Sold Campervan buyer wants money back

mandy1955

hi, hope someone can help.  I put my campervan up for sale as I have retired and have downsized to a smaller van.  The camper is a Mazda Bongo diesel 2.5 and in fantastic condition.  I have had it 3 years and it's been really well looked after, I had all welding done and resprayed, it was newly undersealed, all electrics and gas appliances work and it had 4 new tyres on.
 I had a 200w solar panel on it last year and it passed it's MOT on 4th May.  I had it on sale for £8250 and this person asked if there was a lower price I would take, I said there is a bit of negotiation.  Anyway, he lives about 4 hours from me but has a friend near me who came to inspect it for him, he agreed it's a great van and even said if his mate didn't have he would buy it.
The next day the guy asked if I would take £8000 so I agreed as they seemed a nice couple and I have no room for two vehicles where I live.   I had an A4 folder full of receipts for parts/repairs/mot's etc from before I bought it and also since I've owned it.  There are some jobs I had done and paid cash so no receipts, ie The electric roof was resprayed and done in mechanics own time so I paid cash.  There was a receipt for a timing belt also.  the buyer asked if cam belt was done at all, so quite honestly I said yes, due to the receipt in the folder, however I did say NOT by me but a previous owner.   
They wanted to buy the van so to help them out I drove 105 miles in the van to meet them halfway and my friend followed me to bring me home.  They loved the van, the husband checked it all over and I showed them everything working, electric blinds, electric roof etc.  they transferred the balance to me and we went our separate ways.
The next day the wife said she can't see any receipt for the cam belt,  or the water pump, she then said she found the water pump receipt, I said they have all the receipts in the folder I gave them.  Almost straight away she said he wants me to either pay for a cam belt change or give them the money back.  I didn't really know what to do or say at this point as they loved the van the day before and were happy with the 2 hour drive home and with all the work it's had.
The messages were all from the wife, and as I was away at a festival I was upset as she did not stop messaging me and threatening me with court action if I didn't refund them and give them their expenses.   I used the money from the sale of my campervan to pay for my smaller one.  The husband is messaging now saying he's taking me to court for misrepresentation.  I am at my wits end.   What can I do, I haven't done anything wrong. 

Emmia

Private sale? They've got no come back

elsien

How did you advertise it? Do you still have a copy of the advert and the description? If that was accurate, then you have nothing to worry about. 

MattMattMattUK

mandy1955 said:

hi, hope someone can help.  I put my campervan up for sale as I have retired and have downsized to a smaller van.  The camper is a Mazda Bongo diesel 2.5 and in fantastic condition.  I have had it 3 years and it's been really well looked after, I had all welding done and resprayed, it was newly undersealed, all electrics and gas appliances work and it had 4 new tyres on.
 I had a 200w solar panel on it last year and it passed it's MOT on 4th May.  I had it on sale for £8250 and this person asked if there was a lower price I would take, I said there is a bit of negotiation.  Anyway, he lives about 4 hours from me but has a friend near me who came to inspect it for him, he agreed it's a great van and even said if his mate didn't have he would buy it.
The next day the guy asked if I would take £8000 so I agreed as they seemed a nice couple and I have no room for two vehicles where I live.   I had an A4 folder full of receipts for parts/repairs/mot's etc from before I bought it and also since I've owned it.  There are some jobs I had done and paid cash so no receipts, ie The electric roof was resprayed and done in mechanics own time so I paid cash.  There was a receipt for a timing belt also.  the buyer asked if cam belt was done at all, so quite honestly I said yes, due to the receipt in the folder, however I did say NOT by me but a previous owner.   
They wanted to buy the van so to help them out I drove 105 miles in the van to meet them halfway and my friend followed me to bring me home.  They loved the van, the husband checked it all over and I showed them everything working, electric blinds, electric roof etc.  they transferred the balance to me and we went our separate ways.
The next day the wife said she can't see any receipt for the cam belt,  or the water pump, she then said she found the water pump receipt, I said they have all the receipts in the folder I gave them.  Almost straight away she said he wants me to either pay for a cam belt change or give them the money back.  I didn't really know what to do or say at this point as they loved the van the day before and were happy with the 2 hour drive home and with all the work it's had.
The messages were all from the wife, and as I was away at a festival I was upset as she did not stop messaging me and threatening me with court action if I didn't refund them and give them their expenses.   I used the money from the sale of my campervan to pay for my smaller one.  The husband is messaging now saying he's taking me to court for misrepresentation.  I am at my wits end.   What can I do, I haven't done anything wrong. 

Private sale, they have no rights, block their number, if they contact you again report them to the police for harassment, if they take you to court a magistrate will find in your favour if you defend yourself. 

caprikid1

Tell them the Van was accurately described and you have done nothing wrong, you viewed the Van and were entirely happy. Unfortunately I am unable to reverse the transaction. This is a private sale there is nothing more to say. If you continue to bombard me I may seek to put in a harassment report.

This is extremely common now, it is either buyers remorse at buying an older van or just a scam to get some money off. Either way please do not buckle, if they continue to text block their number. This is an increasing common scam.

Stubod

..private sale, sold as seen.....they are trying it on, and they have no comeback on you. Threatening you with court is just a bluff...just follow all the good advise above then forget about it and move on...

mandy1955

hi, all.  
thank you for the replies, I have been so stressed over this, messages from first the wife now the husband, on both whatsapp and texts.  I got the first one this morning at 8am threatening court action due to me stopping all communication but he was threatening me with small claims court at 7:21pm last night and I was asleep at 10pm .  The advert was accurate in description.  They loved the van and said they enjoyed the drive home.  I am honest and when they did ask about the cam belt I said it was done by previous owner not myself.  I have only driven it about 12,000 miles in 3 years.  
I will ask them both to stop harassing me and see what happens.  thank you.

kazwookie

Block their numbers on your phone.

Barkin

I'd wager they were happy when they left, and do have the cambelt paperwork.

They've gone over it again at home, and realised that it was 5 years ago and it's now due another one, so they're trying it on and attempting to scare you into paying for it.

Given what you've said, I'd ignore/block them.

mandy1955

I also wonder if they have just realised they won't use it as much as they imagined, the wife doesn't drive and the husband works away 5 nights a week.  I think they have probably changed their minds.  I know diesel engines love a good run so sitting around for all that time each week is not ideal.

Emmia

mandy1955 said:

I also wonder if they have just realised they won't use it as much as they imagined, the wife doesn't drive and the husband works away 5 nights a week.  I think they have probably changed their minds.  I know diesel engines love a good run so sitting around for all that time each week is not ideal.

But that, to be fair is their problem rather than yours.

They still have the option of reselling quickly if they've changed their minds, they may get back what they paid, more than they paid or less than they paid - but that's their risk/problem