Joined Oct 2009
L6: Expert
Forum Thread
Am I being unreasonable or wrong in this Craigslist dispute?
September 27, 2011 at
01:48 PM
Hi folks,
I will keep the story short but sufficient in quickly helping you understand the situation.
I sold a merchandise to a person on Craigslist for $130 dollars. This person was unable to pay the complete $130 at the time and offered to pay in two payments and told me that he was good for it. I initially declined this idea, not being comfortable with it. He later offered to "give up" a piece of electronic as collateral as something for me to hold on to. This was a Playstation 3 Slim. The first payment which I accepted was then $80 alongside the PS3.
He said he would be able to pay the remaining $50 the next weekend. The first meet-up was on a weekend, so it was essentially a week in-between the two original proposed payment times. However, at that time, I was going on a holiday and got stuck at the airport. As such, I couldn't make that weekend and asked if he could do the day after.
The first transaction was made on July 1st, meaning that the second payment was supposed to be on July 8th to 10th?
Since then, he has either been out of town or has repeatedly told me that he does not have the money on dates which he himself set up as dates of payments (3 or more times now). I have also found out that the merchandise which I sold him (a phone), is now broken.
I recently (i.e., mid September) -subtly indicated- to him that I cannot be waiting forever to get my money back and that at some point, I would take the PS3 as collateral. He proposed an October 1st payment as a date where he "should be" able to make the payment.
Based on e-mail exchanges in the past 48 hours, it is evident that he cannot make that date again, to which I provided an ultimatum for an additional one-more week extension.
Should he miss this date, I will terminate the deal and consider the PS3 to be collateral.
He is now flipping out, and mentioning that he couldn't believe that I was like this. He stated that he would be forced to call a lawyer should it come to that. He also indicated that he is only getting paid at the end of October and can only pay "then". He says he doesn't know what else he can do but again reiterated that he would be forced to contact a lawyer should it come down to that.
I haven't responded yet, but I'm looking for thoughts and ideas here. Am I being unreasonable? I'm only asking for my $50 back and it's close to 3 months now.
Thank you in advance to all who respond.
I will keep the story short but sufficient in quickly helping you understand the situation.
I sold a merchandise to a person on Craigslist for $130 dollars. This person was unable to pay the complete $130 at the time and offered to pay in two payments and told me that he was good for it. I initially declined this idea, not being comfortable with it. He later offered to "give up" a piece of electronic as collateral as something for me to hold on to. This was a Playstation 3 Slim. The first payment which I accepted was then $80 alongside the PS3.
He said he would be able to pay the remaining $50 the next weekend. The first meet-up was on a weekend, so it was essentially a week in-between the two original proposed payment times. However, at that time, I was going on a holiday and got stuck at the airport. As such, I couldn't make that weekend and asked if he could do the day after.
The first transaction was made on July 1st, meaning that the second payment was supposed to be on July 8th to 10th?
Since then, he has either been out of town or has repeatedly told me that he does not have the money on dates which he himself set up as dates of payments (3 or more times now). I have also found out that the merchandise which I sold him (a phone), is now broken.
I recently (i.e., mid September) -subtly indicated- to him that I cannot be waiting forever to get my money back and that at some point, I would take the PS3 as collateral. He proposed an October 1st payment as a date where he "should be" able to make the payment.
Based on e-mail exchanges in the past 48 hours, it is evident that he cannot make that date again, to which I provided an ultimatum for an additional one-more week extension.
Should he miss this date, I will terminate the deal and consider the PS3 to be collateral.
He is now flipping out, and mentioning that he couldn't believe that I was like this. He stated that he would be forced to call a lawyer should it come to that. He also indicated that he is only getting paid at the end of October and can only pay "then". He says he doesn't know what else he can do but again reiterated that he would be forced to contact a lawyer should it come down to that.
I haven't responded yet, but I'm looking for thoughts and ideas here. Am I being unreasonable? I'm only asking for my $50 back and it's close to 3 months now.
Thank you in advance to all who respond.
209 Comments
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Transaction:
(1) Phone - $130
Cash $80 + PS3 as $50 collateral
If Buyer did not come up with the $50 you keep the collateral. Same thing as when people put their houses up as collateral when buying items. The bank puts a lien on the home where you just keep the item.
OP
Where did you meet and make the exchange? If he doesn't know where you live i will just stop replying to his emails.
