Deposit!

johnf2020

I have been trying to sell a car for a friend of mine for the last number of weeks as he has emigrated and I want to try and get the best price I can. 2 Weeks ago a waster came down to look at the car and spent 3 hours poking around this car. Now bearing in mind that this car is only €1750 I should have told him to **** off after an hour but thats not me. Eventually I told him to go away and think about it as I'd have enough at that stage. He then proceded to pull out €200 deposit to hold the car and promised to collect by the following weekend. That evening I removed the car from the websites(paying&free) that I had it on.
The next evening I get a call to say that he changed his mind and that he would call back for his deposit. I told him that he would not, that I had incurred expenses in advertising it, which I would have to do again, but I told him that as a goodwill I would post him back his deposit when the car was sold, minus the cost of readvertising and left it at that.
Today I received a registered letter demanding his deposit back...what should I do?
What I do not like is that this individual did not ring me directly about the car, but traced my phone number to my place of work and turned up at my workplace while I was on holidays looking for me..I could have ended up in deep ****

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se conman

In my opinion , a deposit is a guarantee that you are not going to mess someone around , if you mess them around you lose the deposit , simples.

Tigger

give him back the deposit less whatver it'll cost to re advertise

pro tip; never take down the ads till the car is gone

corktina

registered letter///wtf is that about? cant see any advantage to him doing that

mamakevf

I would hold on to the deposit, No solicitor is going to bother you about €200, he paid the deposit so that you would not sell the car, he changed his mind, he knows the rules about deposits and so do solicitors, Tough, tell him that if he dosen't stop bothering you, you will send him a solicitors letter.

Merch

Personally I think an hour is ok to look around an old car, what car is it anyway.
The reg letter is obviously so the seller/OP cant say they didnt receive it.

Not sure where the person stands, but Id say return deposit less cost to re advertise, seems a good idea to keep an advert up.

Not sure how they are supposed to have traced you OR how that would be a problem? not your fault who turns up looking for you that you had no part in inviting to the business.

edit
I recovered a deposit paid on a car, although the circumstances were different.

carchaeologist

What a Cnut he is. End of.

ahal

carchaeologist wrote: »

What a Cnut he is. End of.

+1

And if he makes a habit of showing up unexpectedly, I'd report him for harassment.

Fishtits

Give him nothing.

Send him a letter looking for the balance between the deposit and the sale price. I would consider the fact that he paid a deposit as being a contract to buy the car. It doesn't need to be in writing.

Cheers,

macplaxton

Fishtits wrote: »

Give him nothing.

Send him a letter looking for the balance between the deposit and the sale price.

Add on the back of that storage charges per day.

dev100

In an ideal world you would tell him to go whistle dixie. Fact we dont live in that world. Really You dont who you are dealing with Did he look over the car at your home ? Do you really want the potential hassle him turning up at your home maybe vandalising your own property to get his back on you.

Me id do a deal with him tell him not to turn up at your home or place of work ever again and that you have informed the guards of his harassment and that as a good will gesture you will return the money via postal order less advertisment cost and post it out to him. That way you will have his address . If he ever decides to be silly beggars. If he dont like that he can lump. He wont hire a soliciter for such a small amount

Tigger

dev100 wrote: »

In an ideal world you would tell him to go whistle dixie. Fact we dont live in that world. Really You dont who you are dealing with Did he look over the car at your home ? Do you really want the potential hassle him turning up at your home maybe vandalising your own property to get his back on you.

Me id do a deal with him tell him not to turn up at your home or place of work ever again and that you have informed the guards of his harassment and that as a good will gesture you will return the money via postal order less advertisment cost and post it out to him. That way you will have his address . If he ever decides to be silly beggars. If he dont like that he can lump. He wont hire a soliciter for such a small amount

this is where i'm coming from

johnf2020

What really pisses me off is the following.
I had 2 cars for sale on Donedeal the same week--lets say A & B
Car A is the one this is about..I advertised it for a price , selling for a friend. Pics of car at my house with my mobile, but I'm away on holidays. Leave message and I will get back.

Car B . Advertised again with my mobile.Pics show car at my house, but also a pic of the car infront of an unnamed dealer used for promo(I work there)to verify the excellent condition of it.


