Buyer claims an item is faulty after inspected purchase

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Maisy

24 posts

Geek

#112268 3-Dec-2012 12:00

So, I sold my 20" iMac on Trademe for $550 because my partner and I needed money for a bunch of things, including vet bills for a malnourished stray cat that we found living under our house. The computer was perfectly functional as far as we could see.

The buyer came over on Friday afternoon and had a play with the computer before agreeing that it was in good condition, handing over cash and taking it home.

That night she sent through an email saying that she had started to notice faint lines running down one side of the screen. She asked whether we knew anything about this and suggested that we come to view it.

We stated that we had never seen problems with the screen, and reminded her that she had viewed the item before taking it home, acknowledging that there were no visible issues at the time. We asked her whether she might have knocked it during transportation, gave her the number of a good repair place.

She then replied saying that (1) she believed the lines were indicative of a longstanding issue and therefore our responsibility, (2) that she was not willing to have it looked at by a professional, (3) that they could not have possibly been caused by bumps during transportation, (4) that the lines were barely noticable but that she was a digital artist and therefore needed the screen to be in perfect condition, (5) that they simply had not been noticable at the time of viewing due to "dark desktop wallpaper" (it was a photo of bright green leaves), and (6) that she wanted a refund.

I replied stating that (1) she had inspected and approved the item at he time of the sale and therefore issues that arose after the purchase seemed unlikely to be my responsibility, (2) that the majority of the money had been spent at the vet, and therefore I was unable to provide a refund unless legally obligated to do so and I am a student and will have great difficulty saving up enough money to pay her back.

She has not replied to this email as of yet, however I wanted to check with knowledgable people as to what I am legally responsible for. Am I obligated to provide her with a refund? It seems unfair that an issue that arose post-purchase would be the seller's responsibility, as the buyer is likely to have caused this problem herself.

Any thoughts would be appreciated :-)

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#726063 3-Dec-2012 12:04

if she inspected it then she hasn't got a leg to stand on IMO.

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johnr

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#726064 3-Dec-2012 12:04

Advise them to suck it in and harden up, They did prior inspection

dickytim

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#726065 3-Dec-2012 12:06

so long as you didn't misrepresent it then I would highly doubt you are obligated to refund her, the fact that she inspected the item when she collected it would put the onus back on her, if she wanted a warranty she should have purchased new from Apple.

gzt

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#726076 3-Dec-2012 12:18

Link to the trademe listing?

surfisup1000

5288 posts

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#726085 3-Dec-2012 12:29

If she inspected beforehand then too bad. You have no control or knowledge over what happened after it left your hands other than her word.

"the lines were barely noticable but that she was a digital artist and therefore needed the screen to be in perfect condition"

If so, she should have examined the screen more carefully!!

I doubt she has a leg to stand on. The problem is, you're going to get bad feedback when you've done nothing wrong.

dickytim

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#726088 3-Dec-2012 12:31

surfisup1000: If she inspected beforehand then too bad. You have no control or knowledge over what happened after it left your hands other than her word.

"the lines were barely noticable but that she was a digital artist and therefore needed the screen to be in perfect condition"

If so, she should have examined the screen more carefully!!

I doubt she has a leg to stand on. The problem is, you're going to get bad feedback when you've done nothing wrong.

you can apply to have bad feed back removed if you can prove it is unwarranted, that being said you can reply to any feed back and clarify the facts.

dickytim

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#726090 3-Dec-2012 12:33

that being said looking at other feed back you have a good track record, I wouldn't worry about one bit of bad feed back.

Maisy

24 posts

Geek

#726094 3-Dec-2012 12:35

It is my Mum's acccount, so I would feel pretty terrible if her reputation was tarnished due to this drama. I have just written to Trademe - hopefully if bad feedback is placed we will be able to have it removed :-(

xpd

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#726102 3-Dec-2012 12:39

Ditto... if inspected, then shes on her own really... she can drag you through small claims but overall wouldnt be worth the hassle and she'll probably lose considering you let her check it in person beforehand.

If she does give you a negative, contact TM, and quite often they will remove the feedback if they view it in the right light... if they dont, just ensure you put in a response to her feedback stating what happened.

Give the buyer a neutral feedback....

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#726108 3-Dec-2012 12:46

don't give feedback for 44 days ... on the 45th day do whatever you like and they cannot retribute because feedbacks expire after 45 days ...

that's what i learnt from a cyber bully many moons ago (i was the victim)

Mark

1615 posts

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#726129 3-Dec-2012 13:13

joker97: don't give feedback for 44 days ... on the 45th day do whatever you like and they cannot retribute because feedbacks expire after 45 days ...

that's what i learnt from a cyber bully many moons ago (i was the victim)

Isn't that sort of stretching the "cyber bully" definition a little ? (getting bad feedback) I'd say it was more the work of someone being a tw@t ...

