Potential problem with buyer; would like advice on how to proceed

[Thumpin6string]

After you offering to work with him and he refused, I'd tell him to pound sand.

 

[moon-bass]

I've actually proposed to work with him if it is defective (deal with warranty, etc.), but in his second message, he said he wasn't going to get it fixed if it is defective.

Defective and damaged are two different things - it doesn't sound like it is defective if it was working perfectly before you sold it, but he might have damaged it - especially if he went poking around looking for a cold solder joint (you may want to ask if he's opened the amp). Also, I'm no solder expert, but I didn't think a cold solder joint could cause problems like they are describing. Seems like he's already found an answer without diagnosing the issue and he's already convinced.

Indeed, he could have damaged it and is now looking for a refund. I've had that happen more than once. You may want to ask what he's done, etc.

I think your lawyer friend is spot on. I've been thru situations like this a few times and they never end well.

Something else that you might try - asking the buyer to video the issue. If he's having the issue, should be easy enough to reproduce and video. That could even be shared with the manufacturer.

It's been my experience that if the buyer is trying to pull something, they will refuse the video (always with a ton of excuses), or they will respond with "now it's working." The issue with the latter is that the buyer might say something like "well, it's intermittent" and you're back to square one.

If they refuse to video, then I'd cut contact especially since you have offered to work with him.

I would definitely NOT want to have a discussion about repairs of partial refunds: either they keep it or return it, otherwise it can become a rabbit hole.

agree with this 100%. If the buyer is shady, they will continue to be shady. The buyer already sounds difficult (at best).

 

[bearhart74]

IF it was me, (and it's not) I'd tell him to return it and give him his money back. Life's too short to screw with crap like this. You were honest and he may not be? Buyers remorse??

I sold an amp to a dude that was local. he freaked out saying it did not work. by freaked out i mean he was swearing up a storm and threatened me and my family in texts. kept his threats going even when i told him i would refund. needless to say i forced him to meet me at the local cop shop to do the return in order to make sure he and his car were on camera in case he kept up the bull which he did....all the way out the parking lot as he was speeding away.
Do the refund.
You never know who your dealing with.

 

[Pep]

Hello,

I recently sold an amplifier, that, to the best of my knowledge, was in perfect working condition. This was a high-end solid-state boutique amp ($2,000) that I purchased new in the summer of 2024 and that has never left my studio, let alone the table on which I unpacked it.

Five days after I sold him the amp, the buyer says he believes there's a "cold solder." He says when you first start the amplifier, the first notes you play won't "pass through" or might even distort. He says that as the amplifier gets warmer, the problem goes away, but that it will get worse if not fixed.

I've never noticed this, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. So, I shot agedhorse a message, and he said: "The power module used in those amps has a short cycle power-up delay that will delay power-up for 10 seconds ... This is part of the safety regulatory compliance of the power supply on the power module. There may be additional signal muting done within the DSP preamp as well."

I told the buyer what agedhorse said, and now he says it's also happening when you stop playing for about 10 minutes. I have done this many times, and I've never had that happen to me.

How would you proceed from here if you were in my shoes?

Edit: Also possible worth mentioning is that I asked him if he wanted to try the amp before purchasing it, and he declined.

Here's what I would do.

Have him return it. Once received, check it out. If it works fine with no issues, issue a refund minus both shipping costs. If there's a problem with it and it appears that the amp hasn't been visibly damaged, issue the full refund. If it has been damaged, get an estimate to repair it. Deduct that and both shipping costs from the refund.

 

[moon-bass]

I sold an amp to a dude that was local. he freaked out saying it did not work. by freaked out i mean he was swearing up a storm and threatened me and my family in texts. kept his threats going even when i told him i would refund. needless to say i forced him to meet me at the local cop shop to do the return in order to make sure he and his car were on camera in case he kept up the bull which he did....all the way out the parking lot as he was speeding away.
Do the refund.
You never know who your dealing with.

