I'm sure this has been discussed before but I need some good advice before I call this dude back. To give you the short story I sold a kustom GM subframe about 1 1/2 years ago now. I packaged it up and had it ready for shipment with in days. I may have had 1 call from the buyer saying he was making plans and then nothing for 18 months. At about the 15 month mark I sold it again. I get a call from the guy today saying he was ill and had been hospitalized for sometime. I want to do what's right and maybe offer him some money back. I don't think he's deserving of a full refund and part of me says he lucky to get anything at all. If I would have been charging him storage he'd be owing me money. My wife says she remembers me saying to him to take his time picking it up but 1 1/2 years, that's pushing it.
Sounds a bit unlikely that he'd be in the hospital for a 1 1/2 years (unless he was in coma or something). Life throws curveballs at you I guess...but hard to believe you couldn't make a call or an email to follow-up on a purchase you made. Karma's a bitch though...if you got paid what you expected from another buyer, then work out a refund of some type.
If you didn't push him to pick it up...or threaten storage fees...then I believe you definitely owe him something. If not the full amount at least half...but it's your conscience (and it sounds like you have one). By the way...I have no idea if that was good advice or not.
If the first buyer had already paid you, I think the right thing to do is for you to refund all his money. Even if (for health reasons) he didn't call you it would seem logical for you to first contact him by certified mail and phone BEFORE you sold it a second time. Let your conscience be your guide and do what's right. When health issues "pop up" car issues recede into the background.
I agree, Yes he didnt call you but you also didnt call him so If it was me I'd give him his money back but thats just me
Did you sell it for the same amount the second time. If you took a loss the second time, deduct that out of the first buyers price and return the rest to him.
If the man paid you,,he owns it. If you resell it,,he gets his money back. Even though it was a year and a half,,he still paid for it. What happened to integrity? This is the reason no one trust anybody now! Tommy
I would have an agreement that the buyer would pick it up in a certain time period. After that, storage costs will apply.
and a smart one too- unless you gave him a written notice of a pickup time limit, ooor sent him a notice of abandoned property and placed a lien on it, ooor sent him notice of storage fees,,,,,,,,,, you are liable to wind up in a small claims court.. once he purchased it it became his property, not yours and you really had no standing to resell it unless he failed to preform. And you didnt set any time line-so technically he didnt fail.. sometimes being a nice guy is a bitch. the court systems these days you just cant take a chance
if you don't put anything in writing he has forever to get it, trust me I know,better give back the cash+hope it's over
A month and thats it.He could of called you...Ayear and a half is way too long...Keep a deposit fee.If he gave you a deposit.Deposits are non refundable............
It would be the right thing to do, but i don't know that he deserves it .A year and a half is too long without at least a call or email.
This is exactly what to do. When you buy something you should pick it up in a reasonable amount of time. Not a year and a half, and you should not take a loss on it either.
Good Man! I agree with the fact he should have called you a long time ago and even if he did take you to court there;s always the abandonment clause since it is on your property (depending on what state you live in) so you might be ok there but in my opinion your doing the right thing and if he complains that you dont have it just tell him the county came and got it and because it was an eye sore and was going to fine the owner so you were just trying to keep him out of trouble
Just a quick update. I called the buyer and everything turned out cool. I thought it would be right to refund all of his payment since I did profit from the sale a second time. The funny thing is he told he would have sold to after all that time and wasn't upset at all. He was very greatful I offered a refund and all is well. Thanks again for all your input. Kiss your Mothers and love your Wives and have a great weekend!
a refund will only encourage this kind of behavior. anyone who calls after 1.5 years has some balls that's for sure. sitting here at the computer I'd say tell him sorry it's long gone since he abandoned it. talking to the guy on the phone or looking him in the eye in person I might feel different. any refund given would be a gift. now that I think about it if I sold something 1.5 years ago and the guy wanted a refund I'd have to tell them sorry dude, I don't have any money... and that's the truth.
How about giving him some of the profit's from the final sale? Then we could all feel really warm and fuzzy! Come on guys - If your not responsible enough to do business like a big boy - in a adult and timely fashion you lose, period. Those lessons of RESPECT you learn in grade school or before. You showed all the integrity in the world holding onto the part for as long as you did, and huge balls for this guy to pop back up at 18 months later asking for the stuff at all. No Responsibility, No Consequences, No Lesson Learned... Perfect.
You did the right thing, BUT, where has he been?? I know, hospitalized for some time----NOT a year and 1/2. I think he might have forgot---but he paid you up front??? This really makes no sense to me--he may have long arms and deep pockets or maybe he just wasn't ready for the part yet---wierd.
The Jalopy Journal
