Consumer rights in a private sale?

jimmymacd

I recently bought a second hand oil fired combi boiler as ours was condemned and we don't have the money for grant scheme or new.
After contacting a seller on ebay, I thought I had found the perfect solution. The seller informed me by email that the unit was installed 5 years a go and his advert said it came with service history and handbooks on request. On arrival at the sellers house he informed me that he didn't have the paperwork to hand, I insisted that he forwarded it to me when found.... a few days later, he had found it!
When I received the paperwork it turned out that the installation was almost 12 years a go and there was no service history. I contacted the seller and explain that in light of this finding and that oil fired boilers should ideally be replaced after 10 years, I would be expecting at the very least a partial refund. The boiler was £550 and I requested a refund of £200 which I thought was very fair considering the alternative. I was in a difficult position as I only had money left for the installation so can not afford to buy another boiler.
The seller has offered £50 in "good faith" which I think is taking the peeeeeee and add insult to injury the seller is saying that his Barrister and Consumer law specialist friends say I don't have a case? The seller is young in their early 30s and privileged judging by his lifestyle and expensive area he lives in, whereas I am disabled with an amputation and on benefits, soon to be cut by Labour! 

jimmymacd

Soz, forgot to say.... I did not buy the boiler through ebay so not covered by their new buyers rights thingy!

400ixl

There is no requirement to replace oil fired boilers every 10 years.

If you have evidence that he said it was 5 years old and turned out to be 12 then about all you can do is take him to court for mis representation. Unfortunately not much else you can do.

Maybe a letter before action telling him if he doesn't refund more. Then it is up to you if you want to take it further if he calls your bluff.

eskbanker

jimmymacd said:

The seller is young in their early 30s and privileged judging by his lifestyle and expensive area he lives in, whereas I am disabled with an amputation and on benefits, soon to be cut by Labour! 

None of this is relevant to the rights or obligations of either party....

Aylesbury_Duck

Your rights aren't enhanced by yours or his personal and financial circumstances, so park that idea.  It sounds like you've "gone behind ebay's back" and completed this as a private sale, so there's no protection there.

Letter before action and court if needs be.  I suspect his legal friends are fictional.

savergrant

jimmymacd said:

Soz, forgot to say.... I did not buy the boiler through ebay so not covered by their new buyers rights thingy!

It's very difficult to exchange contact details on eBay without making a purchase...
Are you sure you didn't purchase the item on eBay and then pay cash on collection?

Grumpy_chap

jimmymacd said:

I recently bought a second hand oil fired combi boiler as ours was condemned and we don't have the money for grant scheme or new.
After contacting a seller on ebay, I thought I had found the perfect solution. The seller informed me by email that the unit was installed 5 years a go and his advert said it came with service history and handbooks on request. On arrival at the sellers house he informed me that he didn't have the paperwork to hand, I insisted that he forwarded it to me when found.... a few days later, he had found it!
When I received the paperwork it turned out that the installation was almost 12 years a go and there was no service history. I contacted the seller and explain that in light of this finding and that oil fired boilers should ideally be replaced after 10 years, I would be expecting at the very least a partial refund. The boiler was £550 and I requested a refund of £200 which I thought was very fair considering the alternative. I was in a difficult position as I only had money left for the installation so can not afford to buy another boiler.
The seller has offered £50 in "good faith" which I think is taking the peeeeeee and add insult to injury the seller is saying that his Barrister and Consumer law specialist friends say I don't have a case? The seller is young in their early 30s and privileged judging by his lifestyle and expensive area he lives in, whereas I am disabled with an amputation and on benefits, soon to be cut by Labour! 

Even in a private sale, the item should be as described.
If it was described as five years old and is actually 12, then that is not as described.

However, in enforcing your rights, you have to weigh up the likelihood of actually recovering any money and the opportunity to source another second hand boiler at a cost level you can afford.  Plus the hassle.
Whatever the legal rights and wrongs, if the seller refunds the £50 they offered, you might just as well be best to accept that.  Or negotiate more than £50, given the seller's Barrister and Consumer Law Specialist will, presumably, advise the seller that they are in the wrong having inaccurately described the item at point of sale.

Are there really many (any) Barristers that are Consumer Law Specialists?

Okell

jimmymacd said:

I recently bought a second hand oil fired combi boiler as ours was condemned and we don't have the money for grant scheme or new.
... After contacting a seller on ebay, I thought I had found the perfect solution. The seller informed me by email that the unit was installed 5 years a go ...

I don't want to be unduly pedantic, but it being installed 5 years ago is not necessarily inconsistent with it being 10 years old...

As others have said, whether you have any rights as a purchaser depends on whether he misrepresented the boiler in the advert and whether he answered truthfully any questions that you might have asked him.

Go back to him and see if you can squeeze any more out of him.  If you can't you'll have to decide whether you want to go down the route of suing him and sending a formal "Letter Before Claim" etc.  You don't need a lawyer you can do it yourself if you are willing to invest some time in it.

Ergates

Okell said:

jimmymacd said:

I recently bought a second hand oil fired combi boiler as ours was condemned and we don't have the money for grant scheme or new.
... After contacting a seller on ebay, I thought I had found the perfect solution. The seller informed me by email that the unit was installed 5 years a go ...

I don't want to be unduly pedantic, but it being installed 5 years ago is not necessarily inconsistent with it being 10 years old...

As others have said, whether you have any rights as a purchaser depends on whether he misrepresented the boiler in the advert and whether he answered truthfully any questions that you might have asked him.

Go back to him and see if you can squeeze any more out of him.  If you can't you'll have to decide whether you want to go down the route of suing him and sending a formal "Letter Before Claim" etc.  You don't need a lawyer you can do it yourself if you are willing to invest some time in it.

That's not overly pedantic - it's critical.

About the only protection you have in a private sale is that the seller doesn't outright lie about the thing you're buying.   "It was installed 5 years ago" isn't a statement about it's age, as it could easily have been installed 2nd hand (as OP was about to do).

Grumpy_chap

Ergates said:

"It was installed 5 years ago" isn't a statement about it's age, as it could easily have been installed 2nd hand (as OP was about to do).

The OP does also say:

jimmymacd said:

When I received the paperwork it turned out that the installation was almost 12 years a go and there was no service history. 

Now, of course, the boiler could have been installed 12 years ago when it was brand new and then also installed second-hand by the seller 5 years ago.

jimmymacd

Okell said:

jimmymacd said:

I recently bought a second hand oil fired combi boiler as ours was condemned and we don't have the money for grant scheme or new.
... After contacting a seller on ebay, I thought I had found the perfect solution. The seller informed me by email that the unit was installed 5 years a go ...

I don't want to be unduly pedantic, but it being installed 5 years ago is not necessarily inconsistent with it being 10 years old...

As others have said, whether you have any rights as a purchaser depends on whether he misrepresented the boiler in the advert and whether he answered truthfully any questions that you might have asked him.

Go back to him and see if you can squeeze any more out of him.  If you can't you'll have to decide whether you want to go down the route of suing him and sending a formal "Letter Before Claim" etc.  You don't need a lawyer you can do it yourself if you are willing to invest some time in it.

It was installed 12 years a go which he has accepted and not 5 years as he had claimed prior to purchase.