Ebay seller deceived me into paying far over the odds and is now avoiding contact

fishybusiness

One thing i am unsure about, is have i ruined any chance of claiming back from seller having gutted the caravan.

I am now at a loss of £1,000 of clients money and out of work, as caravan convertion was my next work project...

Look at it from another point of view, business purchases old car, they need the chassis/ shell for a custom project, want to throw the running gear away. Arrange transport back to base, strip out running gear, shell suffers greatly from tinworm and previous bodge repairs.

Could buyer get their money back? No way. Perhaps if car advertised as perfectly restored there might just be a chance, otherwise no.

That £1000 may become your loss, is there any real way to draw a line under it and repair the parts you need, so you can carry on with the project?

George_Michael

soolin wrote: »

All I can suggest is that you advise your client to take legal advice in order to recover their money.

That might not be such a good idea for the OP.
I know that it was their client who actually purchased the caravan but it was the OP who sourced it and presumably they advised them to go ahead with the purchase.
The OP has also gutted the inside of the caravan despite stating that one rotten part of the ceiling was visible without removing any of the interior trim. It was at this point that they should have stopped what they were doing and told their client of the problems.

If I was to ask a professional to source something for me and it turned out to be the case that what they recommended I buy was basically scrap, I certainly wouldn't be happy with them and if I couldn't get my money back from the seller, the business who recommended the purchase would probably be my next step.

bluelass

I don't think you would have much success to be honest. You should have asked the seller if you could view the caravan before you went ahead and purchased it. Common sense would tell most people who intend to make a big purchase to always check first and not rely on the word of one person.

RFW

Mistral001 wrote: »

As far as I can see, the description of "good original condition" is one a small claims court judge would probably be able to rule upon fairly easily. You have a problem regarding having started to work on it, however I would go to the small claims court nonetheless. All you can lose is your court fee which is not very much I believe.

That's a myth. If the seller defends, which he would be sensible to do, you then have to pay another fee to get to court. If you then lose the case you lose both lots of fees plus costs that the seller can ask for.
If you win it isn't always that clear cut you will get any money back, if the seller is dodgy he'll have plenty of ways of getting out of paying up. You can end up paying court fees and bailiff fees and still not see a penny.

swithap

Thanks all!

Fortunately, I know my client will be understanding... because of this I will happily carry out repairs to caravan, at my own cost, and im sure my client will likely do something in return.

I was under pressure to complete project in time for upcoming events, and am upset that i will not reach this target, as it meant alot to my client...

Made contact with seller for first time over phone today... he presented himself very well, and had no intention of hearing my concern... I heard him out because he seemed easily provoked, and i didnt want to go down that road. He stressed that 'good original condition' meant unmodified, and that he'd presumed it had beed looked after sometime in the past... when i mentioned as an e.g. that the handbrake did not work, he was offended as if i'd disrespected his caravan and said "I was unaware the handbrake was not working, im not a caravan expert"...

anyway, lesson learnt... have decided not to let him bother me, left him negative feedback and thats that...

feedback reads: Very clever con man/careless with his actions/has motif to deceive buyers BEWARE

im sure he will have some justifying response... but he will always be an a#@*hole!

campdave

As you've called him a con man, he should be able to get it removed for defamation, so well done on that.

I'm sorry to sound unsympathetic, it sounds like you rushed into something you knew little or nothing about, made a mistake and are looking for others to blame. It's a shame, but learn from it in the future.

Brooker_Dave

swithap wrote: »

feedback reads: Very clever con man/careless with his actions/has motif to deceive buyers BEWARE

I'd remove that before he takes you to court.

Ting-Tang

You should have gone to look at it before buying. It's your own fault, no point crying about it now. And calling somebody a "con man" on a publicly viewable site could get you into trouble.....

theonlywayisup

Ting-Tang wrote: »

You should have gone to look at it before buying. It's your own fault, no point crying about it now. And calling somebody a "con man" on a publicly viewable site could get you into trouble.....

Especially when the item is so easy to find.

poppasmurf_bewdley

If I saw a advertisement for a 50 year old caravan, which stated that it was in original condition, I would expect to find a lot of damp. Original condition to me means that nothing has been done to it.

Caravans from that era had virtually no damp proofing, and were certainly not waterproof.

A friend of mine has a 60 year old classic caravan but it has been rebuilt completely, including replacing much of the chassis. Most of the original fittings left are the furniture and interior fittings.