I sent my iPhone for repair. But the store won't give it back

In June 2014 I posted my iPhone 5 to iTech Store for a screen repair, which I paid for by PayPal. Someone else’s iPhone 4 was returned to me. When I called to advise the store of this it was uncooperative, and several further calls failed to elicit my phone so I sought advice from Money Claims OnLine – the online arm of HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

It recommended that I do not return the wrong handset until I had secured my own. It also advised that I could suggest to the company that the phones be swapped by courier.

I did this, but iTech said I had to send the other customer’s phone back first and refused to come to any arrangement. MCOL then said I should raise a dispute over the repair costs with PayPal. PayPal refunded the £59 I had paid, but said it was powerless to help any further.

Next, MCOL suggested I send back the iPhone 4 after getting agreement in writing from iTech that it would send my phone back as soon as I had provided a tracking number. iTech agreed to this in writing, but then said it would not return my phone after all.

The small claims court issued a warrant for bailiffs to take goods from iTech to the value of my claim – the £560 cost of the phone plus a bailiff fee of £100 and £35 for MCOL. iTech claimed it did not operate from that address, despite evidence to the contrary. What do I do now? JG, Bristol

It seems you have been badly let down by the justice system. County court judgments rely on debtors being cooperative citizens with a proper respect for the law. Those who are determined not to pay up can often get away with it because county court bailiffs can, as you’ve found, be breathtakingly ineffectual even though they do have the power to force entry if they have reason to believe the debtor runs a business from the premises.

You provided that evidence and the address is clear to see on iTech’s website, so the bailiffs should have returned, at no extra cost, when you reissued the warrant. Moreover, if you contest a bailiffs report, the bailiff manager should attend the address in person. iTech, whose website says “we’re just about one thing – tender loving repair” admits to me that it trades from the given address and denies it told the bailiffs otherwise.

“We didn’t let the bailiffs in because we hadn’t done anything wrong,” says a spokesman who describes himself as the manager. For the same reason, he says, the company, which operates as a sole trader, did not defend itself in the small claims proceedings.

The Ministry of Justice admits that enforcing judgments can be difficult. High court enforcement officers have better success rates because they are employed by private firms, rather than the court, and paid according to their success. But your claim needs to be in excess of £600 to qualify for escalation.

Your other hope is to make an official complaint against HM Courts & Tribunals Service staff, and trust that this results in the second warrant being enforced.

If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.