Ebay buyer wants money back

savergrant

RFW said:

rs033 said:

The buyer says he is now taking me to a small claims court. Ebay obviously don't want to know. 

Any advice would be welcome, thanks. 

You've had sound advice so far. I doubt they will take you to small claims but people like throwing money away some times and can be unpredictable. The fact that Ebay don't want to know is probably a good thing for you.

Has the buyer asked for anything specific, it seems as though they've said a lot and threatened a lot but not asked for a specific amount. Are they asking for a full refund, the repair charge or something in between?

If they paid £750 for it and then £700 to repair it there's not a lot in it.

RFW

savergrant said:

RFW said:

rs033 said:

The buyer says he is now taking me to a small claims court. Ebay obviously don't want to know. 

Any advice would be welcome, thanks. 

You've had sound advice so far. I doubt they will take you to small claims but people like throwing money away some times and can be unpredictable. The fact that Ebay don't want to know is probably a good thing for you.

Has the buyer asked for anything specific, it seems as though they've said a lot and threatened a lot but not asked for a specific amount. Are they asking for a full refund, the repair charge or something in between?

If they paid £750 for it and then £700 to repair it there's not a lot in it.

I didn't word it right, so fair point. They could well be asking for a refund plus the repair or a small amount to cover some costs. If I get a problem like this I usually ask the buyer what exactly they want, sometimes it's just to sound off, sometimes it's a full refund and then some ask for something reasonable. If I'd been the seller here I may have thought that giving them £1-200 wouldn't be a terrible way to put an end to it. It doesn't look like the OP would lose a court case but they can be unpredictable.

GabbaGabbaHey

rs033 said:

The buyer disassembled and moved it

That, to me, is the end of any claim that he may have had. Disassembling an Aga is a very specialised job, and there can be no certainty that it was performed correctly.

soolin

RFW said:

savergrant said:

RFW said:

rs033 said:

The buyer says he is now taking me to a small claims court. Ebay obviously don't want to know. 

Any advice would be welcome, thanks. 

You've had sound advice so far. I doubt they will take you to small claims but people like throwing money away some times and can be unpredictable. The fact that Ebay don't want to know is probably a good thing for you.

Has the buyer asked for anything specific, it seems as though they've said a lot and threatened a lot but not asked for a specific amount. Are they asking for a full refund, the repair charge or something in between?

If they paid £750 for it and then £700 to repair it there's not a lot in it.

I didn't word it right, so fair point. They could well be asking for a refund plus the repair or a small amount to cover some costs. If I get a problem like this I usually ask the buyer what exactly they want, sometimes it's just to sound off, sometimes it's a full refund and then some ask for something reasonable. If I'd been the seller here I may have thought that giving them £1-200 wouldn't be a terrible way to put an end to it. It doesn't look like the OP would lose a court case but they can be unpredictable.

Whilst I would agree with you point of view if this had been a business I think I would view this differently as it was a purely private sale. I wouldn't be looking to appease the buyer here except as a very last resort, I would worry that by offering a partial refund the seller would be admitting fault , no one told the buyer to get the Aga repaired, the correct course of action would be to have reported the fault as soon as it was noted, not try a repair and then report. 

If they had taken it home and perhaps tried installing it a few days or even a couple of weeks  later and noted a fault, then they might have had some negotiation with the seller, but not now after 4 months and they certainly can't be looking to get anything back for the repair. 

GadgetGuru

You've stated your position serval times. At this point I would ignore the buyer. 
If it is a private sale and the item was collected (where it could have been inspected etc) then thats the end of it. Above all else, the 30 day period has passed, AND the buyer has had the item repaired/modified so it is not the same item you originally sold. The buyer has no chance even in small claims. 
Do Not suggest any partial refund or any other option as it can be seen as admitting liability. 
Just ignore. 

I once had a buyer attempted to get a refund on a computer CPU - 1.5 years after purchase!
I politely referred him to the manufacturer and stated i could not help. 
Never heard from him again. 

pinkshoes

rs033 said:

Thanks very much for the replies everyone.

@Alderbank I am not actually sure who disconnected it. I don’t want ask my Dad because I don’t want him to know there is a problem, but if it requires any skill to disconnect, then he would have got a professional to do it. He can do basic DIY, but wouldn’t attempt anything complicated. The buyer disassembled and moved it (with several others).

