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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If he can't come up with the money by the 9th I would recommend cutting off all further communication with the guy, even if he claims to have the money to pay you back with. People this dumb and stupid tend to have dumb and stupid friends that are always up for doing dumb and stupid things. I could easily see him fabricating a story to his idiot friends about how you stole a PS3 from him and how they should scare some sense into you with a knife or gun.
I can't believe a lowlife like this is actually in line to become a firefighter. If he persists with his harassment and actually starts to threaten your safety, I would forward all of your emails to the firefighting academy and see if they decide to keep him around. Good luck.
If he can't come up with the money by the 9th I would recommend cutting off all further communication with the guy, even if he claims to have the money to pay you back with. People this dumb and stupid tend to have dumb and stupid friends that are always up for doing dumb and stupid things. I could easily see him fabricating a story to his idiot friends about how you stole a PS3 from him and how they should scare some sense into you with a knife or gun.
I can't believe a lowlife like this is actually in line to become a firefighter. If he persists with his harassment and actually starts to threaten your safety, I would forward all of your emails to the firefighting academy and see if they decide to keep him around. Good luck.
But, others have suggested a meeting at the police station....so I really just might go that route quite frankly.
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dont ever ever ever meet anyone where you live, one of the cardinal rules.
But, others have suggested a meeting at the police station....so I really just might go that route quite frankly.
If I were you, I'd consider this case closed and dispose of the PS3 (sell it, give it away, use it as a jackstand, etc...). You had an agreement and you were obliged to honor it the first time. You aren't under any obligation to honor your promises for extensions.
Yeah OP, it's over for your own safety. But to send him off the deep end in style follow up with one more email that says you look forward to meeting up with him on Sunday....and that you decided to charge interest so now he owes you $75. Sit back for the lulz but don't reply ever again!
-I hate people who don't pay back money. No excuses.
-You are the big winner here. A PS3 is worth much more than $50.
-As long as he has your money, you will always have his PS3.
-Which you could sell if you really wanted to. Just knowing I have something that valuable is satisfaction to me.
-Plug it in to see if it even works. Even if it doesn't, for parts/repair its worth at least $50
-Make sure theres no brick inside.
I would be playing with the PS3 and enjoying it for as long as this guy isn't paying you. The day he DOES pay (if ever), I would give it back to him, but NEVER do business with this guy ever again.
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I wouldn't do anything like that over a little thing like a PS3, though. Maybe if someone looked at me the wrong way....