Fake Major Brand Name Sawmill Advice Please

[akslocombe]

Hi

 

In the back end of last year I purchased ( stupidly ) what I thought was a genuine reconditioned Woodmizer Lt40 for £6500 . Which turned out to be a copy built by the seller himself , this was not the first machine he built and he built one more machine before trading standards visited to give him 'advise ' .

 

Woodmizer have viewed my saw and supplied annotated photos of none standard parts etc etc . Plus given me a short letter saying the machine is either a complete copy or had so much work it couldn't be considered to be or sold as a woodmizer .

 

The seller refused me a refund or even part refund

 

So I guess now the only option is small claims court .

 

Would anyone happen to know what rough price a secondhand DIY ( badly welded ) sawmill such as this one (photos) would be realistically worth ?

 

Thanks

[felixthelogchopper]

Just go straight for the Misrepresentation of Goods angle and get the full refund, assuming you are looking at selling the fake to mitigate your losses. You should be able to get a complete refund without having to sell the item as what he has sold you is fake. Get supporting evidence from Trading Standards as well.

[spiral]

Where was it advertised & whats the name & address of seller would be good...

[akslocombe]

Thank Felix

 

Trading Standard have been a bit disappointing on this whole thing.When they visited the seller (near Hatherleigh Devon ) he had some proof that in the past he previously owned three woodmizers and claimed the one I purchased was one of these 'rebuilt ' .

 

Mine has no VIN model number , history etc etc

 

Because of this they couldn't take any action only 'advise' him on brand names and safety . Also if any more appear on the market they can then get confirmation of genuine rebuild , 1 in 1 , out by asking for more proof of latest purchase .

 

I know 100 % this is full copy , with a wrong woodmizer logo sticker and only the wheels being genuine .

 

Solicitors have also not been much help and wont advise me on good case or not, likely costs ( tried two )

 

Another angle was safety but HSE apparently wont travel as Im to far from the office plus only get involved in new machinery not refurbishments ' according to Trading Std '

 

I have had to push and push on this over the months and the action taken by Trading Std and Woodmizer has been minimal . I thought it would be the opposite and leaves me with little faith in the system

[gobbypunk]

Does the mill work has it been deemed safe to use could you not tidy up some of the welds remove the sticker and sell on , you could also go see the bloke who sold it to you and advise him that giving you your money back would be very good for his health and well being , I hate con men , could you not just use the saw just a few options I could think of I hope you get it all worked out do keep us posted on what happens

Regards Mark

[felixthelogchopper]

Thank Felix

 

Trading Standard have been a bit disappointing on this whole thing.When they visited the seller (near Hatherleigh Devon ) he had some proof that in the past he previously owned three woodmizers and claimed the one I purchased was one of these 'rebuilt ' .

 

Mine has no VIN model number , history etc etc

 

Because of this they couldn't take any action only 'advise' him on brand names and safety . Also if any more appear on the market they can then get confirmation of genuine rebuild , 1 in 1 , out by asking for more proof of latest purchase .

 

I know 100 % this is full copy , with a wrong woodmizer logo sticker and only the wheels being genuine .

 

Solicitors have also not been much help and wont advise me on good case or not, likely costs ( tried two )

 

Another angle was safety but HSE apparently wont travel as Im to far from the office plus only get involved in new machinery not refurbishments ' according to Trading Std '

 

I have had to push and push on this over the months and the action taken by Trading Std and Woodmizer has been minimal . I thought it would be the opposite and leaves me with little faith in the system

 

Have you got confirmation in writing from the manufacturer that it cannot be considered to be a Woodmizer? That would be your leverage if Trading Standards won't help you. Should there be an ID plate/number on it? If there should and it's not there, surely the identity of any renovated/repaired unit is not with the unit and so it can't be a Woodmizer. Hope you get a result with this.

[scraggs]

A bit of a long shot but are woodmizer's still covered by any patents ?

[Treemover]

Talk about a grey area?

 

You have my sympathies. just shows how naive I am thinking this sort of thing would fall into a rather large court case by a H&S agency or trading standards or manufacturer.

 

Would I be wrong in thinking you will have a problem getting 'valid' insurance?

 

I wish you well with this mess?

[john k]

I would insist on a full refund, and if necessary take legal action through the County Court (aka small claims).

 

I wouldn't get a solicitor involved as they'll charge so much that the whole thing would become pointless.

 

You can do it on line at moneyclaim.gov.uk

 

Just keep your case simple and factual. From what you say it's a clear case of misrepresentation and the letter from Woodmiser is fairly hefty evidence on your side.

 

If you do go this route, once you get a judgement in your favour don't mess around with the County Court bailiffs but transfer it to the High Court and get a real bailiff on it.

 

Let me know if you need any more info. I've done it before and it needn't be difficult.

[gensetsteve]

Take the woodmizer labels off it could be worth more.