I am  a private seller. The listing description detailed how  old the item was, and that it was working when in use, being sold due to the change of heating system.

@rollingmoon I was tempted to suggest that he return it, but knowing my  luck, he would actually return it!

@soolin thanks for the suggestions. Because the listing is so old, it can’t be viewed on Ebay anymore. Ebay Live Chat sent me all of the text from the description though, and I have the listing date, sale date and collection date. The buyer took a copy of the original listing, so I am sure he will provide it as evidence if he proceeds. 

@pinkshoes I’m not sure why we are going back and forth. I have politely refused a refund multiple times, and each time he increased his efforts (asked nicely, asked nicely but more firmly, threatened to get Ebay involved, threatened small claims court). 

It cost £750. It was a nice colour and in excellent cosmetic condition, so I think that was a fair price. I have no idea why he spent almost the same amount again on a repair without even mentioning anything to me! 

It was collected on the 15th November. I can’t remember when my dad got his new heating, but it was listed on the 8th October, so probably no more than a few weeks before that.

I haven’t even asked to see the engineers report because I don’t believe that I should be refunding the buyer, so I didn't see the point. 

I think that answers everything.  Sorry if I didn’t answer anything. I have read all of the comments and they are very helpful and reassuring.

Thank you very much again. If I don't hear anything back, I will probably forget to update you, but I will definitely update if it goes to court. 

In which case I'd let them take it to court if they want to.

I mean seriously... they dismantled it themselves, they paid £750 then spent £700 getting it working again without even notifying you that it didn't work, and now they want you to pay for the work?!!? 

They're having a laugh! If it didn't work, THEN they should have contacted you. 

Do not entertain any more correspondence. Ignore them. No more contact.

If you do get an official court letter, then just respond sensibly e.g. it was sold on X date for £750, it was made clear that it used to work but hadn't been used for a while, they inspected it themselves and dismantled it themselves, you were not informed that it wasn't working until 4 months later when they had already spent £700 carrying out work to it.

You could then always call their bluff if they have genuinely spent £700 getting it working, and say that as a gesture of good will, if they pay to have it returned and re-assembled, then you will refund them the £750 that they originally paid. Clearly they're not going to do that!

savergrant

pinkshoes said:

rs033 said:

Thanks very much for the replies everyone.

@Alderbank I am not actually sure who disconnected it. I don’t want ask my Dad because I don’t want him to know there is a problem, but if it requires any skill to disconnect, then he would have got a professional to do it. He can do basic DIY, but wouldn’t attempt anything complicated. The buyer disassembled and moved it (with several others).

I am  a private seller. The listing description detailed how  old the item was, and that it was working when in use, being sold due to the change of heating system.

@rollingmoon I was tempted to suggest that he return it, but knowing my  luck, he would actually return it!

@soolin thanks for the suggestions. Because the listing is so old, it can’t be viewed on Ebay anymore. Ebay Live Chat sent me all of the text from the description though, and I have the listing date, sale date and collection date. The buyer took a copy of the original listing, so I am sure he will provide it as evidence if he proceeds. 

@pinkshoes I’m not sure why we are going back and forth. I have politely refused a refund multiple times, and each time he increased his efforts (asked nicely, asked nicely but more firmly, threatened to get Ebay involved, threatened small claims court). 

It cost £750. It was a nice colour and in excellent cosmetic condition, so I think that was a fair price. I have no idea why he spent almost the same amount again on a repair without even mentioning anything to me! 

It was collected on the 15th November. I can’t remember when my dad got his new heating, but it was listed on the 8th October, so probably no more than a few weeks before that.

I haven’t even asked to see the engineers report because I don’t believe that I should be refunding the buyer, so I didn't see the point. 

I think that answers everything.  Sorry if I didn’t answer anything. I have read all of the comments and they are very helpful and reassuring.

Thank you very much again. If I don't hear anything back, I will probably forget to update you, but I will definitely update if it goes to court. 

In which case I'd let them take it to court if they want to.

I mean seriously... they dismantled it themselves, they paid £750 then spent £700 getting it working again without even notifying you that it didn't work, and now they want you to pay for the work?!!? 

They're having a laugh! If it didn't work, THEN they should have contacted you. 

Do not entertain any more correspondence. Ignore them. No more contact.

If you do get an official court letter, then just respond sensibly e.g. it was sold on X date for £750, it was made clear that it used to work but hadn't been used for a while, they inspected it themselves and dismantled it themselves, you were not informed that it wasn't working until 4 months later when they had already spent £700 carrying out work to it.