I've dealt with lots of people like that. There's ways to handle them. I don't like to let the crazies win ;-)

 

[darwin-bass]

IF it was me, (and it's not) I'd tell him to return it and give him his money back. Life's too short to screw with crap like this. You were honest and he may not be? Buyers remorse??

I feel like this just enables bad behaviors.

OP - It is possible for electronics to go bad during shipping so the perfect amp you boxed and ship may not have been perfect when it came out of the box on the other end. I had this happen to me as a buyer of an antenna tuner (ham gear). It was DOA. Seller said it worked fine. I believe him but I also know it was DOA. I returned it via the PP return policy because the item was substantially not as described And I reimbursed him for shipping both ways out of a certain sense of pity.

 

[Rojd]

It's interesting that once you told him what AH said, he came back with a different problem. He clearly didn't like that answer and is attempting to get around it.

 

[luckydawgg169]

IF it was me, (and it's not) I'd tell him to return it and give him his money back. Life's too short to screw with crap like this. You were honest and he may not be? Buyers remorse??

I wouldnt, what if he used it improperly to cause the problem and now you refund him and inherit a broken amp you cant sell ?

 

[mcnach]

I mean, I thought about it, but it would most likely result in an additional waste of time and money on my part. It's rare that I sell gear locally. Putting the ad back up would probably mean I'd sell it on Reverb or here, meaning I would have to pay PayPal or Reverb fees, pack the amp, deal with shipping, etc. etc. There was another potential local (ish) buyer, but what would I tell him? The original buyer, a week later, ... changed his mind? It would also imply that I'm opened to returns, which could open another whole can of worms.

I wouldn't do a thing unless they could show me clearly the issue on a video. But I'm leaning towards letting them figure it out and remove yourself from further discussion. It all sounds a bit contrived on their part. Yeah, you're going on tour soon and you pass on trying before buying? It sounds to me he played with it and changed his mind

 

[FilterFunk]

It's interesting that once you told him what AH said, he came back with a different problem. He clearly didn't like that answer and is attempting to get around it.

^This.

The guy got the amp, it works as it should, but it didn't sound the way he wanted it to, so instead of doing the right thing and saying to himself, "Oh, well...I guess I'll just have to sell it", he's basically trying to get a free trial at the OP's expense.

I've bought an embarrassing number of envelope filter pedals that worked as they should but didn't sound the way I wanted them to, so I sold them. I didn't lie to get a refund. It's really not that hard to do the right thing!

 

[Just Wrong]

I feel like this just enables bad behaviors.

OP - It is possible for electronics to go bad during shipping so the perfect amp you boxed and ship may not have been perfect when it came out of the box on the other end. I had this happen to me as a buyer of an antenna tuner (ham gear). It was DOA. Seller said it worked fine. I believe him but I also know it was DOA. I returned it via the PP return policy because the item was substantially not as described And I reimbursed him for shipping both ways out of a certain sense of pity.

It wasn't shipped. It was sold locally.

It's interesting that once you told him what AH said, he came back with a different problem. He clearly didn't like that answer and is attempting to get around it.

I relayed the new issue to AH, who said, "That doesn't make any sense either."

I wouldnt, what if he used it improperly to cause the problem and now you refund him and inherit a broken amp you cant sell ?

This is a very good point. He's had it for a week now. It's not like he contacted me within hours of having the amp.

 

[FilterFunk]

I sold an amp to a dude that was local. he freaked out saying it did not work. by freaked out i mean he was swearing up a storm and threatened me and my family in texts. kept his threats going even when i told him i would refund. needless to say i forced him to meet me at the local cop shop to do the return in order to make sure he and his car were on camera in case he kept up the bull which he did....all the way out the parking lot as he was speeding away.
Do the refund.
You never know who your dealing with.

There's something seriously wrong with that guy's head, or his soul, or both. For him to keep actin' a fool even after you agreed to a refund, and at a police station no less...

I hate to see people like that win, but sometimes the biggest victory is walking away with your good life and leaving him to rot in his. In a case like this, it's best to just be done with it.