You gave him an ultimatum, it's fair. Either he gives you the $50 by some date, or the PS/3 is yours. If he asks for an extension of even one day, make him sign a letter that you write, which puts everything in writing. You don't need to be a lawyer to do this. Sleep well.
Transaction:
(1) Phone - $130
Cash $80 + PS3 as $50 collateral
If Buyer did not come up with the $50 you keep the collateral. Same thing as when people put their houses up as collateral when buying items. The bank puts a lien on the home where you just keep the item.
OP
Where did you meet and make the exchange? If he doesn't know where you live i will just stop replying to his emails.
Thank you everyone for your opinions and insight onto the matter. I feel better and more equipped in knowing what to mention in my next e-mail. I do not think I will shift my ultimatum dead and will stick to my initial 9th of October. I'm really not looking to screw this guy over and I want to give him ample time to gather the finances. I really am hoping that he somehow gets the $50 and that it happily ends.
Me keeping the PS3 is such a heavy burden on my conscience alone as I feel like such a jackass for doing so. I almost feel like just driving over to his place and dropping it off his front door and forget about this whole nonsense since it's really just $50 at the end of the day.
You're still in a good position of control here. I'd stop jerking around with this guy because it's wasting your time and frustrating you. Just set your boundaries and stick to them.
Either stick to your original plan, or just e-mail him and let him know that you don't have time for this, that you plan on keeping his PS3 until he makes contact with you to determine a time to trade his 50 bucks for your PS3.
And like a previous poster said... make it a public place and bring a friend with you.
You should tell him Oct 1st or you are keeping the PS3. He should be paid the end of Sept so there is the money.
If he doesnt have the money by the 1st, you "sold the PS3 for $50, sorry. Dont contact me again"
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If he wants to contact a lawyer, tell him go ahead. The lawyer will probably want $25,000 for this case and the poor retard will not be able to afford one.
As the above poster said, he will also get his salary in end of Sept, so why wait till Oct
Are Playstation 3 really $200+ on ebay
If he wants to contact a lawyer, tell him go ahead. The lawyer will probably want $25,000 for this case and the poor retard will not be able to afford one.
As the above poster said, he will also get his salary in end of Sept, so why wait till Oct
Are Playstation 3 really $200+ on ebay
I'm pretty sure it works. I doubt that he wants to jerk me around for 3 months only to let me find out that it was broken all this while....but I'm not going to go find out now while the deal is still possibly going.
About the salary issue...I'm not sure if he is working or not. All I know is that he is currently in training at the firefighter's academy. I'm not sure if they get paid during those periods.
Thank you everyone for all your feedback, I really appreciate the insight you guys as a collective have provided!
Im going to just let him know that I'll stick with the Oct 9th ultimatum to give him a little more time but that this will be my last extension. I won't change it to the 1st as I never explicitly mentioned an ultimatum when the October 1st timeline was set.
Cheers to everyone.
I understand where you are coming from and can appreciate that you will have to do what you will need to do on your end. If you strongly feel that I have wronged you, cheated you, scammed you, and/ or lied to you, all of which you feel necessitates the inclusion of a lawyer, I will respect your decision.
Having said that, please understand that I will do what I have to do to get the money. I would have been waiting for a little over 3 months come October 9th for $50. Understand that I have kept my end of the bargain since July 1st. Your PS3 is untouched, unscathed, and in the same condition when you gave it to me whilst you told me that you would be able to pay within the next week (from July 1st) and that you were "good for it". See things from my perspective.
I will repeat the following to ensure things are clear and out in the open:
If the 9th of October 2011 has passed and you are unable to pay the remaining $50 of the deal, your PS3 will be taken as collateral and I will consider that to be the completion of our deal. You will no longer be required to pay the remaining $50 of the original sale of $130. I will no longer contact you any further past this date nor will I respond any further.
Between now and then, you are more than welcome (and I wish you do) to contact me to set up a meeting at a public place so that we can complete the last step of our transaction and preferably not head down this bitter-road. I will not be responding to any other type of e-mails.
I hate how it has come to this, I really do.
-Good night.
If somebody offered me partial payment, I'd probably say I'd hold the item a week or two until he or she had all the money for it.
Depends on your state, there is something called small claim court which won't require lawyer presents but there is a filing fee though.
If it were me I would have sold the PS3 already.
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