Agreed to sell car to aggressive buyer

Gavin83

N9eav wrote: »

There are a number of vulnerable people living in the community who are easy targets for people to take advantage of.

I totally agree. However it's often not possible to tell if someone is vulnerable, especially if such a sale is completed online. Obviously when it comes to the elderly it's a little more obvious but often you can't tell someone suffers from mental health issues.

In the case of the OP, clearly the buyers attitude stinks and is completely unacceptable but I don't think you can blame him for targetting the vulnerable. Unless the OP mentioned in his auction that he had mental health issues (which I'd imagine unlikely) the buyer had no way of knowing.

im-lost

hoggy52uk hasn't returned, clearly the mad car buyer did turn up and now hoggy is dead, poor hoggy

Generali

N9eav wrote: »

If one of our grandparents signed a contract to have 2 slates repaired on their roof for £10,000. We all know what we would do to the roofer.

Take the ladder away and charge them £11,000 to borrow one!

N9eav

HoggyUK ? Any news?

hoggy52uk

Thanks for all input.
Local police have taken it very seriously and contacted him, having seen all texts and listened to voice-mails. They were quite shocked. Also passed details to his local force.
The pity is that I would refund his tickets, and would have done at the first opportunity had he not decided to instantly threaten and act so aggressively towards me. If perhaps he writes to me in a non-threatening manner with proof, would probably, despite all the stress, still refund, but police have sensibly said no contact under any circumstances and I have to agree.
He is now following me on eBay- seems a bit creepy, though having blocked him, dont think he can cause any more problems. I will certainly put it down to experience, learn by it, and move on.
I did wonder if it was just me and my perception of the situation at fault, but his response showed my suspicions correct. Another fear was that if he had come to buy car, despite what he called a contract, he would undoubtedly have ignored it and tried to beat me down further... just my opinion, but in light of his behaviour, probably quite accurate.
In future, I will politely reject any aggressive buyers at the outset, whatever I am selling. Life is too short..

arcon5

Interesting thread, i'm of the opinion that

- this could well constitute a valid contract (money doesn't have to change hands for such).

- op did get played and taken advantage off.

- op did the right thing (morally) by pulling out. Even if not necessarily straight forward from a legal perspective. But as for damages, well I cannot see a court awarding anything more than the train ticket. Can't see it going to court either though.

- I believe that op would have genuinely refunded his train ticket, which is very honourable imo. And having him act in the way he did doesn't deserve it to be refunded and I wouldn't have recommended refunding after his behavior when she pulled out.

- this rescinding of this agreement is very different to other scenarios we read around here and this imo is one of the few situations whereby op changing her mind is justified.

Just my opinion though.

All the best op.

pendragon_arther

arcon5 wrote: »

Interesting thread, i'm of the opinion that

- this could well constitute a valid contract (money doesn't have to change hands for such).

There seems to be a lot of grey areas surrounding an email contract so it's not cut and dried as such:




Buying by internet, mail order or phone
How a distance sale contract is made

Consumer

Different ways of buying
Buying by internet, mail order or phone
Distance selling: how the law protects you
How a distance sale contract is made
Information you should receive
Extra rights to information when you buy electronically
Downloading or streaming digital content
Cancelling a distance sale order
If you bought something by distance sale before 13 June 2014


How a distance sale contract is made

A distance sale contract is one that is finalised without any face to face contact, for example by internet, mail order, phone or television.

You get some specific rights if you shop in this way, contained in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

This page tells you how to work out if you have a legally binding contract when you buy goods or services by distance sale.
Top tips

If you don’t yet have a contract

Until an offer is accepted, there is no contract. Until the contract is made, you can change your mind and withdraw your offer to buy. This also means the trader can change the price of the goods if they think they have made a mistake in pricing them. If the goods you ordered are out of stock, the trader could offer you a substitute.

More about pricing errors on websites.
How a contract is made

A contract is a legally binding agreement you enter into with the person selling you the goods, service or digital content. The contract is not finalised until certain legal actions have taken place.

In law, making a contract contains several elements. The most important are the offer and the acceptance.

Usually, you will make an offer to the trader to buy their goods. The trader will then accept your offer and you will have a contract. It can be difficult to know whether the trader has accepted your offer.
Has the trader accepted your offer to buy?

