Deposit left on car. Keep or not?
Discussion
I 'sold' the Jaguar, to someone who seemed genuine, just over 2 weeks ago and indeed, he left a £500 cash deposit for which i gave him a receipt.
To cut a long story short, (mucho stalling, etc.), he decides a week later that he can't afford it after all.
The car is back on sale and i have his money.
(This is the second time such a thing has happened to me, actually, it happened about 3 years ago also.)
So, part of me says the guy does not need to lose money if he is genuinely hard up, the other part says that i doubt i'd get my money back were i to muck someone about in the same way.
Would you return the money or tell him to move on?
To cut a long story short, (mucho stalling, etc.), he decides a week later that he can't afford it after all.
The car is back on sale and i have his money.
(This is the second time such a thing has happened to me, actually, it happened about 3 years ago also.)
So, part of me says the guy does not need to lose money if he is genuinely hard up, the other part says that i doubt i'd get my money back were i to muck someone about in the same way.
Would you return the money or tell him to move on?
Keep it.
If I paid someone a deposit and didn't complete the deal then I would expect to lose it and it would be my fault for not finishing the transaction.
You have taken the deposit to secure the car for the purchaser. In the meantime you may have missed other opportunities to sell it. If, for whatever reason, he cannot complete the deal then you have had to re-advertise it and waste more time trying to sell it. Keep the deposit.
I fact, just keep the car, it's a beauty.
If I paid someone a deposit and didn't complete the deal then I would expect to lose it and it would be my fault for not finishing the transaction.
You have taken the deposit to secure the car for the purchaser. In the meantime you may have missed other opportunities to sell it. If, for whatever reason, he cannot complete the deal then you have had to re-advertise it and waste more time trying to sell it. Keep the deposit.
I fact, just keep the car, it's a beauty.
Bit difficult that one. I'd prob keep it because I deal with the general public every day in my shop and constantly get messed about by dreamers and wasters. How can you tell that his story is genuine or that hes just seen another car he prefers or is cheaper...you cant. So say buyer beware and hes lost his deposit. I wouldnt expect to get a deposit back either.
If you think he's being straight about his circumstances, then I'd work out how much the extra week/two/three to sell it will cost you (or even hold until you know, see if the final price is <> the price you agreed with him), then give him back the difference (maybe less 10%).
- You'll not be out of pocket;
- He'll probably be grateful to get some of the money back.
...and you'll have done your good deed for the week/month!
If you think he just found a better deal, then keep the money. He obviously wrote it off when doing the other deal.
- You'll not be out of pocket;
- He'll probably be grateful to get some of the money back.
...and you'll have done your good deed for the week/month!
If you think he just found a better deal, then keep the money. He obviously wrote it off when doing the other deal.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
P50Boy said:
i put a 200 pound deposit on a new van before xmas with a good dealer. then had to cancel it and quite rightly lost the deposit. its there for a reason!!!!!
He would have to prove the loss to keep the deposit if you challenged him.Zilch.
It's easy for the seller to show a loss; the car is probably losing £10 a day (minimum) in depreciation for one thing.
Storage costs, advertising costs, keeping it clean, any number of costs really.
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