Unbelievable Request from a Baord Member.

[Bluegoose972]

Shoot....I think you should pay him back, with interest for holding his money for so long!

Just kidding

[stepside454]

if I were the buyer & was in a financial bind, & believe me Ive been there, first off Id never ask someone Ive never known to allow me to make payments. But lets say I did, after all this time with no communication, I sure the heck wouldnt expect my money back, at the most Id see if the seller had something else I wanted for the 100.00 I gave him, if not oh well. John

[juju808]

Im sure many would disagree with me... but I say give it back to him... I know that wasting your time and going back on a deal isnt cool, but its not like you still cant sell the parts... and he obviously is in need of the money... so in the end it was like you took his money without giving anything in return and free money always comes back to haunt you in one way or another...

[HuggerCST]

Personally, I would give him his money back, and not deal with him anymore. And, I wouldn't accept any more "payment plans" unless I really know the person. Look at it from my point of view, or any other bystander, now that you have made it public. If you were looking at who you would or wouldn't do business with on this board, would you do business with the people who wouldn't give the money back, or the people who would? (If given a choice). I agree that he shouldn't even ask for it back, and you have no obligation to give it back, but you making a case out of it and publicly saying "no way" tells alot about who you are to the readers of this thread. On the other hand, if you gave it back (publicly), you say to everybody that you are a person that does more than is what is expected of him. That's the person I want to do business with.

[StingRay]

Free money Christopher sat on a $400 set of parts that he could have sold otherwise many months earlier and could have used that money to finance other items or projects. Tell me where you can go and tie up 400 bucks of somebodies money for 9 months for free! Not at a bank, not at a pawn shop.........

Christopher asked for opinions and he is getting them. He and anybody with anything to lose are also getting a list of names of who NOT to do business with without cash up front.

I feel sorry for the guy that he is short a hundred bucks. Betcha he won't try it again either.

[sactoC10]

well said HuggerCST...

I think this thread should become a poll!

[StingRay]

Uh giving the guy 9 months to make good on the deal was doing more than most would expect. Maybe Chris should have paid the guy 400 and delivered the parts to him personally

[72bigblock4wd]

I have to agree with the majority on this one. Not only from a legal standpoint, but an ethical standpoint as well. This board has a lot of really great people on it, and the people who take advantage of that either by intention or ignorance don't deserve the benefit of the doubt. The money belongs to you 68 Suburban!!

[nu2-72]

Chris, you have always been upstanding to me. Sometimes our transactions passed in the mail. I do not think that I could ever question your integrity and so regardless of the other party ( with a very few exceptions) I have to stand by you on this. With regard to those few exceptions, it would be dead even. I have met some great people on here. And I have been stiffed for shipping costs on free parts too. $3.85. I guess his checks never came in.

[68 Suburban]

Originally Posted by juju808

... and he obviously is in need of the money....

I would have to say BS on this one. The track record I can trace all the way back to March 2003, shows a person who does not keep his word.

"Deadbeat bidder? Never heard from this person....6 emails."

"NEVER SENT PAYMENT WAITED OVER 30 DAYS "

"jacked up the price when he didnt get what he wanted, very shadey character"

"NON-PAYING BIDDER, BEWARE,POOR WAY TO START,NO ANSWER TO NUMUROUS EMAILS "

"Buyer xxxxxxxxx would not respond to seller and did not pay their winning bid"

[68 Suburban]

Thanks for the input guys.

[68 Suburban]

Originally Posted by HuggerCST

Personally, I would give him his money back, and not deal with him anymore. And, I wouldn't accept any more "payment plans" unless I really know the person. Look at it from my point of view, or any other bystander, now that you have made it public. If you were looking at who you would or wouldn't do business with on this board, would you do business with the people who wouldn't give the money back, or the people who would? (If given a choice). I agree that he shouldn't even ask for it back, and you have no obligation to give it back, but you making a case out of it and publicly saying "no way" tells alot about who you are to the readers of this thread. On the other hand, if you gave it back (publicly), you say to everybody that you are a person that does more than is what is expected of him. That's the person I want to do business with.

If it has been 99.9% of the member on the board the money would be in the mail. When It comes to someone's ethics that have been called into question on this board and in other business situations many of time, that is where I have to say no. If I knew of these issues before, there is no way I would have ever done business with him.

I'm sorry if other people on the board will look at this and not want to do business with me. I have been selling things here and there for about 4 years, and have all ways been up front and honest as possible about what I am selling. I have even given board members more of a break than I normally would. I recently sold a vehicle to someone through the board, even though I knew I could have sold it for more. He was a great person, a man of his word and I am very happy, that he is very happy with his purchase.

It is not like I am telling him that his heads are gone, and so is his money? His heads are here, like I promised. Complete the transaction and all is good. He has the option of buying the heads and re-selling them if he things they hold the same value they did 9 months ago. If anyone wants to help him out and give me $400 for the heads in the next 2 weeks, I will return his deposit.

Like I said, this person has 2 weeks from today to make good on his agreement and pick up his heads. That is more time than a seller would give him on ebay. I think 9 1/2 months is more than enough time to be a man of his word.

