Private buyer wants his holding deposit back
Discussion
I've a car up for sale at the moment , within an hour of it going live (last Wednesday) I received an email saying this guy wanted it and after a few back and forth emails he paid a non-refundable deposit of £500 by direct transfer, the mails clearly record hos acceptance of my stipulation that it is non-refundable.
As part of the deal he wanted a new MOT putting on it which I quickly arranged and took a day off work to have it done last Friday.
We had arranged for him to collect and pay remainder on Saturday.
I opened emails on Saturday morning to see he emailed me at just before 2am saying his wife didn't agree with the purchase and he was pulling out of the purchase and wanted his deposit back, i told him tough s
t he changed his mind and it was non-refundable.
There have since been many emails ending with him saying he will get his bank to reclaim his money as i was fraudulent and he's threatened me with the police.
I've maintained my stance but it is bothering me that if he does go to the Police I'm in for a rough time.
Am i within the law to keep the money?
Can you get his bank to claw it back?
Cheers
'dip
As part of the deal he wanted a new MOT putting on it which I quickly arranged and took a day off work to have it done last Friday.
We had arranged for him to collect and pay remainder on Saturday.
I opened emails on Saturday morning to see he emailed me at just before 2am saying his wife didn't agree with the purchase and he was pulling out of the purchase and wanted his deposit back, i told him tough s
t he changed his mind and it was non-refundable.There have since been many emails ending with him saying he will get his bank to reclaim his money as i was fraudulent and he's threatened me with the police.
I've maintained my stance but it is bothering me that if he does go to the Police I'm in for a rough time.
Am i within the law to keep the money?
Can you get his bank to claw it back?
Cheers
'dip
No, his bank cannot claw it back. He has a written contract with you that the deposit is non-refundable which you are perfectly entitled to hold him to.
You can however refund his money if you want to, but you are in the clear legally right now.
Oh, and the police won't give two hoots as it's a civil matter.
You can however refund his money if you want to, but you are in the clear legally right now.
Oh, and the police won't give two hoots as it's a civil matter.
IANAL but I always thought it was the case that a seller could only claim his costs in prepping and re-advertising the car from a deposit and had to return the rest, which is what I advised someone on another forum and told him to check it out.
He came back and said he was told, by a solicitor, that not only were they were within their rights to keep hold of his entire deposit but if they wanted to they could pursue him to fulfill the contract they had both entered into, even though the car hadn't even been allocated a build slot at that time, so no-one had lost anything.
It was an Audi main dealer but I don't see why it would be any different for a private sale.
He came back and said he was told, by a solicitor, that not only were they were within their rights to keep hold of his entire deposit but if they wanted to they could pursue him to fulfill the contract they had both entered into, even though the car hadn't even been allocated a build slot at that time, so no-one had lost anything.
It was an Audi main dealer but I don't see why it would be any different for a private sale.
Yes he can have some of his deposit back.
After you have deducted the cost of MOT, lost wages in having Friday off work, readvertising costs, your additional costs taking time out with prospective punters and likelihood you will receive less for the car now hes fked you about.
So he probably owes YOU £500.
After you have deducted the cost of MOT, lost wages in having Friday off work, readvertising costs, your additional costs taking time out with prospective punters and likelihood you will receive less for the car now hes f
ked you about.So he probably owes YOU £500.
Thanks for your feedback, I should have added originally that I put off another likely sale because of this guy, so I'm feeling pretty aggrieved at the moment, and as for giving him all his money back not a chance.
Just worked out my daily equivalent rate of pay which is £200, so that I feel I should deduct, the MOT, well I would have had to do that anyway, and £50 for missing another potential buyer.
I do sort of feel for him as I can well imagine him seeing it and thinking "yes" then plucking up the courage to tell his misses who says on yer bike dear hubby, we're not having that!
I think I'll offer him £250 just to go away and teach him a lesson - watch this space.
Just worked out my daily equivalent rate of pay which is £200, so that I feel I should deduct, the MOT, well I would have had to do that anyway, and £50 for missing another potential buyer.
I do sort of feel for him as I can well imagine him seeing it and thinking "yes" then plucking up the courage to tell his misses who says on yer bike dear hubby, we're not having that!
I think I'll offer him £250 just to go away and teach him a lesson - watch this space.
Edited by sherbertdip on Wednesday 1st February 21:16
It's clear from your correspondence what the money was for
You haven't stolen it, or fraudulently taken it
You've fulfilled your part of the deal entirely (if you've not missed anything out)
So, technically, you can tell him to poke it.
Probably grief ensuing from this though, so remind him of the above and offer him £150 back.
