Getting nowhere with a local garage who charged me twice for the same part (£409’s worth) so I need to take it further. I had some success years ago with a SCC issue but things will have changed since then. Any pointers?

Did you pay by card? Just request a charge back (assuming you have evidence)

You need to send a letter before action, before issuing proceedings. The letter often works and get’s them to pay up. The content of the letter is prescribed and you can find detais online.

Here is one I used to get £2k back. In this case they waited 14 days and then coughed up on the 15th.

Letter before court action against MotorHolme.co.uk by brf, on Flickr

Cheers Footflaps, that looks like a good avenue to go down. I ‘only’ want £400 back!