Uncollected item

saratoga7765

Hi,

I sold an item on donedeal.ie but the buyer - who has paid in full - has not come to collect it. How long do I have under the law before I can dispose of it. I have no great desire to profit from it, I just want the thing out of my way. It has actually incurred damage from weather since he agreed to buy it, and even though I told him this, he still has not collected it. What are my options?

Allinall

saratoga7765 wrote: »

Hi,

I sold an item on donedeal.ie but the buyer - who has paid in full - has not come to collect it. How long do I have under the law before I can dispose of it. I have no great desire to profit from it, I just want the thing out of my way. It has actually incurred damage from weather since he agreed to buy it, and even though I told him this, he still has not collected it. What are my options?

If it was me, I would contact them and give them a reasonable time-frame to collect (depending on where they are- eg in the same city: 3 days, other part of the country: 1 week etc), and let them know if they don't collect you will dispose of the item.
You would then need to refund their money, with a deduction for any expenses you incur in getting rid of it.

brian_t

Allinall wrote: »

You would then need to refund their money, with a deduction for any expenses you incur in getting rid of it.

Why does the OP need to refund the money.

The buyer was happy to complete the sale and pay in full.
It's not the OPs fault that the item wasn't collected and has since been weather damaged.

Allinall

brian_t wrote: »

Why does the OP need to refund the money.

The buyer was happy to complete the sale and pay in full.
It's not the OPs fault that the item wasn't collected and has since been weather damaged.

Morality.

I suppose I should have said "should", rather than "need" to return the money.

saratoga7765

brian_t wrote: »

Why does the OP need to refund the money.

The buyer was happy to complete the sale and pay in full.
It's not the OPs fault that the item wasn't collected and has since been weather damaged.

A fair point to some extent. But seeing as it is, for all that, someone else's property, I really don't want to interfere with it at all - either by selling it or dumping it - without covering myself.

I really am dealing with a royal ass of a buyer. This thing was actually specially shined up to prepare it for sale. When I rang him after two weeks to ask him to hurry up, he tried to instruct me to put it over in the corner out of the way. In my own livingroom, if you don't mind. When I told him I didn't have to do any such thing, he told me to leave it outside. So I did, covered in plastic to protect it from the weather. The plastic has long since blown off, and I frankly feel under no obligation to keep it covered for someone who doesn't care enough to come collect it and doesn't have my permission to have it on my property. In any event, the rust began while the plastic was still on it, and I texted him about this. More than two months ago. He actually arrived - without any notice - over the weekend with a view to collecting it, and pronounced himself 'disgusted' at the condition of it. You can imagine my feelings towards this imbecile. He said he'd be back to collect it, but of course didn't give any indication as to when that would be, only to say that he wanted me to leave my sidegate unlocked for him, a request that got a due reply.

saratoga7765

Allinall wrote: »

Morality.

I suppose I should have said "should", rather than "need" to return the money.

I certainly have no wish to profit from it, as I said. My only motive is to get it off my property. Due to the damage, it would sell tomorrow for a fraction of what I got from him, if indeed anyone would buy it.

Ben_Nevis

As one of the first posters advised, make a phone call and a follow up text/email with a reasonable time frame in which he has to collect and if he doesn't, dispose of it and organise a refund minus your very reasonable costs.

That way if you ever find he lodges a complaint in a civil court you can prove you have acted in a fair, proper and honorable manner.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.