Reach Recruitment Services Ltd spammed me in September. i.e. they sent me an unsolicited marketing email addressed to my personal email address for which I am an individual subscriber. This is unlawful as it is a breach of section 22 of The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. Section 30 allows me to claim damages, which I estimated at £200 based on the annoyance the spam caused me and disruption to my work (which costs me as I own the company).
I emailed back with a notice before action, and they replied saying I should just click on unsubscribe. I replied explaining that this was too late, they had already acted unlawfully and would they like to negotiate a settlement of shall we go to court. The reply was :-
Ha ha.... You obviously have far too much time on your hands. Have a good day
I plan to have a good day now that bailiffs have collected from them £200 claimed, plus £25 court fee plus £70 bailiff fee. Thank you very much, and maybe they won't spam people in future.
Merry Christmas.
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| Claim, as filed at moneyclaim.gov.uk |
Nice one :-)
ReplyDeleteHow come you get the extra £95? Doesn't that go to the court and the bailiff?
I had to pay that up front, £25 for the claim, and when I had judgement £70 for warrant for bailiffs, so I get it back now.
DeleteNice one :-)
ReplyDeleteHow come you get the extra £95? Doesn't that go to the court and the bailiff?
rinse and repeat...
ReplyDeleteJust have, next one is on its way.
DeleteBrilliant.
ReplyDeleteHang on, can I say that? Or only if I don't mention my own company? ;-)
Can you share your calculations for the £200? Did the Court provide any guidance?
ReplyDeleteJudgement by default so no change to discuss with judge - £200 was a total finger in the air thing - spam could mean I miss an important email, delay creative work, have a cross tone when talking to a customer, put up my blood pressure (for which I am on meds), all things that should have cost but are all somewhat intangible.
DeleteShame, would've been an interesting discussion! Is there a guide to how to make a claim under Section 30 of the Regulations (such as a guide for the notice of action you provided) or did you simply start a claim from moneyclaim.gov.uk?
DeleteThere is a pre-action protocol to follow, with a notice before action, and then money claim.gov.uk. What I have not found is a way to put a price on intangible losses, so one day one of these going in front a judge will be rather informative.
DeleteIt seems to vary based on the judge.
DeleteI had claims for £80 dismissed as there were no quantifiable costs.
http://www.doesnotcompute.co.uk/blog/case-dismissed
£80 was based on 8 emails (when I first claimed, later to receive another 17) at £10 each.
I've been using £100 per eMail as a figure - an hour of my time is worth more than this after all.
Delete* I'm not your biggest fan but Well done, good job.
ReplyDelete* This is a personal opinion. Any views or opinions represented in this opinion are personal and belong solely to the original opinions owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the opinuator may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual (that I have met less than, or more than a few times).
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I've just received £75 payment from a Manchester spammer after starting small claims (£50 charge+£25 court fees).
ReplyDeleteClaims have to be enough to hurt them in the pocket
ReplyDeleteAdd the 'intangibles', like the distress at the unlawful processing of your personal data. Then add exemplary / punitive damages, which seem to be permitted when the defendant profits from his activity.