You could then always call their bluff if they have genuinely spent £700 getting it working, and say that as a gesture of good will, if they pay to have it returned and re-assembled, then you will refund them the £750 that they originally paid. Clearly they're not going to do that!

Just bear in mind that they said they bought it to replace a faulty one...so it could be possible they have swapped parts between the two agas?

sonearandyetsofa

Do not call their bluff if they potentially have a faulty Aga lying around ready to send to you! As a private sale of a secondhand, complicated item that was fully functional before it was disassembled, collected, transported, and reassembled, I would be very confident that you do not have any further obligation to the buyer. Even if you could be deemed responsible - big if, we've no idea what damage could have occurred to it since it was collected - but even if you could, the buyer has a duty to mitigate their losses. Spending £700 to repair a £750 item is not mitigating anything. Nobody could reasonably argue that was a sensible use of their money.

The response to their next message should be simply to tell them to do whatever they feel is necessary, but that you won't be responding to their messages any longer. Any legal advice they seek out is likely to tell them not to bother with this, so that will probably be the last you hear from them.

I would not be at all surprised, given they already had a faulty Aga, if the repair bill is for their old one and in fact nothing to do with yours whatsoever. It's a common scam with electrical items.

pinkshoes

savergrant said:

pinkshoes said:

rs033 said:

Thanks very much for the replies everyone.

@Alderbank I am not actually sure who disconnected it. I don’t want ask my Dad because I don’t want him to know there is a problem, but if it requires any skill to disconnect, then he would have got a professional to do it. He can do basic DIY, but wouldn’t attempt anything complicated. The buyer disassembled and moved it (with several others).

I am  a private seller. The listing description detailed how  old the item was, and that it was working when in use, being sold due to the change of heating system.

@rollingmoon I was tempted to suggest that he return it, but knowing my  luck, he would actually return it!

@soolin thanks for the suggestions. Because the listing is so old, it can’t be viewed on Ebay anymore. Ebay Live Chat sent me all of the text from the description though, and I have the listing date, sale date and collection date. The buyer took a copy of the original listing, so I am sure he will provide it as evidence if he proceeds. 

@pinkshoes I’m not sure why we are going back and forth. I have politely refused a refund multiple times, and each time he increased his efforts (asked nicely, asked nicely but more firmly, threatened to get Ebay involved, threatened small claims court). 

It cost £750. It was a nice colour and in excellent cosmetic condition, so I think that was a fair price. I have no idea why he spent almost the same amount again on a repair without even mentioning anything to me! 

It was collected on the 15th November. I can’t remember when my dad got his new heating, but it was listed on the 8th October, so probably no more than a few weeks before that.

I haven’t even asked to see the engineers report because I don’t believe that I should be refunding the buyer, so I didn't see the point. 

I think that answers everything.  Sorry if I didn’t answer anything. I have read all of the comments and they are very helpful and reassuring.

Thank you very much again. If I don't hear anything back, I will probably forget to update you, but I will definitely update if it goes to court. 

In which case I'd let them take it to court if they want to.

I mean seriously... they dismantled it themselves, they paid £750 then spent £700 getting it working again without even notifying you that it didn't work, and now they want you to pay for the work?!!? 

They're having a laugh! If it didn't work, THEN they should have contacted you. 

Do not entertain any more correspondence. Ignore them. No more contact.

If you do get an official court letter, then just respond sensibly e.g. it was sold on X date for £750, it was made clear that it used to work but hadn't been used for a while, they inspected it themselves and dismantled it themselves, you were not informed that it wasn't working until 4 months later when they had already spent £700 carrying out work to it.

You could then always call their bluff if they have genuinely spent £700 getting it working, and say that as a gesture of good will, if they pay to have it returned and re-assembled, then you will refund them the £750 that they originally paid. Clearly they're not going to do that!

Just bear in mind that they said they bought it to replace a faulty one...so it could be possible they have swapped parts between the two agas?

Ahh that's true! I forgot that bit!

In which case, don't call their bluff. Just ignore, and if they do file a small court claim, just respond with the facts.

Spoonie_Turtle

Exactly.  You can probably call their bluff about taking you to court (implicitly, don't antagonise them!  Just don't give in, so their only choices are try to take it to court or drop it) but not about returning anything.