In Plotitsa v. Superior Court (1983) 140 Cal. App. 3d 755, the defendants were validly served with the original complaint in a personal injury action but did not appear in the action. In her request to enter default, the plaintiff indicated only the total amount of damages sought. The defendants were not personally served with the request and received no prior notice of the statement of damages. Default was entered. The trial court denied the defendants' motion under section 473 to set aside the default. (Plotitsa, supra, 140 Cal. App. 3d at p. 758.) The appellate court granted the defendants' petition for mandate and directed the trial court to enter an order granting the motion to set aside the default. The court found personal service of the request to enter the default was required since there had been no prior notice to the defendants that complied with section 425.11. Accordingly, the court held the default "is void on the face of the record and may be successfully challenged beyond the six-month limitation period specified in section 473." (Plotitsa, supra, 140 Cal. App. 3d at p. 760.) Because the entry of default without notice of the special and general damages sought amounts to a denial of due process, ". . . a judgment entered thereon is an excess of jurisdiction because section 580 limits the amount of a default judgment to that demanded in the complaint." (Plotitsa, supra, 140 Cal. App. 3d at p. 760.)