Help!! eBay buyer threatening court action

pulliptears

If the car has FSH is there nothing in there about cambelt change? I stand to be corrected but I think it should be somewhere around 70k on the mondeo.

That said, if I was buying a car with 150k on the clock and no record of a cambelt change it would probably be the first thing I did to it.

utab007

Messages in order

BUYER:
just thought i would drop you a quick message! i got the car back fine! or so i thought! when i got home there was a rattle coming from the the engine! i have had time today to investigate the rattle! i was seriously upset to find that cam belt has striped all its teeth! and is pretty much uneconomical to repair! i therefore have option than to scrap the car! so long for winning a car you claimed to be cheap! not sure how we should both approach the feedback! please feel free to reply!

SELLER:
sorry to hear your bad news. I sold this car with the best intentions and I have been honest with you through out. As you know the car has been reliable for me and I really am sorry you didn't have the same luck. I enjoyed meeting you and your father. The payment and collection was quick, so my feedback will be positive. As I have done nothing wrong I would also expect positive feedback in return. If nothing else would like to think I have made a good contact.

BUYER:
thanks for your message! unfortunately its very little consolation for me! you may of sold the car with the best intentions, but i feel i was mislead with the car being sold as being well maintained! this is not the case! lets be fair i did not buy the car to last the 50 mile journey home! and from the state of the cam belt im even surprised i made it home! so i wouldn't just say its bad news! im now without a car and standing to lose my money as the car is only worth a hundred pounds scrap! both me and my dad are quite upset by this and i feel there has to be more from your part!

BUYER:
hi, im really disappointed not to hear back from you again! i thought that we could try and work something out but it seems to me from you email earlier that you have had my money and you really don't care! i feel your auction was misleading as i don't believe the car has been very well maintained as you stated in the auction!
(the vehicle should not be misrepresented) too be very honest with you if i had the time to check the car when i got back i would of brought it straight back to you! please don't treat my message as me trying to con you! but its me who feels coned! now im stuck with a car i don't want and cant fix! i wish to mediate with you over this matter and i feel that it would only be fair that i got some money back! obviously this isn't a problem i hope neither 1 of us could of for-seen, but i think it only fair..i also think it would be fair for you to give me fifty pounds back with that plus the hundred pounds the cars worth scrap i might still be losing money but i think that would be the fairest thing all round!

p.s please could you drop me a message tommorow morning with your thoughts on my offer! thanks

BUYER:
ive given you more than enough time to get back to me! now im convinced in my own mind that you sold the car knowing that it had this fault! you misrepresented the car in your auction,you claimed it was well maitained! and you leave me no option than to claim my loss's through the small claims court! luckily enough im a county court bailiff so the process is quite simple for me! ill be claiming for all my expenses inc my court fees! and i shall not be leaving you positive feedback i look foward to meeting you again this time in court

SELLER:
You had a good look around the car and started up the engine to test it. I asked you if you are happy with the car and the reply was a definite 'YES'. I also made it very clear I had NO record of when the cambelt was last changed before payment. This car had absolutely NO faults when it was sold. The car was sold as seen. If the car has broken down then this simply comes down to bad luck and nothing more. Your accusations really disappoint me!

As you have resorted to intimidation I have no option, but to raise a complaint with eBay. I will ask eBay to remove your negative feedback as it is wrong! I have made my side very clear and any further messages from you will be treated as harassment!

BUYER:
You sold a car that broke down after 50 miles! You described the car as being WELL maintained that is false, you told me that you believed the cambelt was done at the major service it clearly wasn't no worries I've spoke to the circuit judge today and they feel I would have an excellent chance of success bringing the claim to the small claims court! I didn't think I was being unfair asking for £50 back to cover part of my loss's I thought you was a reasonable person

utab007

Does he have a legal case or his he just trying it on? The thing is I only sold this car of £215 and my local scrapyard offered me £165 if I drive it down or £135 if they pick up. So after eBay fees £30 I only got £20 extra.

jbainbridge

Difficult one - it's probable he's trying it on.

Playing devil's advocate - if it did have a FSH the belt would have been done.

malkyh

What has he done with the car?

If he's not too far away I would go along and view the car yourself and see what he is talking about. If he wont let you see it then I would think he is trying it on.

RainbowDrops

It's a toughie, on the one hand, maybe they're trying their luck, but you can't know this for sure - you say yourself you have no idea about the cambelt.
So, on the other hand, the problem could be real. If so, you can understand why the buyer is unhappy.

Unfortunately, resolution looks like it's going to be harder than it was at the start, as you ignored a message from them, and they are now obviously riled.

The only plus side I see for you is that as they have mentioned feedback in your messages, you could probs get any neg comments removed, claiming feedback extortion.

malkyh

I suppose it depends on when the cambelt intervals are.

If its 80,000 miles or 5 years then to class the car as well maintained i guess you should have changed it last year.

If its 100,000 miles or 10 years then as you hadn't owned the car from new, you went on the fsh from the previous owner and in my opinion it wasn't due as your post states you had done 38k in 6 years, meaning you bought the car on 112,000 miles, the previous owner should have had it done.

Mindless_Clone

you told me that you believed the cambelt was done at the major service it clearly wasn't

Did you actually say this? If so then it could be your undoing (unless you backed it up with the caveat that the buyer would need to double check that or something similar). Also, is it actually on the service book for the car? If so, and it has FSH as you say, then it should clearly indicate on the the service log that the cambelt was (or was not) changed.


It would be useful to know the timescale between the emails. i.e. how long did he leave it with no response from you before emailing again?
From what I can see he seems genuine, but the fact he's come into it with a figure in mind for compensation is a bit worrying. Even if he did win in small claims court, the most he could win would be the difference between the scrap value and what he paid for it (which, if what you are saying is true is a lot less than what he's asking for. Come to think of it, why is he asking YOU for the scrap value? He's going to actually get that - probably a bit more actually if your figure is right - so why would he think he can get £150 from you and at least another £100 from the scrappy when he only paid £215 for it?
For a court baliff, he really hasn't got a scooby how compensation claims actually work. i.e. that you can't claim for anything that you're not actually out of pocket for.

And... I assume ebay does have a dispute process of sorts for car sales? Is there a reason he's not used that yet? Other than the "I've got no real case" reason?

That crap about the circuit judge is just that, by the way. No judge in their right mind would commit to comment on the success of a case based on a one sided casual conversation. And even if they had, he'd have to hope and pray that particular judge still feels the same way when they see your side presented; that's assuming you went before that particular judge in the first place.

As I say, the ebay side of this is the least of your worries; you will almost certainly be able to get feedback removed after those emails. I'd take this to the motoring, or even the consumer boards for some advice.

Although I am inclined to say you should just reply to him, ask him to return the car and cancel the transaction. Do it through ebay so you get your fees back and then cut your losses and either sell it as it is or scrap it yourself. Alternatively, you could ask him to allow an independent inspector to examine the car and service book so you can confirm what he's saying is true. If it's not and he is stringing you along, then he'll probably go very quiet when you suggest it.

utab007

I believe it's 80,000 miles or 5 years for the 2.0 zetec 1999. I bought the car with 112,000 miles in Dec 2006, so I think you're right - it was down to the previous buyer.

That makes me feel a lot better! Thanks

The funny thing is I would have paid him as gesture goodwill if asked nicely without trying extortion and blaming me

utab007

NO I defintely did not say this! If you see my earlier message you will see I said I have NO record of when the cambelt was last changed.