sold as seen - urgent advise needed

mirry · 25 July 2009 at 2:13PM

Hi , please can someone advise me ,

Yesturday we went and bought a small caravan , the lady who sold it to us was nice and all seemed well. But today we notised a bad smell after its been locked up all night. My husband has located the problem and it turns out the side of the caravan corner is all rotten (it was hidden with wallpaper) which was really difficult to see.

We were given a reciept saying "sold as seen" ,,,,:mad:

We have just phoned the lady and she started crying and her son is going to get back to us .

I feel they decieved us because its of it being covered with wall paper.

I dont think we have a leg to stand on ,.....

do we ?

any advice please cos I feel ill with all this .

thanks for reading.

Optimist · 25 July 2009 at 2:29PM

I assume this was a private seller and not a dealer in which case you have little comeback its a case of buyer beware and thoroughly examine what your buying.

The only thing I can think of is if you saw it advertised, was the advert misleading i.e did it say excellent condition or some such ?

pendulum · 25 July 2009 at 2:35PM

If this was a private sale then I'd have to say you have no chance, especially as you inspected the caravan before the sale and decided to purchase it in the condition it was in.

It is buyer beware. Once the sale is done then that's it. Sold as seen really does mean sold as seen in a private sale. If she has been upset and her son is getting involved then I would not push it any further as it could lead to trouble.

mirry · 25 July 2009 at 4:04PM

have taken it to a caravan repairer , and he said its useless.

He also said "sold as seen" means nothing
and we can have them in court because they covered up the rot , so its deception. He said he knew of people who have done so.

I am not worried about the son who we met .

cardinalbiggles · 25 July 2009 at 4:17PM

mirry wrote: »

have taken it to a caravan repairer , and he said its useless.

He also said "sold as seen" means nothing
and we can have them in court because they covered up the rot , so its deception. He said he knew of people who have done so.

I am not worried about the son who we met .

Its not deception unless you specifically asked about rot. Its a private sale and I would assume you have no comeback whatsoever.

DX-SFX · 25 July 2009 at 4:42PM

If you took them to court, all they have to say is that they told you about the rot and that they'd covered it temporarily, originally intending to get it fixed at a later date. It's your word against their's and the receipt, the only written hard evidence says, "sold as seen". I think you're stuffed. Never take anything foregranted. Regardless of the appearance, ask direct questions that need direct answers like, what do you know that's wrong with it and are there any hidden horrors? Has it been in an accident? Same applies to buying a car. Most sellers say as little as possible because unless you ask, they don't need to lie, which is why you have to deny them wriggle room and force an answer. Having said that, talk to a marine company that fixes boats. There are lots of treatments, many based around epoxy resins that may save the day.

pendulum · 25 July 2009 at 5:07PM

Sold as seen means nothing if you buy from a business (like the caravan repairer you took it to). It means everything when you buy from a private seller. Private sales _are_ sold as seen.

You got a receipt which says sold as seen.

You paid after inspecting the caravan in person, so you are deemed to have accepted it in its current condition.

The rot was in the wall, and the wall was covered with wallpaper?

Doesn't sound like deception to me.

Some people may buy a caravan privately and pay before seeing it (e.g. eBay). Then they may take the seller to court if there's hidden problems, as they may argue it was not described accurately, misrepresented by ommission etc. Maybe the caravan repairer was talking about cases like that.

But this does not apply to you because you inspected the caravan before buying it and by paying for it after the inspection you accepted it in its current condition.

You have no chance of enforcing anything
Your only hope is to rely on the sellers kindness however if you have upset her already much more contact could be viewed as harassment

mirry · 25 July 2009 at 6:59PM

Have not upset the lady , we were very polite and she was upset about what we told her.

Tozer · 25 July 2009 at 7:26PM

If a private seller, you have no remedy. Caveat emptor - buyer beware - applies.

Widelats · 25 July 2009 at 7:32PM

mirry wrote: »

Have not upset the lady , we were very polite and she was upset about what we told her.

She wasn't upset taking your money knowing what she was giving you.

Lip_Stick · 25 July 2009 at 7:40PM

cardinalbiggles wrote: »

Its not deception unless you specifically asked about rot. Its a private sale and I would assume you have no comeback whatsoever.

You're supposed to point out any problems though, even if it's a private sale.

sold as seen - urgent advise needed

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