To work out whether the trader has accepted your offer, you'll need to check the following:

the wording of your confirmation email or letter. For example, it might specify that the trader has accepted your offer
the terms and conditions. For example, they might say when acceptance takes place
whether the goods have been sent out or the service has started – if they have, it would be safe to assume that the trader has accepted your offer
if payment has been taken. If payment has been taken from you this does not necessarily mean acceptance has happened, but it could be a good indicator.


It is important for you to agree to the terms and conditions for a contract to be made.
Step 3

The trader sends you an email that confirms your order. The email contains information about the terms and conditions saying ‘ACCEPTANCE: acceptance will take place when the goods are dispatched to you.’

You do not yet have a contract.
Step 4

You receive an email a week later to say your goods have been sent to you.

Acceptance has taken place and you have a finalised contract.
Contracts made electronically

If you make your contract electronically, for example online, there are some additional requirements under the regulations.

Directly before you place your order you must be made aware of certain information in a clear and prominent manner and you must explicitly acknowledge that by ordering you understand that you are obliged to pay for what you have ordered, for example, by activating a “Pay Now” button, which is clearly labelled as such.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_different_ways_of_buying_e/consumer_buying_by_internet_mail_order_or_phone_e/how_a_distance_sale_contract_is_made.htm

Spicy_McHaggis

pendragon_arther wrote: »

There seems to be a lot of grey areas surrounding an email contract so it's not cut and dried as such:




Buying by internet, mail order or phone
How a distance sale contract is made

Consumer

Different ways of buying
Buying by internet, mail order or phone
Distance selling: how the law protects you
How a distance sale contract is made
Information you should receive
Extra rights to information when you buy electronically
Downloading or streaming digital content
Cancelling a distance sale order
If you bought something by distance sale before 13 June 2014


How a distance sale contract is made

A distance sale contract is one that is finalised without any face to face contact, for example by internet, mail order, phone or television.

You get some specific rights if you shop in this way, contained in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

This page tells you how to work out if you have a legally binding contract when you buy goods or services by distance sale.
Top tips

If you don’t yet have a contract

Until an offer is accepted, there is no contract. Until the contract is made, you can change your mind and withdraw your offer to buy. This also means the trader can change the price of the goods if they think they have made a mistake in pricing them. If the goods you ordered are out of stock, the trader could offer you a substitute.

More about pricing errors on websites.
How a contract is made

A contract is a legally binding agreement you enter into with the person selling you the goods, service or digital content. The contract is not finalised until certain legal actions have taken place.

In law, making a contract contains several elements. The most important are the offer and the acceptance.

Usually, you will make an offer to the trader to buy their goods. The trader will then accept your offer and you will have a contract. It can be difficult to know whether the trader has accepted your offer.
Has the trader accepted your offer to buy?

To work out whether the trader has accepted your offer, you'll need to check the following:

the wording of your confirmation email or letter. For example, it might specify that the trader has accepted your offer
the terms and conditions. For example, they might say when acceptance takes place
whether the goods have been sent out or the service has started – if they have, it would be safe to assume that the trader has accepted your offer
if payment has been taken. If payment has been taken from you this does not necessarily mean acceptance has happened, but it could be a good indicator.


It is important for you to agree to the terms and conditions for a contract to be made.
Step 3

The trader sends you an email that confirms your order. The email contains information about the terms and conditions saying ‘ACCEPTANCE: acceptance will take place when the goods are dispatched to you.’

You do not yet have a contract.
Step 4

You receive an email a week later to say your goods have been sent to you.

Acceptance has taken place and you have a finalised contract.
Contracts made electronically

If you make your contract electronically, for example online, there are some additional requirements under the regulations.

Directly before you place your order you must be made aware of certain information in a clear and prominent manner and you must explicitly acknowledge that by ordering you understand that you are obliged to pay for what you have ordered, for example, by activating a “Pay Now” button, which is clearly labelled as such.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_different_ways_of_buying_e/consumer_buying_by_internet_mail_order_or_phone_e/how_a_distance_sale_contract_is_made.htm

And for that reason this wasn't a distance sale.

jjlandlord

It's not a grey area at all. There pretty clearly was (or is) a contract.

This thread just illustrates that contracts are generally poorly understood and that people should be careful.

hollydays

You could start a new account .so he doesn't know which account you are using after this sale.