NonprayingMantis

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#726131 3-Dec-2012 13:17

Maisy: It is my Mum's acccount, so I would feel pretty terrible if her reputation was tarnished due to this drama. I have just written to Trademe - hopefully if bad feedback is placed we will be able to have it removed :-(

unless this is the first time you mum has used her trademe account then she will, hopefully, already have plenty of positive feedback.

If so, then one peice of negative feedback is not going to make any difference to her repuation provided she alreadyhas more than, say, 10 positives, especially as you can comment on the negative feedback and explain the siutuation.

Klipspringer

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#726136 3-Dec-2012 13:29

NonprayingMantis:
Maisy: It is my Mum's acccount, so I would feel pretty terrible if her reputation was tarnished due to this drama. I have just written to Trademe - hopefully if bad feedback is placed we will be able to have it removed :-(

unless this is the first time you mum has used her trademe account then she will, hopefully, already have plenty of positive feedback.

If so, then one peice of negative feedback is not going to make any difference to her repuation provided she alreadyhas more than, say, 10 positives, especially as you can comment on the negative feedback and explain the siutuation.

You do realise that by using your moms account you are breaching Trademe's T&C?

3.4 Security of your login information: You are responsible for keeping your login information, including your email address and password, secret and secure. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree:

not to permit any other person to use your user name or membership; and
not to disclose, or provide to any other person, your password, email address, date of birth or any other information in connection with your membership that may allow them to gain access to your membership.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/help/143/terms-and-conditions

bagheera

459 posts

Ultimate Geek

#726138 3-Dec-2012 13:31

as you are a private seller on an internet auction place the buyer has very little rights

from comsumer affairs web site http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/for-consumers/goods/second-hand-goods

At auctionIf you are buying goods at auction remember that the Consumer Guarantees Act doesn’t apply. You will probably have to sign an agreement to the terms of the auction. Read these carefully to see what the auction rules are. The terms of the auction should be made available to you before the auction; they might be on signs or posters in the auction room. The terms will often include extra money to be paid to the auction house, when the goods have to be collected by, and how you can pay.

The Fair Trading Act does apply, so that means that goods have to be the same as they were described to you. The Sale of Goods Act requires that the goods be of ‘merchantable quality’ and that the seller has the right to sell the goods. But auctioneers are allowed to contract out of this Act, so you will need to check the terms of the auction.
Internet auctionsThe same laws that apply to auctions also apply to online auctions when the seller is a trader (in this case ‘trader’ means someone who sells a lot of items). When you buy from a trader at a ‘buy now’ price then the same laws apply as when buying from a shop. But if the seller isn’t a professional trader, then it is classed as a private sale.

Second-hand cars are one of the biggest problem areas for consumers. See here for more information on buying a car.
Private salesPrivate sales include buying at a garage sale, from a neighbour, from an advertisement in the paper and also private sellers in internet sales or auctions. Private sales are not covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act or the Fair Trading Act. This means you have less consumer law protection and it is important to check out what you are buying. See if mechanical or electrical items work, and get them checked out by an expert if you can.

If the item has a manufacturer’s warranty on it, it may still apply after the sale so make sure you get that off the seller.

Get a receipt from the seller saying when you bought it and the name and address of the seller. Also keep records of anything that the seller has told you about the item. If anything turns out not to be true you may be able to use the Contractual Remedies Act to get money back.

mattwnz

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#726139 3-Dec-2012 13:31

Maisy: It is my Mum's acccount, so I would feel pretty terrible if her reputation was tarnished due to this drama. I have just written to Trademe - hopefully if bad feedback is placed we will be able to have it removed :-(

I am in two minds about this, especially having purchased something that was advertised as working, but later discovering it had a fault that the seller wasn't aware of, due to them not using the feature that had the defect. They did however accuse me of causing the defect.

If they are 'faint lines' that are barely noticeable, then the odds of the buyer causing this are highly unlikely. It is likely they just didn't notice them, and neither did you, at inspection time, until they started doing some work on it. Sometimes you don't notice these things until later, especially with minor screen defects. They were probably mainly checking whether the computer actually worked and turned on, when they checked it with you.

How old is the computer, because it could still be covered by the CGA if the monitor has a fault, and probably only the original buyer can make that claim for repair. So it could be less stress just giving them a refund, especially if you can get it repaired under the CGA. BUt I would first check to see if there is any damage to it caused by the buyer.
It is possible that the lines were always there and you just didn't notice them, and you didn't advertise that defect on the auction, even if you weren't aware of it. It is possible that they are only noticeable for particular users doing graphics work.

However as they did do a pre purhcase inspection, and with second had goods it is buyer beware.

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