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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Or per SD rules... 11x$5 payments made simultaneously
Your solution is rather obvious. Who here didn't think of that?!!? The issue is whether the OP can just arbitrarily sell the collateral without legal issues in the future.
Now he wants to you to wait another month.
Sell the PS3, get your 50, and give him the balance. That's what I would do.
When he gets that 50, he can buy another PS3 used for about what you sold it for, and not be out anything, other than the hassle.. which he deserves.
Oh, and I loled at all the lawyer talk in this thread.. getting a lawyer over $50?
So, if you're that desperate for cash, then sell it for a lower price and get the full balance right then and there.
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Shoot, I just finished paying a stupidly high CC bill that wasn't even mine *magically, no proof that it wasn't according to Shitty Card so I was stuck w/the fraud bill* and I wanna celebrate this month!
Even if the phone is now broken, there is no argument that he does not have to pay the $50. I believe all sales on Craigslist are sold "as is". I was with him when the phone booted up for the first time, and it was working when he tried making a call.
Whatever that has happened between now and the point I sold it to him, I would like to believe is no longer my responsibility.
I'll say it again, the one time I try to be nice on Craigslist, I get slapped in the face.
Haven't heard a single thing from him yet. 9 days remaining.
Shoot, I just finished paying a stupidly high CC bill that wasn't even mine *magically, no proof that it wasn't according to Shitty Card so I was stuck w/the fraud bill* and I wanna celebrate this month!
Even if the phone is now broken, there is no argument that he does not have to pay the $50. I believe all sales on Craigslist are sold "as is". I was with him when the phone booted up for the first time, and it was working when he tried making a call.
Whatever that has happened between now and the point I sold it to him, I would like to believe is no longer my responsibility.
I'll say it again, the one time I try to be nice on Craigslist, I get slapped in the face.
Haven't heard a single thing from him yet. 9 days remaining.
Sorry blacksoxing. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable selling it after reading some of the previous posts. I'd sure as hell not want to get in trouble with the authorities and would rather the thing just sit in the basement till it rots. Lawl.
And, when you take ppl to small claims court, there really isn't a mechanism out there that will ensure you'll get paid the court judgement. The losing party could just not pay it and you'll have to go out of your way to collect.
If you don't mind doing that, then continue extending lines of credit to private parties out there.
By the way, as far as doing this in the spirit of helping another human being and trusting that person, you do realize that it's a stranger, right? If you wanted to be helpful, why not just discount the price for him and get paid in full? Now, you're going through all this trouble for another $50. If you lowered it down another $25, maybe he could have borrowed that $25 to pay you all upfront. Or, better yet, why couldn't he just borrow the original $50 to pay you? If he can't depend on anyone else around him to lend him $50, why should you (a total stranger) extend him such courtesies? Maybe because he's a deadbeat and ppl who know him don't want to lend him any money. If he was so hardup for some cash for a cell phone (which he so desperately needs), why doesn't he just sell the PS3 and use that money to buy the phone from you?
But, you're Mr. Humanitarian, right? Mr. Trust-even-strangers-because-ppl-are-inherently-good, right? Well, look where you are now!
He emailed me saying that he will have the money by Friday or Sunday. If I couldn't wait, he stated his usual lawyer rhetoric and he was dead serious and wasn't joking around anymore (and that he would totally win in court).
Lawl. I still don't get that part of him or the point of those threats.
Regardless, it all ends happily.
At the end of the day, fear gives men wings.
He emailed me saying that he will have the money by Friday or Sunday. If I couldn't wait, he stated his usual lawyer rhetoric and he was dead serious and wasn't joking around anymore (and that he would totally win in court).
Lawl. I still don't get that part of him or the point of those threats.
Regardless, it all ends happily.
At the end of the day, fear gives men wings.
Noob doesn't realize that no lawyer will help him.
Noob doesn't realize that no lawyer will help him.
From an outsider's perspective though, I just can't imagine making repeated threats like that to be a very good way or scare tactic of getting your personal property back. To me, it personally doesn't make sense.
My only concern now is that he doesn't have the money and tries to jump me in a public place. Lawl.
How old is this kid/guy? I mean he can't pay the $50 for the phone, yet can pay his monthly cell phone?
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That's beyond the truth!
You don't prolong an ass whooping. You don't send various emails threatening to get an attorney involved...just to whoop someone's ass.
The hilarity is that he knows he messed up. I'd never did what he did. Idiotic.