Buyer left a deposit but won't collect
Discussion
Sold a car a couple of months ago through another forum, Buyer left a deposit a the beginning of June but still hasn't collected.
At first had a number of reasons why he'd not been able to, car needs to be trailered and this was causing issues but now refuses to respond to messages on the forum despite having been on the forum posting and hasn't replied to text's I sent over the weekend.
At what point is fair to give up and re advertise?
I have another guy interested and if he doesn't take it I'm thinking of fixing the bits that need sorting and re advertising at a price closer to it's true value, I had sold it very cheap just to get it out of the way.
At first had a number of reasons why he'd not been able to, car needs to be trailered and this was causing issues but now refuses to respond to messages on the forum despite having been on the forum posting and hasn't replied to text's I sent over the weekend.
At what point is fair to give up and re advertise?
I have another guy interested and if he doesn't take it I'm thinking of fixing the bits that need sorting and re advertising at a price closer to it's true value, I had sold it very cheap just to get it out of the way.
GreigM said:
sell it....thats more than a reasonable amount of time to collect. You held your side of the bargain by holding the sale for him, but he hasn't concluded, therefore he forfeits his deposit.
Exactly this. If you were feeling many more times courteous than this timewaster has been, then you could text him once more to say 'I will be advertising the car again from tomorrow as you have failed to meet the obligations of our agreement'. And you have the deposit for your troubles 
I would go with the ultimatum ie collect by next Sunday or I'm re-advertising it and you can have your deposit back.
Truckosaurus said:
Rule One of Private Car Sales: No Deposits.
Why not? I've always bought and sold privately with deposits - shows definite interest and worth more than those who claim to not be wasting your time as per the other thread.RemainAllHoof said:
I would go with the ultimatum ie collect by next Sunday or I'm re-advertising it and you can have your deposit back.
Because unless you've set out a specific time the vehicle has to collected within and what the consequences will be if you do not then i suspect your obliged to keep it until he paids the balance and collects?Truckosaurus said:
Rule One of Private Car Sales: No Deposits.
Why not? I've always bought and sold privately with deposits - shows definite interest and worth more than those who claim to not be wasting your time as per the other thread.OK so probably not quite that black and white, but I suspect both the seller and the buyer would be on dodgy ground if it ended up in CC.
RemainAllHoof said:
Truckosaurus said:
Rule One of Private Car Sales: No Deposits.
Why not? I've always bought and sold privately with deposits - shows definite interest and worth more than those who claim to not be wasting your time as per the other thread.Best thing to do is give a receipt for the deposit which states clearly that,
1) Balance to be paid (cash or bank transfer) and car collected by a fixed date,
2) Deposit is non-returnable and car will be sold to someone else if not collected.
Ozzie Osmond said:
Agreed 100%.
Best thing to do is give a receipt for the deposit which states clearly that,
1) Balance to be paid (cash or bank transfer) and car collected by a fixed date,
2) Deposit is non-returnable and car will be sold to someone else if not collected.
Yep, this is the best way to do it, with emphasis on number 2 - the deposit is to secure the car and is not returnable for any reason, unless the seller chooses to return it. It is effectively insurance against timewasters, which is how it should be treated in the OP's case too!Best thing to do is give a receipt for the deposit which states clearly that,
1) Balance to be paid (cash or bank transfer) and car collected by a fixed date,
2) Deposit is non-returnable and car will be sold to someone else if not collected.
Ozzie Osmond said:
RemainAllHoof said:
Truckosaurus said:
Rule One of Private Car Sales: No Deposits.
Why not? I've always bought and sold privately with deposits - shows definite interest and worth more than those who claim to not be wasting your time as per the other thread.Best thing to do is give a receipt for the deposit which states clearly that,
1) Balance to be paid (cash or bank transfer) and car collected by a fixed date,
2) Deposit is non-returnable and car will be sold to someone else if not collected.
This then shows the weakest of the deposit system from the buyer's point of view as they are only protected from being gazumped by the sake of a few quid that the seller would happily return.
Cheers for the replies, I've just messaged him saying if it's not collected by the weekend then I'm re advertising it.
We'll see what happens with the deposit, I understand this is a grey area but I wont be rushing to return it, He'll have to wait at least as long as he's made me wait.
Personally if I was the buyer I'd be too embarrassed to ask for my deposit back after messing someone about.
We'll see what happens with the deposit, I understand this is a grey area but I wont be rushing to return it, He'll have to wait at least as long as he's made me wait.
Personally if I was the buyer I'd be too embarrassed to ask for my deposit back after messing someone about.
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
Maybe he's dead?
Have you tried calling him...you know, to talk to him with words like what we did in the old days?
Absolutely!Have you tried calling him...you know, to talk to him with words like what we did in the old days?
I have worked with far too many people who call the boss/manager as soon as they get on sight without even looking at what the problem was, useless people!
I remember one saying, `ooh, how did we ever manage without mobile phones`, the answer he got was `we got it right first time or we used our heads`.
I blundered off a bit on a tangent but what is wrong with just calling someone, far too many people try to text their way through deals.
GreigM said:
andye30m3 said:
We'll see what happens with the deposit, I understand this is a grey area
Its not a grey area - deposits by definition are non-refundable, you would have no legal issue in holding onto itPart Payments are non refundable.
Deposits generally are refundable.
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