

 

 

[William C F Pierce]

15 minutes ago, gaff said:

 

But I am wondering what could try to do a Thai seller not happy to lose 20000 thb ?

 

It seems to be the reason why lazada does not accept some international credit cards ? Too easy to get refunded...

 

 

 

Exactly. Proves my point and cheaper than going to court.

[varun]

9 hours ago, William C F Pierce said:

If your Credit Card company is satisfied with your answer after contacting the supplier for their comment. Then they will refund you and take the money back off of the supplier through the international banking system. A Credit Card is a valuable insurance on anything over purchased over £100 in the UK.

Please read carefully. The purchase was made using a Debit card, not Credit card.

 

This whole thread is pointless - a clueless foreigner on holiday in Thailand,

wanting to sue a Chinese company for one of it's products (bought in the UK no less) for a measly sum of 20,000 baht.

 

We haven't even established with 100% certainty whether it was indeed not her fault - lots of idiotic drone operators around.

[BBJ]

I had a similar isue with a pair of ALpinestars boots I bought.  Fell apart after a few short rides.  Refused refund or replacement.   Posting on facebook solved the problem for me.  Just be careful no to bad mouth the dealer.  I asked for opinions which was noticed by the dealer a day or two after who quickly agreed to replace the boots if I removed the post. 

 

And as mentioned above, consumer protection is not too bad.  We called them first who agreed to take action if our FB post proved unseccesful.

[greenchair]

Why would you be wanting to record an airplane black box? ?

That's just scary. 

[BestB]

If you bought it in Thailand frok

 a Thai registered business then OCPB will help you out but may take some time and totally free.

 

if you bought it from China then nothing you can do at all.

 

you said you paid with debit card, how? Internet sites do not accept debit cards, was it through someone like PayPal? In which case you can also open a case through them

[colinneil]

3 minutes ago, BestB said:

 

 

you said you paid with debit card, how? Internet sites do not accept debit cards, was it through someone like PayPal? In which case you can also open a case through them

 

You say internet sites do not accept debit cards, well you are 100% wrong, some sites do.

I no longer have any credit cards only use a debit card, it it has been accepted by internet sites.

[BestB]

27 minutes ago, colinneil said:

You say internet sites do not accept debit cards, well you are 100% wrong, some sites do.

I no longer have any credit cards only use a debit card, it it has been accepted by internet sites.

Oh do tell which sites in Thailand accept foreign debit cards.

fire away 3.2,1...........