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Bad Sale advice

C

comicbookguy95

Guest
Mar 4, 2012
140
3
Rockwall, Texas
#1
(Note- this has NOTHING to do with any fellow TBers or this site.)

So my wife and I had a washing machine for sale posted on a Facebook swap shop. We had been trying to selling for a while and had to keep coming down on the price. Original retail $1100, we paid $800 finally sold it for $190. Whoooo...

Any way. After agreeing on a price with the buyer they asked if there was any type of warranty. We said no - neither from the manufacturer or us. Then they asked if they could see it running. We said we would. Before they got to our house, my wife and I hooked the machine up in our garage and ran it through a rinse and spin cycle. Worked perfectly. When the buyers showed up, we were preparing to show it running when the said they didn't need to - THEIR mistake. I said ok and We unhooked it - MY mistake. So we loaded it into their SUV by laying it on its back and they leave.

Now the next day they message saying it's not working and they want there money back. After a long back and forth, I refuse. I know we sold them a working piece of equipment. After that they post something in the Swap Shop about it and eventually name names as to not do business with us and I comment on it with the whole story. We also contacted the admin about the situation.

All in all I'm not terribly worried about it but the buyers have been to my home and know where I live. Because of that, my wife got next to no sleep last night and I'm going to work from home for a few days.

Thoughts, advice?

-Thanks
 
#6
iamlowsound said:
You are a little paranoid of you are working from hole because you are scared that they will come back and do something.

lowsound
Click to expand...


Well, the guy DOES live in texas


(oh no i went there...just kidding)


I have to say yeah i wouldn't lose sleep over it at all but i don't know, maybe the guy looked dangerous? I still think they are just your average scum**** who wanted a free washing machine but probably won't do anything about it. They just had to try it. The thing is if they want their money back, i'd tell them they have to bring the machine back...if they refuse, well that means it's still working and theyre just scamming you...

It's also possible something happened during transport. But the fact that they did not want to try it when there in the end to me means they knew what they were doing...
 
#7
What seems to be the problem with the machine? Is it not filling? Not spinning? Not emptying?

Have you tried walking thorough some basic troubleshooting with the new owners to make sure they've installed it properly? (Yes, hooking up a washing machine is incredibly simple. People screw up easier things...)

Do you both have cell phones with video chat? Offer to 'sit in' while they demonstrate the problem with the machine.

These are just some ideas: The point is, maybe there's a way to work things out reasonably, or at least show your good intentions. Focusing on fixing the problem rather than assigning responsibility might be the best solution for everyone. And unlikely as it seems, if they are scamming you in any way, they may very well back down in the face of good will and reason.
 
#11
GlennW said:
That's what I was thinking. I believe they're shipped upright, and might even have the motor anchored to stabilize it during transport.
Click to expand...

They are shipped upright but the only reason you don't want to tip them is because you might dent a panel. You don't want to put fridges on their sides/back because you'll slug the compressor but you can get away with it if you let it stand up for a day before plugging it in.

I ran an electronics warehouse that got into appliances, I have moved my share of washers and dryers.
 
#12
So they say they want to see it running and then decide against seeing it run when they get to your house. Sounds fishy to me.

They probably think they can intimidate you into giving them a free washer. I'd go to the Swap Shop page and call them out on it.
 
#15
I had someone do something similar to this to me once. I was moving and he was my upstairs neighbor. He approached me as he saw I was moving, totally unsolicited by me, and asked if I had any furniture I would like to sell him.

I thought about if there was anything I wanted to avoid moving, so I told him I had a loveseat I would part with if he wanted to take a look at it. He looked at it and agreed on my price. He came by the next day with the money and I helped him move it upstairs into his place.

He then called me the next day and said he decided he didn't like the loveseat and wanted his money back. At this point I knew he was just trifling with me and figured me for a sucker. I told him all sales were final, he put up a big stink and I basically told him that's the way the cookie crumbles. I was trying to get my stuff moved and didn't need the aggravation of having to move that loveseat back downstairs again. I believe that's what he was counting on and was hoping I'd just give him his money back and tell him to keep the loveseat. Not gonna happen. I didn't just fall off a turnip truck, despite what he may have thought.
 

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