Car parts sale - buyer trying to return a different item than sold !

Katalina9719

Hello all,

I'm having a lot of trouble with a private sale I made yesterday.

I was selling a brand new car exhaust system, that I had purchased on ebay from an "authorised dealer". The exhaust was in perfect condition. I had posted this exhaust for sale on pistonheads, a car parts sales site.

A woman and her husband contacted me, we negotiated on price, I accepted 350 less than asking price. They asked to meet at a car park near to the Edinburgh airport, however this being impossible for me, I asked them to come to my home. They did so, inspected the exhaust, they were very happy with it and eager to buy. The buyer paid in cash.

When loading the exhaust into their van we were talking about each others cars, I asked what year their car was, they told me 2001. I immediately asked if they knew whether or not the exhaust in question would fit onto their car. I reminded them, as it was specificied clearly several times in my ads description, that the exhaust was for a 98-99 model. They assured me that their mechanic friend had said that it would fit, and then jokingly said that if he had said it would fit - it probably wouldn't !

I was slightly anxious about this, but sold it in good faith and the buyers were adamant on purchasing it.

Last night I received messages saying that they would need to return the exhaust to me for a full refund. This would have been very inconvenient for me, as I had already taken the cash to the bank, and did not want to take another day out of work. I assumed it was because they had discovered that it wouldn't fit, just as I had been anxious of.

The buyer then argued that I had sold them a "non genuine" car part. I had already sent her screenshots of my original eBay purchase confirmation and a screenshot of the original listing (luckily I had sent this photo to a friend, as the product was no longer available or listed). The buyer copied me into an email from an employee of fab speed, the exhausts manufacturer, Travis, deeming that the exhaust was not genuine.

I asked to be copied into the email that had triggered this judgement, to see the photos. I was absolutely shocked to see the box I had sold them the exhaust in, but a completely different exhaust on top of it. I have pictures of the exhaust that I had sold, and they inspected it and purchased it. The exhaust in their photos was not of the same quality as the one I had sold to them. It had rust coloured welding, and the pipes were bulbous and misshapen. They were trying to con me, this much was clear.

The buyer was texting me, accusing me of conning them, saying what an awful person I was etc. The buyer has informed me that they will be talking to the police, a solicitor, trading standards and I assume then taking me to small claims court.

I called 101 this morning, and was told (as I had expected) that this was a civil matter, and that police would not get involved.

I have spent hours today researching the law in Scotland, for individuals selling second hand goods, private sales etc. But this is obviously a very specific problem, and I cannot find enough information.

I have photos of the exhaust I sold, of the ad I placed and copies of all of the texts. I have an old screenshot of the eBay confirmation, but the product code is irrelevant now, (I originally purchased the exhaust over a year ago) I do not have access to the PayPal account that it was purchased through, but I will print off a bank statement for the original purchase.

My eBay had (according to ebay) been hacked, and eBay had picked up on this and frozen everything. I had closed the eBay and PayPal permanently, of course not knowing that I would need information from it further down the line ! I have contacted the dealer that I purchased the exhaust from originally, and have asked if I could be given a receipt of payment or an invoice, as the sale will still be in their records. If this does go to court hopefully this will help my case.

I know that I sold it in good faith, and that the buyers inspected it and then purchased it freely, but I am incredibly anxious as they seem to know exactly what they are doing. Do I stand to lose my money ?

I would appreciate any advice that you could offer me. Thank you

hollydays

You should get this moved to the Ebay board.
So you advertised a Particular exhaust.
They examined it. They happily took it away.
How are they going to prove that they didn’t notice it was a different exhaust, and what’s the likelihood of you doing this.
Ignore them they are just trying it , or tell them to take you to court.
They don’t know what they are doing, they are just trying to intimidate you.