Be prepared to negotiate, settle at no more than £250.
What a dick.
You haven't stolen it, or fraudulently taken it
You've fulfilled your part of the deal entirely (if you've not missed anything out)
So, technically, you can tell him to poke it.
Probably grief ensuing from this though, so remind him of the above and offer him £150 back.
Be prepared to negotiate, settle at no more than £250.
What a dick.
Alucidnation said:
Just give him his money back and move on FFS.
Why people insist on making there own lives difficult is beyond me, regardless of who's right.
You'll find another buyer.
Why people insist on making there own lives difficult is beyond me, regardless of who's right.
You'll find another buyer.
Vaud said:
Technically you could probably keep it all...
Personally I would refund £350, holding £150 as costs of MOT, relisting and ahole factor.
Edit. I'm not a lawyer.
+1 I would look to give as much back as possible.Personally I would refund £350, holding £150 as costs of MOT, relisting and a
hole factor.Edit. I'm not a lawyer.
His contract was to buy the car and yours was to deliver it for collection. You made a firm contract which he has chosen to break by not collecting and paying the residual amount.
Supposing he had arrived to collect the car, only to be given his deposit back and to be told that you had sold it to someone else. He would have had a case in law for damages for breach of contract.
You, in turn, are entitled to keep the deposit as compensation for breach of contract and to bill him for any losses in excess of that.
Supposing he had arrived to collect the car, only to be given his deposit back and to be told that you had sold it to someone else. He would have had a case in law for damages for breach of contract.
You, in turn, are entitled to keep the deposit as compensation for breach of contract and to bill him for any losses in excess of that.
OP, what percentage of your asking price is the £500?
The basic rule is that a deposit acts a surety for the buyer entering into the contract and effectively guarantees that he will fulfil his side of the bargain. Therefore, if he changes his mind and pulls out of the deal the seller is entitled to keep the deposit. However, if the deposit formed a substantial part of the price the buyer could try arguing that he didn't pay a deposit at all, because in reality the £500 amounted to a part-payment.
In these circumstances the buyer may be entitled to some form of refund, although he may not get all his money back. This is because you can withhold some of the money to take account of any costs you have incurred as a result. They would have to be reasonable and evidenced: you can't just pluck figures out of the ether.
If it were me I would hang on to the £500 until the car is sold then make an appropriate deduction. Inform the buyer accordingly and let him try suing you for that amount. I can't see any judge agreeing with him if he did submit a claim.
The basic rule is that a deposit acts a surety for the buyer entering into the contract and effectively guarantees that he will fulfil his side of the bargain. Therefore, if he changes his mind and pulls out of the deal the seller is entitled to keep the deposit. However, if the deposit formed a substantial part of the price the buyer could try arguing that he didn't pay a deposit at all, because in reality the £500 amounted to a part-payment.
In these circumstances the buyer may be entitled to some form of refund, although he may not get all his money back. This is because you can withhold some of the money to take account of any costs you have incurred as a result. They would have to be reasonable and evidenced: you can't just pluck figures out of the ether.
If it were me I would hang on to the £500 until the car is sold then make an appropriate deduction. Inform the buyer accordingly and let him try suing you for that amount. I can't see any judge agreeing with him if he did submit a claim.
I paid a deposit on a car from a private seller so he wouldn't sell to anybody else.
When I went to pick it up it wasn't what I expected so didn't go through with the purchase.
I didn't ask for the deposit back because as far as I was concerned that was my gamble and I lost.
He held it for me and I didn't purchase it so he lost out on potential other purchasers or at least delayed the sale.
When I went to pick it up it wasn't what I expected so didn't go through with the purchase.
I didn't ask for the deposit back because as far as I was concerned that was my gamble and I lost.
He held it for me and I didn't purchase it so he lost out on potential other purchasers or at least delayed the sale.
Bright Halo said:
I paid a deposit on a car from a private seller so he wouldn't sell to anybody else.
When I went to pick it up it wasn't what I expected so didn't go through with the purchase.
I didn't ask for the deposit back because as far as I was concerned that was my gamble and I lost.
He held it for me and I didn't purchase it so he lost out on potential other purchasers or at least delayed the sale.
I've only done this once, and it was with a dealer, but they said it was just a holding deposit to make sure I turned up. If I didn't want the car for any reason they would refund it.When I went to pick it up it wasn't what I expected so didn't go through with the purchase.
I didn't ask for the deposit back because as far as I was concerned that was my gamble and I lost.
He held it for me and I didn't purchase it so he lost out on potential other purchasers or at least delayed the sale.
Perhaps that's where buyers expectations are?
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