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.
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there is a filing cost which varies by area, but close to $50.
If you should win your case in Small claims court. Your court cost are paid the defenant. (Ok, I watch a lot of Judge Judy!)
But the real lesson here is:
1) Just be he said "that he was good for it." (the balance). Means NOTHING!
If the transaction is not 100% cash in hand... walk away.
2) You did not have a written agreement/contract. Hard to prove. But you do have lot's of email from him. (Don't forget emails takes your time away, reading them and responding back.)
3) Learn from your mistakes. And if possible, learn from other's mistakes, first!
Stick to the letter you wrote him - don't even respond if he offers any deviations from what you've laid out. Meet him in a public place along with a friend to collect your $50 (if he follows your instructions), and it would probably be a good idea to hang onto all of your correspondence with him for a while, just in case.
.
And I work for a huge US defense consulting firm.. so it does happen some places (not saying this guy is telling the truth).
Either way, I'll give you 50 for that ps3! haha
Thank you in advance to all who respond.
The only detail missing is an explicit end date. Of course, the buyer has already breached his side of the bargain (hasn't paid the remainder), so any attempt by the buyer to get any recourse is going to fail miserably considering he, himself, is in breach of the contract.
...seems unlikely though.
- The guy doesn't have $50 to pay the seller, let alone an attorney or filing fees
- The guy is already in breach of the contract
- A PS3 is a paltry sum for a court action
The buyer has no legs to stand on.
I do understand (and was what I actually initially proposed to him to which he said okay and that he'd get the money and get back to me; he later proposed to give something up and pay a portion of the first payment) that I should have just opted to wait for him to get all the money and would have avoided all of this fuss, but he seemed like he really needed the phone at the time. I was willing to help him out, but not at the expense of being too gullible, hence the collateral.
We'll see how this goes in the coming days.
This has probably been my most interesting Craigslist transaction. Naturally, the first time I decide to be nice on Craigslist and pull such a deal like this, I get whipped. Lawl.
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And I work for a huge US defense consulting firm.. so it does happen some places (not saying this guy is telling the truth).
I do understand (and was what I actually initially proposed to him to which he said okay and that he'd get the money and get back to me; he later proposed to give something up and pay a portion of the first payment) that I should have just opted to wait for him to get all the money and would have avoided all of this fuss, but he seemed like he really needed the phone at the time. I was willing to help him out, but not at the expense of being too gullible, hence the collateral.
We'll see how this goes in the coming days.
This has probably been my most interesting Craigslist transaction. Naturally, the first time I decide to be nice on Craigslist and pull such a deal like this, I get whipped. Lawl.
What kind of friggin' crackhead can't come up with $50 in 3 months?
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I thought about this some more, this guy owes you more than $50. They've had a $50 loan interest free for 3 months. If you sell the PS3 for $140, I would only give them back $50. I'd keep the extra $40 as interest and a selling fee. That or just keep the whole $140.
Lastly, this guy doesn't have a leg to stand on in court. NO lawyer will take this case pro-bono over a used PS3 (there's no winnings, lol). The lawyer fees would be more than a new PS3.