Asking for refund after 5 months

wannaberich41

Hi
my daughter sold an second hand item on Facebook marketplace in full working order (does have evidence of it working 3 days before sent ). This was march 2023 when it was sent to the buyer.  This person wanted the item desperately.  However today she’s messaged my daughter saying she’s just taken it out of the box today and it’s faulty and not working.  

My daughter has explained as it’s been 5 months how do we know she’s not broken it as working the day it was sent. 

She is now threatening my daughter with a ccj and get quiet abusive in the messages.  The item sold £100.
any advice please? 

TripleH

Personally I would ignore the message.

You have to go to court first to get a CCJ and the other party has a right to challenge / defend the claim.

This is a threat to frighten the ignorant (people not in the know and not meant as an insult to your daughter) into caving in.

Your daughter only needs to consider any action if court papers turn up for her.

Brie

She can threaten all she likes.  It's not a very simple thing to get a ccj and costs a fair bit to do so and I doubt anyone will go that far for so little as £100.

So tell daughter to collect up all the evidence she has about the sale and keep it somewhere safe.  Maybe email it all to you so it's in 2 places for ease of reference.

Then tell daughter to respond (again) that the item was sold in good faith, there is evidence that it was working when sent and that 5 months is too long for a buyer to wait to check on it's condition.  Don't get stroppy, don't accuse, be polite.

If she gets another message from the buyer she should respond, again politely, that should the buyer contact her again she will consider it harassment.  If there is another message after that simply she should block the buyer. 

Belenus

Tell your daughter not to worry.

She should follow the advice above. Tell her not to engage with this buyer, Don't get involved in any debate.

Block the buyer and ignore their threats.

The chances of the buyer going legal are close to zero.

My guess is that they have broken the item themselves or no longer want it and are just trying it on.

OutdoorQueen

If the sale was between two private individuals, then the Consumer Rights Act offers little protection to the buyer.  

If this is the case, goods only have to be as described - therefore if they were accurately described by your daughter, then there is very little come back.  

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/getting-help-and-advice/consumer-rights/consumer-rights-what-you-need-to-know

(See section on second hand goods)

The buyer could in theory take the matter to small claims court, however it would not be viewed very favourably that 5 months have passed before seller was notified of the problem.  It is generally expected that any problems are brought to the sellers attention asap.  

You don’t mention what the item was….but when buying second hand you have to consider wear and tear, previous use, and age of item.  The item may have broke on first / second use, but that is the risk you take when buying second hand.   

I would ignore and block, and keep any messages and photos etc.  

Spoonie_Turtle

She wanted it so urgently she waited five months to open the box?  Yeah right.

Great advice above.  Hopefully it will help put your daughter's mind at ease somewhat. 

tightauldgit

If they are abusive, don't respond and simply block them. They won't go to court and have no chance of winning if they did. if you receive any further messages or abuse or anything of the sort consider reporting it to the police. 

FFHillbilly

ignore ignore ignore

GDB2222

Key question- Is your daughter a private seller or a trader?

wannaberich41

She is a private seller.  The buyer is asking for a copy of her driving licence to see if she’s genuine 🤔.  If only opened 3 days before the complaint she should have all the original boxes etc with the return address on it.  Which was her husbands work address as that’s where it was sent/ collected from by the courier. 

The address was on the parcel so why needing driving license? 

Spoonie_Turtle

wannaberich41 said:

She is a private seller.  The buyer is asking for a copy of her driving licence to see if she’s genuine 🤔.  If only opened 3 days before the complaint she should have all the original boxes etc with the return address on it.  Which was her husbands work address as that’s where it was sent/ collected from by the courier. 

The address was on the parcel so why needing driving license? 

That's a huge red flag, I hope she's not considering giving them that information!

Can she block them?  I would be doing so, at this point.