I want to keep clients up-to-date with events that affect our exhibitions, and I'm having to write this in careful and accurate detail for reasons which will become clear as you read.

A different firm bought *** who had always stand-fitted our Harrogate exhibitions. They failed to turn up at the promised time on 30th September, the day before our last exhibition (the first - and only) they were booked to do for us. The owner failed to contact us by mobile, or to answer his, until we had made numerous calls to his head office We finally made contact and were told that his lorry had broken down and he didn't know when he'd be able to turn up. Finally, sometime between 3 and 4pm, when we were sitting in the Pavilions with over 200 pictures and three helpers,he told us that he couldn't get to the Pavilions of Harrogate before they shut for the evening and couldn't guarantee bringing any lights for the stands!!! We were due to open at 11am the next morning! It usually takes us at least 8 hours to hang, label etc. after the stand fitters have finished. We knew then that the earliest we would be able to open would be 4pm and we shut at 6pm. People were travelling from all over the country. Additionally, if the lighting we had ordered was not available, the stands would shut out all natural light and no-one would be able to see the pictures.

We needed to make a fast executive decision: we had no alternative but to tell the fitters there would be no point at all in them coming the next morning and to ask the Pavilions staff if they could provide sufficient tables and chairs to stand the pictures on. In their usual helpful way they somehow achieved this.

The owner of the company said that he would contact us after the exhibition to discuss compensation. He didn't. Our phone calls, letters and emails were all ignored.

Not until we highlighted the situation on-line, naming the company involved, did they at long last contact us on 21st November. Then it was to threaten us with prosecution for slander! The only grounds they could give for this were
1) That I said the owner didn't ring us till 4pm. In fact I said it took a long time to get in touch with him by phone (I think about 2 hours in fact) and that he finally told us at about 4pm that he couldn't reach us before the Pavilions closed for the nigh. (11pm when they closed at 9pm).
2) They didn't fail to turn up - they had a broken down lorry!
They certainly did fail to turn up, first at the agreed time and secondly in time to set up the exhibition for it to be ready until many hours after it was due to open.
3) That they had a broken down vehicle which was ‘force of nature’ i.e. out of their control! Hardly in line with the definition of 'force of nature' in that it was a mechanical failure and something which should have been forseen as a constant possiblity by a firm who relies on heavy transport and which they should have contingency arrangements for. We always do in our small way.

In 36 years of exhibiting first at Antiques Fairs, and then at our own exhibitions, we have never known a fair or exhibition not to be set up in time. Snow, flood etc. would always be a reasonable excuse for this (true forces of nature), but not having alternative transport available is not. I doubt if the firm concerned makes prospective clients aware that, should one of their lorries break down, the client's exhibitioin plans will be in ruins! It is a situation well worth researching in future.

Oh- the final thing they said, I think re. slander, was that our paper work was a mess and we hadn't given them a 25% deposit. We were told by the owner of the original firm that he had forwarded all information inclusing plans. We eventually had to get plans drawn up and sent to the new firm ourselves. The only paperwork we received from them was a booking form, emailed to us on 16th September which we filled in and returned immediately. We were never asked for a deposit and, as it was established custom and practise with the former owner that we pay in full on the last day of an exhibition, and he had assured us that everything would continue as before, it didn't occur to us to mention it.

I would like to fight this to the end, because every thing I have said is totally true. Tom takes the attitude that at our stage of life we shouldn't put ourselves under such stress and they we should spend our time on positive actions. The cognitive part of me has to admit the truth of this, but emotionally I find it hard to 'give in'. Tom, however, has massively more common sense than I do, so I have, reluctantly, removed all named reference to the company from our site. I do, however, believe you, our clients, need to be kept up to date with events which will have on-going effects on our future exhibitions. (I do accept that many of you will probably find all of this too boring to read!)

To this end I sent the company the following email this afternoon

'***, I really would like toi have a straight answer to my question: can you assure me that someone from *** will contact us at some point this week to open discussions on compensation (having waited over seven weeks already) and then I'll remove all accounts of whay happened to us immediately.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Rosamund' (including the typo, I'm afraid!)

At the time of writing this I have had no reply to this simple and reasonable request and as *** are giving me until 5pm to remove everything about their company before starting legal proceedings against us, seemingly I will have no alternative but to up-load this at 5pm.

Co-incidentally, I've just checked my emails and the latest is from the Libel Reform Campaign!

Still no reply, so I'll put this up!