[BOSS]

Ask him what he would rather have,his money back and name posted so noone else would ever deal with him or you keep the money and keep quiet.......lol.Wonder which one he would choose?

[8door]

Christopher, Wow this situation has evoked a lot of conversation, no doubt this is a sensitive subject for all of us.
You seem to be very concerned with the solution.That's admireable, here is my thought for you.
Sell the heads to someone else, he as already said he won't take them. If your selling price is below what you asked originally, then keep the difference.Absolutally nothing wrong with that. Then if you sell for more or the same price all you have lost is time. Time is money and you then have the opportunity to return what you feel like, less any expense ie.money order ,mailing, envelope etc.
Remember these are you heads not his.Life is a way to short to go any further. Do what you feel is right for you.
Chris

[74KDD]

Ok ... here's my response.

I think we all know where you're coming from. You certainly have a right to be upset -- and probably more than $100 worth of upsetness.

However -- I always ask myself this question:
Does this guy really need the money more than I do? If he does, then as much of a shame as it is, I give them the money back. If you feel you need the money more than he does -- keep it.

I personally beleive that in these kind of cases there really is no "right" or "wrong" answer. You're making your best judgement (or business decision). It really comes down to you as a person -- how you will feel the most comfortable, and the decision where you will be able to sleep good at night.

Who really needs the money the most?

[68w/sbc406]

if you kept the money i would still do bussiness with you. nine months is way too long. if it were like 2 weeks i might be on the give the money back side but it wasn't, it was 9 months. would you borrow 400 bucks from a stranger? i wouldnt and i wouldnt ask for payment plans either. thats why god invented credit cards. so the stupid people can buy stuff they cant afford

[dtlilly]

You have been a saint of patience, not many people like you left in the world. I'd call the note in. Either he pays by a certain date, or the heads are sold to the next buyer, and the $100 is yours.

[68C15]

man, this is a tough one seeing as how I have been unexpectadly short on cash & also stiffed by buyers not holding up thier end of the deal. for instance I was laid off about 2.5 yrs ago & had about $8000 in tools & box debt. I told the debtor immediatly & made arrangements for reduced payments (2 weeks found another job). I have also sold a car to a fellow worker who ended up having a rough time financially. he made NO attempt to make alternate arrangements & just to keep work place liveable took the loss.
what I would in your case is determine the current value of parts & deduct difference from deposit. then refund remainder along with STRONG literal tongue lashing to let him know how wrong he is.
JMO

[mr402]

If you wanted to be nice (and I'm not saying you should be) you could always go ahead and sell the heads for whatever you can get. You could then refund what ever the difference is between the selling price and what you agreed on with this guy. Maybe he gets it all back, gets $10 or nothing.

[busterwivell]

Well, if you had been the bank, and had a $100.00 down payment on a truck, and never any payments for nine months, they would have the truck and it would be over. Done deal!

[craigg1]

Yea, that is a tough call to make, but like others have said it comes down to the individual person. If it were me, I would probably give the money back. If I were the seller and let the guy make payments over a period of time and I saw that payments were not hardly made within the first month, I would have probably told the guy I was refunding his money and reselling the item to someone who can pay. But with that said I wouldn't think differently of you on weather you kept the money or sent it back. Just by giving the guy up to nine months shows you were more than willing to work with him. Thats just an individual call.

[lux hauler]

I'd say you've done your part......he didn't so he looses.

If I were in his shoes, I might ask for my money back but I wouldn't necessarily expect to get it back.

Like has been said already......those heads could have been sold long ago. Because he didn't hold up his end of the deal, you don't have the money in your pocket that you could have had.

For those that have been sympathetic to the person who did not fulfill their end of the deal, tell me this.......If you purchase a car, put $2000 down and make only six monthly payments but still keep the car for ten months, do you think the finance company/bank is going to give you the unused portion of your payments back? I think not.

Keep the money and sell the heads (to someone else).

[lux hauler]

Originally Posted by busterwivell

Well, if you had been the bank, and had a $100.00 down payment on a truck, and never any payments for nine months, they would have the truck and it would be over. Done deal!

That's what I was trying to say in my above post......guess I should have read them all before posting.

[PICKMUP]

I never want to keep someone's money, when they don't get their parts...but, a deposit/payment is a guarantee to pay. I have also had a few sour deals on this board. Most are great, but there are a few that just will not do what they say they are gong to do.
I don't know what you are going to do this time, but next time put it in writing...PMs/Emails are fine. Make sure it is clear that any deposits/payments are forfeited if all payments are not made as agreed.
Even after putting everything in writing, it can be hard to get others to keep their work...that goes for both those buying from you and selling to you.
I have had several guys on here promise to sell parts and even a truck to me---then I never hear from them or they sell it to someone else later.
Just do what you say you are going to do!!!...and we can all work together better.

[glock35ipsc]

ALL deposits should be non-refundable in my opinion. For anything, motels, car rental, buying something from a private party, whatever.

What the hell good is a deposit if the person knows they are going to get the money back if they decide to back out of the deal? A deposit is suposed to say "I promise to do this xxxxxxxx, and if I don't, you keep this for your troubles."

I just cancelled a campground reservation because we can't make it that weekend. Do you think I got my deposit back? Nope, didn't expect it either.