The "accused" deduces that the 2 ads are for the same person(me). He does not leave make contact with me over the phone regarding car A, but turns up at my place of work when I am on holidays(as the ad states)and at which point ,work rings me to say a guy is here about a car I have for sale.Now this guy has seen the pics of car B infront of an unnamed dealership and assumes that I have some connection with it, even though the pics are for a different car, If you understand. I think this has been a form of harrasment.

Now if I was trying to nixer car sales this guy would have completely blown my cover. He actually drove 60 miles on spec without making contact even though the ad clearly states I was on holidays.

The mention of deposit in the conversation prior to the car sale I did say that deposits are normally non-refundable but its up to the seller whether he wants it back or not. When he cancelled the deal, I did say to him that I did not have to give it back, but as a goodwill gesture I would refund it minus the costs incurred in re-advertising it and I left it at that.
Now after this letter I couldnt give a toss about him.---3 ****ing hours I spend trying to sell this car to him pointing out every little detail, fault etc etc. Its a 40 year old car for f sake

unkel

I always make it very, very clear that the deposit is non-refundable. That if the buyer changes his mind, his money is gone. I do this verbally and also in writing on a receipt: agreed sale price, non refundable deposit and balance and date the balance is due.

But that's no good to the OP now. I don't know how well the OP explained that the deposit was non-refundable. If he made it perfectly clear, I would not give the money back. If it wasn't 100% clear, give the money back minus expenses as others said.

se conman

The other option you have is when he contacts you again just say "what deposit , I got no deposit."

Merch

johnf2020 wrote: »

What really pisses me off is the following.
I had 2 cars for sale on Donedeal the same week--lets say A & B
Car A is the one this is about..I advertised it for a price , selling for a friend. Pics of car at my house with my mobile, but I'm away on holidays. Leave message and I will get back.

Car B . Advertised again with my mobile.Pics show car at my house, but also a pic of the car infront of an unnamed dealer used for promo(I work there)to verify the excellent condition of it.


The "accused" deduces that the 2 ads are for the same person(me). He does not leave make contact with me over the phone regarding car A, but turns up at my place of work when I am on holidays(as the ad states)and at which point ,work rings me to say a guy is here about a car I have for sale.Now this guy has seen the pics of car B infront of an unnamed dealership and assumes that I have some connection with it, even though the pics are for a different car, If you understand. I think this has been a form of harrasment.

Now if I was trying to nixer car sales this guy would have completely blown my cover. He actually drove 60 miles on spec without making contact even though the ad clearly states I was on holidays.

The mention of deposit in the conversation prior to the car sale I did say that deposits are normally non-refundable but its up to the seller whether he wants it back or not. When he cancelled the deal, I did say to him that I did not have to give it back, but as a goodwill gesture I would refund it minus the costs incurred in re-advertising it and I left it at that.
Now after this letter I couldnt give a toss about him.---3 ****ing hours I spend trying to sell this car to him pointing out every little detail, fault etc etc. Its a 40 year old car for f sake

tbh, the more I hear the more this guy sounds like a normal buyer and you sound like you are working in a dealership but selling cars either on the side yourself (hence the concern about him turning up at your place of work) or as seen/private sale no warranty, thats how it looks to me anyway, as I've come across it before. He turned up on spec because you have a number of cars for sale and one has an image taken at a garage, why would you do that if the cars were private and in all honesty how many cars do most normal private sellers actually have on the go at once? If he's travelled 60 miles then its not cos he expects or even has considered you are on holidays or is even trying to drop you in it, I'd say.
You're the one mentioning nixer and cover blown, catch a fish by its mouth.

unfit2006

Merch,

if I saw an ad from a "private" seller and when I checked up, I noticed that he also happened to have another car for sale which had some connection with a dealership (on their forecourt or whatever), then I would take a spin over there to suss out the connection.

Also, what do you mean by :

"but also a pic of the car infront of an unnamed dealer used for promo(I work there)to verify the excellent condition of it."


What exactly did you intend to verify or prove by including that photograph ?

Merch

unfit2006 wrote: »

Merch,

if I saw an ad from a "private" seller and when I checked up, I noticed that he also happened to have another car for sale which had some connection with a dealership (on their forecourt or whatever), then I would take a spin over there to suss out the connection.

