Would like opinions/advice on reneged deal

jephdood

On another forum, a member and I agreed on a deal in which he would buy two Exact Power conditioning/regulator/regenerator units I had for sale. The agreement was that he'd send me $200 initially via Paypal, then a remaining balance of $900 in December, which I asked for in the form of a Money Order so I could avoid Paypal fees for the bulk of the purchase. And, at that time, I'd ship him the two units. This was all agreed upon via PM's.

He sent me the initial $200 about a week ago on Aug 31st.

Since that time, I've told two people that the units I had for sale... that I contracted to sell this guy... were no longer available.

Well, tonight he PM's me and says, "Something really important that I have to pay for came up... And unfortunately I decided to reconsider my whole musical set-up so I was wondering if you can send me back the money that I had deposited to you."

I had already helped him extensively research the Exact Power units in answer to several questions he had. Then, after the sale, I went through the trouble of disconnecting and removing the units he "bought" from my rack.. And, the kicker... I subsequently purchased a replacement power conditioner for my system using the $200 he sent me in a downsizing move to save myself a bit of money. Now he's suddenly changing his mind? I was/am not happy.

I asked him what he desperately needed to buy that precipitated this '180' on our deal, because his last few posts on this forum were debating between several new speakers he was looking at for his room. If he came back to me with some sob story, I had that as a bit of ammunition to fire back with. But he essentially told me he found a different power unit he'd rather buy instead of mine, which is a bit more expensive than my pair.

For my trouble, he first offered to let me keep $10 out of the whole deal. Sensing my displeasure in a response to him, he countered, offering to let me keep $30. Does this seem fair? What would you do?

The difficulty on my part, aside from the effort I've already gone through, is that I've already purchased a replacement unit based on the agreement we had. He's really putting me in a bind here.

Anyway, just wanted to get some input on this. The guy only has 11 posts on this other forum, so no real reputation or track record. And, unfortunately, they don't have a feedback system where I could at least voice my displeasure about the whole thing.

Let me know what y'all think. Thanks.

HTguru1982

This might be tough. Although you both had an agreement, it's probably not legally binding. He doesn't have possession of the power conditioner so you can't force him to pay the additional amount. To be honest, with his low post count and lack of a rep, I would have avoided the guy altogether. Maybe offer him $100 back. He has to understand that you've gone out of your way to help him out but that $200 might still be legally his. I'd suggest giving him his money back and posting his name for all to see.

decal

Do what YOU think is right, YOU are the one that has to live with the decision.

bobsauto49

I'd send him the $170 back,and chalk it up as another life lesson learned! "God is Great,Beer is Good,and people are crazy"!

Emlyn

Unless you two signed a binding contract in which it's clear the $200 sent is non-refundable I'd send him his money back, minus any actual expenses for that transaction alone like Paypal fees. Not worth the Paypal fight. The $200 should have been held until the transaction was completed rather than being used to purchase something else. It's a bad idea to tie up $1000+ of your possessions and money for several months with someone you barely know. You've essentially given the guy a free credit line with you and control over part of your life. If you did both have a signed contract stating the deposit was non-refundable in case of buyer default, you should keep the money but you won't be able to get the $900 unless the transaction is completed in the stated timeframe and you won't be able to sell the units until the stated timeframe ends. So, you're basically on the hook to keep the power units through December unless you refund the deposit.

For what it's worth, it's generally a bad idea to do person to person layaway plans with audio gear, either as buyer or seller. My rule is if someone doesn't have the money to pay for a piece of gear when he makes an offer he's not worth the trouble of dealing with in the transaction when there are usually other potential buyers with money. This is also why Paypal transactions can be made with a credit card for the total amount, so the financing responsibility is placed on the buyer and the transaction can be completed right away. Of course it also ensures Paypal gets their fees right away!

Keeping the $30 sounds reasonable to me, and you can close this out and sell to someone else.

Hope this helps.

soundfreak1

Hold his money, readvertize units, when sold (if for the same money) send him his money less 20% and dont deal with him again. If he complains it on him not you. ***t happens but you were willing to wait for your money and he can do the same, and pay a little for the inconvience he caused you, however you also took a chance by the structure of the deal ( kinda left yourself open too this) so learn from this keep the 20% ( very reasonable) and once resold finish with him. If he really **** then you know whome you are dealing with.

tonyb

Dude, give him his money back and don't make any more complicated than need be. Crap happens to all of us at the wrong moment. I'm sure you can re sell the units anyway.

jephdood

After sleeping on it, of course I'll give him the money back. But as I described, it puts me in a pinch to do so. I guess lessons were learned, but I wanted to do the guy a favor and trust him at his word. And, I wanted them sold to be honest. I'm trying to downsize a little bit for financial reasons. Crap does happen to all of us at some point or another, but crap didn't happen to him. He just decided he wanted something different all of a sudden. Oh well, I guess.

Thanks all, for the opinions. He'll get his money back minus the 30 for a "processing" fee. :rolleyes:

heiney9

I would atleast make him wait until you sell them again. It seems fair for the way he jerked you around. Why should you have to be out of pocket because he changed his mind. That's different than a catastrophic life event.

H9

oldmodman

If it were me I would send him back all the money.

Not because you need to.

But I just hate to take money from stupid people and the retarded.

gumbay13

tonyb wrote: »

Dude, give him his money back and don't make any more complicated than need be. Crap happens to all of us at the wrong moment. I'm sure you can re sell the units anyway.

My exact thoughts.

No need to make it any more complicated. And move on.

And of course you can do otherwise but is it really worth it.

bassaholic

I'd return the money minus $5 for a Happy Meal!

tonyb

bassaholic wrote: »

I'd return the money minus $5 for a Happy Meal!

Amen, LOL....Even though the buyer may be a moron, you being the bigger person says more, especially since no gear has traded hands. Sucks sometimes to do the right thing, but your shaving mirror will like you better in the morning.

DaveHo

I'd return his money, but you might want to consider waiting a bit to make sure he didn't use a hi-jacked Paypal account to pay you. I think telling him he can have it when you re-sell the units is fair.

jephdood

I told him I was giving the money back, but that I needed some time to try and re-sell the units. Told him he'd get the return in December-- same time frame he was supposed to pay me the rest of the balance in our original deal. He agreed to that.

teekay0007

oldmodman wrote: »

If it were me I would send him back all the money.

Not because you need to.

But I just hate to take money from stupid people and the retarded.

And the buyer learns what from this route? He learns that his stool is, in fact, not rancid! Then, he goes on to crap on the next guy that goes - way! - out of their way to do him a favor. At a very minimum, 'dood should keep the "buyer's" money until the items sell and keep any amount of difference between the two transactions plus his expenses and maybe even a PITA fee. That way, maybe the arrogant ba$tard would think twice before pulling the same BS again.

This buyer sent the $200 as A DEPOSIT on the purchase. That means he provided that as earnest money for the buyer to consider the items sold and to hold them for him, thus taking them off the market. That's the idea of a deposit. If he doesn't follow through with buying the item, he should consider receiving any of the deposited money back as a gift.