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Seller pulled out of sale, won't refund deposit

pugger
pugger Posts: 138 Forumite
Hi. I viewed a van (private sale), agreed a price then put a £100 deposit down on it. Seller and myself signed a receipt confirming he'd received the deposit and i said i'd be in touch asap to arrange collection. The following day i arranged to pick up the van 3 days later, seller was happy. Two days after agreeing the pick up date the seller messaged me to say the van had been broken in to and impounded by the police and he couldn't sell it any more, he said he'd send my deposit back asap. You can probably guess the rest, numerous dates promised yet the money never turned up. I've now sent him a Letter Before Action; I have the receipt for the deposit, screenshots of the advert plus the whole facebook conversation to back up my claim. Is the small claims court likely to go in my favour as it seems crazy that a seller could just rip people off like this and keep the money?
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Comments

  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Name Dropper
    It's all down to who is the most believable on the day. If you go armed with plenty of evidence then you should win.
  • pugger
    pugger Posts: 138 Forumite
    That's how i understand it; the facebook conversation confirms every detail. Not that i'm expecting him to even turn up!
  • waamo
    waamo Posts: 10,298 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Name Dropper
    They key in civil cases is the balance of probability. In other words which is more likely. If you've got things like Facebook messages then this is very good evidence as to what is most likely.

    I would shove a claim in
  • pugger
    pugger Posts: 138 Forumite
    I definitely will be, he's still got two weeks but i can't see it forthcoming. If it was me who'd pulled out i'd have no grievance with him keeping the deposit.
  • There's legion of low life's out there, who's word means absolutely nothing.

    Best of luck with the money claim.
  • harveybobbles
    harveybobbles Posts: 8,973 Forumite
    Ask for the crime ref number from the police.
  • pugger
    pugger Posts: 138 Forumite
    The police were the first port of call, they said it's a civil matter.
  • harveybobbles
    harveybobbles Posts: 8,973 Forumite
    Ask seller for crime ref number.
  • arcon5
    arcon5 Posts: 14,099 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Classic open closed case for a judge. You will win
  • pugger
    pugger Posts: 138 Forumite
    Oh sorry i misunderstood. He has ceased all communication after the money didn't go in to my account (yet again) on the day he said. He initially claimed he sent cash through the post tracked and it didn't turn up, he claimed it was because nobody was here to sign for it (they were), no card was left by Royal Mail either funnily enough. I asked for the tracking number but he didn't give it.
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