Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi guys, hoping to get some info about retention of a non paying customer for work carried out,
I have a customer that brought his 63 beetle to me, JRK Beetles, for some repairs 3 years ago, the repairs were carried out but when it came to collection and payment of the car, in short, just had endless promises and no shows, the customer had been in trouble with the law and had been arrested a few times, atm he is again under arrest and I cannot get hold of him,

What do I do in a case like this? Either sell the car to cover my expenses, but I don't know the procedure, or, retain the car and use it as a run around or courtesy car,

Can anyone help me with advise plse? I obviously don't have the papers as he was a normal customer coming in for repairs and it's not common practice to ask for papers on normal repairs,

Any info much appreciated,
My cell: 082 70nine 6177
Wsupp: 084 58zero 5483

You need to send a notice of your intent to sell the car to defray expenses within 90 days to his registered address, and / or email/ and or place of work

If you can not get hold of him you have to

As far as I know you need to advertise the fact that the customer has not complied to your slandered conditions of sale and that the car will be sold to defray expenses if not paid within 90 days.

But not sure if you can do this while he is in jail and can not earn money to pay.

Your best bet would be to go to the public prosecutor at your local court and get legal information.

cheaper then getting a legal firm involved.

OMO

Herman

Let’s assume you get to legally sell the Beetle. It being a ‘63, I assume that the car is reasonably valuable and you should get a decent price. I don’t know what repairs you did, but I suspect that there’ll be quite a bit of change left after your costs are defrayed. You can correct me if I’m wrong. It might be fair to pay the client after you’ve subtracted your fees including pain and suffering. By the sounds of it, he needs all the help he can get.

South African law recognises a contractual lien, which gives a creditor the right to hold a debtor's moveable property until such time as the contracted work has been paid in full. A mechanic's lien is often used as an example of this.

There are circumstances where the holder of such a lien can sell the goods if it becomes apparent that the debtor can't or won't pay.

I suggest you consult a lawyer to establish your rights and the process to follow. Nothing is clear when it comes to legal disputes, so it's never a good idea to rely on advice from lay people like us.