Hi,
I have a €65 credit note for a childrens clothes shop which has changed ownership, but retained the same shop name. The new owners are refusing to honour the note. Are the new owners obliged to accept the credit note?
Essentially this is down to contract law, the owners at time of the contract, essentially the receipt of the credit note, are the people that are responsible. The new owners would have only bought the business name, not the outstanding credit notes. And if they did choose to honour the note, this would be seen as a good will gesture.
Basically you're an unsecured creditor of the previous company. The credit note has nothing to do with the new owners.
I would echo previous posters' view that they should honour it as a gesture of goodwill to keep your custom. Equally, I'm sure you would do the decent thing and spend more than the €65 if they did.
I would think that it comes down to what exactly was purchased by the new owners when they completed the deal. Not sure how you go about finding out the nature of the deal other than a legal route. For example if they are in the same premises then its possible that they took over the liability on the lease.
Thank you for your help/advice. The new owners don't seem too interested in redeeming the note as a goodwill gesture. Put it down to experiance I guess. I contacted Consumer Credit for advice to see if there is any legal obligation on the new owners. I will post their response. Thanks again for your help.