Sold surround system, now buyer says it’s faulty

[Lazermilk]

I sold my all in one pioneer surround system which had been packed away for a couple of years in its original packaging since I got a soundbar with rear speakers.

As far as I’m aware it worked perfectly when I packed it up, the buyer didn’t test it before he bought it (difficult to be fair with the covid restrictions.) and he also didn’t haggle at all with the price.

He is now saying the hdmi pass through is not working and he gets no picture on the tv from any inputs (it has 4 hdmi inputs and one output to the tv on the amp)
Could something have happened while packed away to cause this? Could he have bought it to fix or swap with his amp if his was faulty? I don’t know if amps have interchangeable parts like this that would only affect the image?

I checked what he’s selling now on the app and he has a 4k dell monitor, logic board for MacBook Air with ram and ssd, MacBook Pro 15, MacBook 12 and MacBook Pro 13 and an iPhone along with some other items, this made me think maybe he’s buying and selling used items as a business and perhaps needed parts? Possibly overthinking it though.

I wouldn’t have sold it if I knew it had a fault like this but I’m also not comfortable returning it with a fault I didn’t know about as I don’t know what caused this.

Any ideas how best to handle it?
I don’t want to rip the guy off if genuine, but also don’t want to be scammed either!
Thanks!

[Chester draws]

How do you know it was working when he picked it up?

He has proof it's not working.

eBay?

[Lazermilk]

That’s the problem I don’t know for sure it worked when he picked it up, I know it worked when I stopped using it a few years ago and it has sat in its original packaging inside my house since, not in damp or cold conditions so how could the fault have developed like that?

I’m not in UK so was sold on the local app here kind of like gumtree but better I guess.

ETA - wish I just tested it first now!

[Lazermilk]

He has now suggested I send him 100 euro and he keeps the speakers to sell on, it sold for 200 so not really up for that option!
I’d rather keep it as it would work with optical cable instead, I only sold it to free up space as the box is quite bulky!

[Lazermilk]

Can someone confirm that with a new EU law even private sales have warranty unless specified otherwise?

He is saying this but can’t see anything online about it from a quick search now.

[Sheepshanks]

Lazermilk said:

Can someone confirm that with a new EU law even private sales have warranty unless specified otherwise?

He is saying this but can’t see anything online about it from a quick search now.

Ask him to provide a reference.

Most people on here are UK based and we left the EU almost a year ago.

To be fair, it does always seem to be the HDMI that fails on AV kit - but maybe he knows that.

[boyse7en]

It's a tricky one, but to me it sound like a lot of effort to go to for him to swap out the faulty board of one with the good board from another.

I bought a DVD player just before Xmas from someone local. They said it worked when they unplugged it a year or so before so I just said that if it didn't work when I got it home I'd let them know within the hour. If it didn't work then I'd have taken it back.
I always test stuff before I sell it, but if you don't then I guess the risk is that the buyer may want to return it.

[Red 5]

Lazermilk said:

That’s the problem I don’t know for sure it worked when he picked it up, I know it worked when I stopped using it a few years ago and it has sat in its original packaging inside my house since, not in damp or cold conditions so how could the fault have developed like that?

I’m not in UK so was sold on the local app here kind of like gumtree but better I guess.

ETA - wish I just tested it first now!

Electronic items works work fine, until they don’t
There is no way to know when a fault might occur, be the item in daily use, or long term storage.
Selling the thing as “Working order” was tantamount a total guess, after a few years in the box.

I guess you could just tell them tough luck and block them and hope they go away.
I think I’d just send back the 100, as you might as well be done with the whole thing and get on with life.
If it is faulty, it’s not worth even £100 anyway.

Just think of it as a w#nker tax for not bothering to test it
That’s what I did once, when I was lazy and didn’t test a pair of speakers I sold. It was a bit easier though, as we both noticed during collection. I gave them away for free doh!

[benz0]

Lazermilk said:

That’s the problem I don’t know for sure it worked when he picked it up, I know it worked when I stopped using it a few years ago and it has sat in its original packaging inside my house since, not in damp or cold conditions so how could the fault have developed like that?

I’m not in UK so was sold on the local app here kind of like gumtree but better I guess.

ETA - wish I just tested it first now!

could have done. i have a four year old panasonic camera which i stored in a box for a couple of years and won't power on any more.

[Tommie38]

Unless you are really short for cash I’d just give him the refund and move on. A partial refund isn’t a terrible result.

Generally speaking, on eBay I will immediately refund if there is an issue. Life is too short!

[megaphone]

Maybe it is not compatible with his HDMI source? Wrong version? Wrong resolution, not 4K compliant.

Of him 50 euro.

[hyphen]

tell him to try a different cable.

[Lazermilk]

Sorry not been on for a while, ended up just taking it back and gave his money back, pretty sure he wasn’t a scammer so was likely just bad luck.
I will just keep it now and use it in another room or something, can’t be bothered with any more hassle!