Also, what do you mean by :

"but also a pic of the car infront of an unnamed dealer used for promo(I work there)to verify the excellent condition of it."


What exactly did you intend to verify or prove by including that photograph ?

I agree, so would I, although my initial gut reaction would be, that garage is selling cars on its books through individuals that work for them and passing them off as private sales without warranty (whether that was the case or not, I'm not saying it was/is,but how things appear means a lot, if a person selling cars cant understand that, then I dont know what to say) but I'm suspicious like that, buyer beware and all. All the same, not sure I'd go 60 miles, unless it was something I was interested in looking at buying, which again suggests the buyer wasn't a timewaster, if they were prepared to travel an hour, then they are entitled to more than a cursory look at a car.
I was also wondering what was to be proved by a pic in front of a dealership??

johnf2020

ffs guys, my car was used in the garage on promo during an open weekend and I used the pic to prove that the car was showroom quality

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talking about trying to turn the tide on me. Thats the problem with ****ing forums....there are always people who try to see the worst in everything. I'm the one that got ****ed around here......I had nothing to hide. This guy was a nosey old git who wasted my time. He didnt read the ad, he didnt phone me but turned up unanounced at my place of work while I was on holidays after putting 2 and 2 together and getting his version of 4.....

Also,,did I anywhere mention that I am in car sales? Yes,I am a garage employee, who is finding it hard to make ends meet at the moment so had to take the painful decision to advertise my 1 remaining classic.,and used the one tool that I had to prove its condition--a picture of it beside new cars in a showroom.

The car causing all the grief doesnt even belong to me--my freinds car,,,he lost his job and had to emigrate and I'm doing him a favour by trying to sell it for him.

its just not worth the hastle,,,,,,all I wanted was a bit of advise as to what I should do with the blasted deposit

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Merch

some have advised return deposit others not,
you see him as a timewaster, maybe he feels its worth a good look, which takes time.
I'm saying what I see when presented with the info you put in your posts, not slating it, but I would be suspicious

what is the 40 yo car, or perhaps show the adverts?

mamakevf

There are too many ARSEHOLES/Dreamers in this country. If you haven't got the money,stop bothering people. Fucxing wxankers

hi5

Johnf2020,
Give him back his deposit and be done with it,even though on principle you shouldn't have to,its simply not worth the stress.
Someone who goes to the trouble of sending registered letters and tracing workplaces from phone numbers is bordering on psychoticly dangerous and I would distance myself from them as quickly as possible.
Put it down to experience and dont accept a deposit the next time.
Your job is to sell the car to the first person up with the cash,you dont owe anyone a favour by holding a car for them.
If they haven't got the cash now they probably wont have it in the future either.

johnos1984

John I know the two ads you're talking about.

Nobody would think you are selling the cars on the side given what they both were and how the ads were presented. It's obvious from the badly parked dealership picture that it was just to show the car is owned by an enthusiast ;)

Having said that I'd give him back €150 and tell him to piss off that the rest is for you advertisement fees.

After that tell him if he contacts you again you'll report him to the Gardaí for harassment.

Either that or play real hardball and tell him to bugger off.

BTW there is a nice clean Ren 5 on dd at the minute, I remember you asking about one

Anan1

johnf2020 wrote: »

ffs guys, my car was used in the garage on promo during an open weekend and I used the pic to prove that the car was showroom quality

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talking about trying to turn the tide on me. Thats the problem with ****ing forums....there are always people who try to see the worst in everything. I'm the one that got ****ed around here......I had nothing to hide.

Come on now, using a photo of a car in front of a garage in an ad will give any reasonable person the impression that there's a connection. I know that and, from reading your posts over the past couple of years now, i'm confident that you know the business well enough to know it too.;)

Redrocket

the guy jumped to conclusions and didnt ring first, regardless of photos in front of a garage or not this was clearly a private sale when the deposit was handed over.

i'd registered post him back his deposit minus an inventory of costs (including time to readvertise, post, packaging, petrol money to the post office) and live and learn that next time you make a agreement like this with someone make sure its written down and covers things like non-refundable