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Craigslist refund

N

nicholaskheinrich

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Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
17
Ok, so I sold an upright freezer to a person on craigslist for $100. When they get it home, it doesn't work. I try to help them fix the problem, and when unable to help anymore, I offer to give them their money back. The lady says she will talk to her boyfriend about it and that he will call me back but he's at work right now. A little more than two weeks later she calls and wants to bring it back to us. Why did she wait two weeks to call back. I say they probably broke it. Should I give them their money back? Your thoughts?
 
if they broke it after 2 weeks, how could you "try to help them fix the problem" immediately after they got it home? doesn't add up.

did you knowingly sell them a broken item? if so, give them their money back.

did you unknowingly sell them a broken item? if so, what would you want to happen in their shoes?

alasdair
 
I suspect they lead busy lives, and $100 wasn't that huge of a deal to them. The freezer didn't work all along from how your post reads. They now have some spare time, and would like their justly due refund.

I think you'd feel a lot better about the whole situation if you just gave it to them.
 
alasdairm, They called and said it was broken immediately, and I tried to help them fix it immediately. After there was no more I could do to help them, I told them I would refund their money, and they said they would call me back when her boyfriend was home from work. (To me that implies that they will call me back when her boyfriend got home from work that day, or maybe even the next day, but certainly not two weeks later, right?) Then they call back two weeks later! Who in their right mind has a product they paid $100 for that doesn't work, has someone offer to give them their money back, and waits two weeks to call back. If I were in there shoes I would have been grateful the seller was trying to help me at all, and called back asap to get it fixed or get my refund, not wait two week. They mentioned they needed it urgently, but they waited an awful long time to try and resolve such an "urgent" issue. Quite frankly, they didn't seem to be all that gentle with it when they loaded it either, which makes me suspect that they broke it during unloading. It worked for me for years with no issues.
 
you seem to have made your mind up that you're not going to give them the money back?

did you post looking for opinions or fro validation of a decision you've already made?

you told them you would refund their money so that's what you should do.

alasdair
 
I have not yet made the decision that I'm not going to give them a refund, I still may. My biggest concern is what they may have done to it in two weeks that may have turned an easily repairable problem into an unfixable one. In an attempt to repair it, they could have damaged it further. I would be less concerned if nothing they tried worked and that did not hesitate for two weeks to call again. It was an expensive freezer, and I offered to have a licensed specialist look at it too, but no, they waited two weeks to call back and now they dont even want to have him come look at it. They also told me it isn't fixable, but they also said they weren't paying to have someone look at it. To me that screams that they tried to fix it, broke it, and know if a specialist sees it he will say they broke it. I just dont want to be screwed here.
 
Why bother with them returning it? If it's broken tell them to throw it out or something. Over $100 it's not worth it.

If the freezer was broken when it got to their place then, from their perspective, it's your responsibility. If they're willing to haul it back to your place and get their money back then I'd say they are telling the truth.

The 2 week waiting time could be for any reason.
 
How did they transport it? They need to be kept upright(ish) and then stood unplugged for a while on arrival, something to do with the gasses. Its very common that after being moving fridges & freezers don't work.

If you google the model & problem there are lots of ways to diagnose whether this is self fixable or not economically worth it.
 
I was always told they have to stand for 24 hours, so if they told you it wasn't working immediately they may have turned it on too soon.

The 2 week thing is neither here nor there I'm afraid.

Did they see it working at your place?

You could always offer them half the money as a compromise. Some would say ask them to return the freezer first in case they're scamming you, but only do this if you're willing to be stuck with a broken freezer.
 
unless you knew it was broken and sold it as working, these people shouldn't get the hundred dollars back. or fifty. crazy they even called you.
 
then why should they get to treat this like an appliance store purchase when they bought it used out of some guy's basement or garage and then sat on it for two weeks. you offered her a refund and she had to think about it? you didn't offer them trial period. the exchange happened. i'd consider being nice giving them an explanation of why it's not fair for you to buy it back at this point.
 
Last edited:
hydroazuanacaine said:
then why should they get to treat this like an appliance store purchase when they bought it used out of some guy's basement or garage and then sat on it for two weeks. you offered her a refund and she had to think about it? you didn't offer them trial period. the exchange happened. i'd consider being nice giving them an explanation of why it's not fair for you to buy it back at this point.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. It's pointless for them to return it.

Depending on where you live there are programs where people will actually come out and take your old fridge/freezer and take it off to be recycled or disposed of, and you get paid money for doing this.
 
You used it for only two years and you say it was working fine when these people picked it up. Sounds like it was broken in transit or as someone mentioned, it didn't sit unplugged long enough. The trouble is, you already told the woman you would refund her the money even if it was weeks ago. So if it were me, I would just give her the money back since you said you would. You already went above and beyond trying to help fix it. Next time, maybe don't be so nice and I think you're going to have to eat this one.
 
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