Please Help!!

tony_leonardo

Hi can anyone please help me regarding an unusual problem i have been subjected to!!
I recently sold my car. I agreed a price with the person as long as i got a new m.o.t on the car which i then did the next day, i stopped advertising the car too! He then checked it over after i mot'ed it and agreed to pay and pick it up at the end of the week. i Foolish didn't take a deposit as he was coming to pick it up in the next couple of days!
He then paid directly into my bank in the morning as agreed, as i wanted the money before he picked it up at night. But in the morning he called to say he had changed his mind with no valid reason!? A - Do i have to pay him back as surely he has entered into an agreement? Or B - Pay him back nearly all the sum and minus my costs (mot cost and costs i will now incur reselling the car and paying costs of fuel to test drive it and to insure the car for the period until i sell?) Is there anything i am missing ahhhh please help as he is getting very threatening thank you!!
Tony

NeverAgain_2

How much has he paid?

tony_leonardo

the full amount as we had agreed which was £400 under the asking price too!! He was getting a very good car for a good price?

Hammyman

If monies have been paid, the contract between buyer and seller is complete. He now owns the car and you are under no legal obligation to refund him.

tony_leonardo

Hi Hammyman i thought this too but i dont want any trouble and have already refunded nearly the whole amount, and held back a small amount for my costs now i will incur and time i will waste, he now says he is taking this further and wants it all back?? Surely this is totally unfair as i will now be out of pocket if i give him all his money back?

Wig

If I were you I'd give him his money back, easier that way. If he's getting such a bargain you can sell it to the next guy just as easy, and now it has 12 months MOT. You haven't lost anything by MOTing it, arguably you can only have gained by MOTing it.

I agree you have got extra costs until it is sold again, but you have nothing in writing (deposit) to cover these. You also have no written agreement of sale, and he has not taken posession. You would also have had these costs anyway if this buyer had not existed in the first place.

Next time you'll know better, to ask for a deposit and put the deposit in writing....naming that the deposit will cover re advertising costs , continuous insurance costs, and test drive petrol costs for subsequent buyers.....until the car is again sold and will be held against any shortfall in the subsequent sold price.
Even if you have a deposit you can't keep the deposit unless you can show that you had incurred costs totalling the deposit. If you can't then you have to return a deposit.

Give him his money back, it's not worth the trouble it could turn into.

colino

Park the car up in your legal spot and tell him that his goods are available to be collected within the next, say 48 hours, thereafter the £10 per day storage fee wil apply. Remind him that they are now responsible for the car, any harm or faults are now down to them and you will seek removal with the LA if they do not act promptly.

darich

colino wrote: »

Park the car up in your legal spot and tell him that his goods are available to be collected within the next, say 48 hours, thereafter the £10 per day storage fee wil apply. Remind him that they are now responsible for the car, any harm or faults are now down to them and you will seek removal with the LA if they do not act promptly.

this is all well and good but the OP has already said he's refunded the "buyer" so the car still belongs to the OP.

Why would you write to someone about your own car and ask them for storage???

darich

I think I'd go along with Wig.....someone else will buy it and you've learned to get a deposit. Issue a receipt stating the amount received and the amount outstanding.
If the non-buyer was getting a "great bargain" why not play a little harder next time so the next buyer gets a mere "bargain". You can use the 12month MOT as a bargaining point for playing a little harder.

Anything that the nonbuyer sees as "unreasonable" such as writing and asking for storage fees or insisting that he remove "his" car etc can lead to trouble. Many people don't have any respect for others or their property so you could be heading into trouble.

I'd refund and readvertise - even if it's just for an easier life.

Strider590

I'd be careful, the buyer can still cancel the payment... I think there's a grace period.
So you'll pay him back and then he'll cancel his payment and end up with his money + your money.

It just smells like a con I heard about some time ago (but i can't remember the details).

darich

Strider590 wrote: »

I'd be careful, the buyer can still cancel the payment... I think there's a grace period.
So you'll pay him back and then he'll cancel his payment and end up with his money + your money.

It just smells like a con I heard about some time ago (but i can't remember the details).

Not disputing what you say - it does sound like an ebay style scam.

But if the OP has received the money and refunded it, how can the payment be cancelled?
It's already arrived at the OP's account. So the money sent back is what came into the account from the buyer. How does the OP end up having sent the buyer's money and their own?

Besides, if the buyer can cancel a payment then the OP can cancel the refund.