Sold a phone, Buyer wants refund claiming its faulty

onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 08:03
Last edited 20/01/2015 - 08:04

I sold a phone to someone off gumtree, we met up, they tested the phone, all happy, took it away, and a day later they call me back and tell me that the phone is constantly turning off, it was never doing that with me, they just want me to give their money back and sell it to someone else, they think I scammed them, they keep telling me that I knew it was faulty before selling it which isn't true, if I knew it were faulty, I would have not sold it to anyone.. I don't want to take it back because now I can't sell it to anyone.. I haven't confirmed what they are telling me is true, it also sounds like they just changed their mind as it was a a present.. what do you think I should do?

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  • cypher67 on 20/01/2015 - 08:27
    -3

    Tell them you have no obligation to refund it, however I would out of good faith offer to take the phone back for a few days and if it indeed is faulty I would refund it, if it doesnt play up then I would tell them no dice. Offering a compromise is good way to gauge if they are genuine or just changed their mind. If they dont agree walk away.

    • onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 08:38
      +1

      I don't know what they've done to the phone while they've had it (e.g. drop it, open it, sit on it) so even if I find out its faulty, why should I take it back, I shouldn't have to bear the costs of repairing it don't you think?

      • whooah1979 on 20/01/2015 - 08:43
        +4

        are you asking us for advice or do you just want us to agree with your decision?

        • cypher67 on 20/01/2015 - 09:06
          +3

          Whilst Whooah has been getting negs for their comment I see his/her point. You have no obligation to offer a refund, if you have already made the decision not to trust the buyers integrity then I dont understand what you are looking for here other then feeling better about potentially ripping an innocent buyer off. You either take a leap of faith or dont offer the refund.

  • montemaj on 20/01/2015 - 08:30
    +1

    Good advice

  • blitz on 20/01/2015 - 08:48

    Did you write down the serial number of the device, e.g. IMEI?

  • ozeebee on 20/01/2015 - 08:52
    +3

    Hope you took a record of the IMEI of the phone you sold.

    They probably did a switcheroo with a broken phone and now asking for their money back. While at the same time selling the perfectly working phone you sold them…

  • 729fx on 20/01/2015 - 10:02

    No way I would offer a refund. They tested the phone before they bought it and was happy. Unless they could somehow prove beyond any reasonable that the phone was already faulty, I can't see why you should. As others have said, buyer could have dropped it or done a switcharoo.

    • onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 10:23

      Thats what I was telling them, they were telling me, how could I do such a thing in a small amount of time, I was like, well look at the guy that purchased a brand new iPhone 6, he dropped it outside the store.. it doesn't take much to make a simple mistake..

    • Gunther on 20/01/2015 - 10:35
      +1

      Agree with this, I assume they had plenty of time to test the device before the cash was handed over. Their loss.

  • Charity on 20/01/2015 - 10:53

    Block their number. Hope u didn't meet up at your home address…

  • the-mal on 20/01/2015 - 10:54
    +1

    You sold something to someone via Gumtree. Buyer beware. They looked at the phone, handed their money over, all transactions are final.

    If they wanted a return policy or a warranty they shouldn't have bought a second hand phone from some guy from Gumtree.

    I'd just say no refunds and cut contact. Assuming they don't know where you live the worst they can do is send you a nasty email…

    • onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 11:35

      We didn't meet up at my house as I do not know who I was dealing with so we met up at a local mcdonalds, they have sent threatening messages saying they will find me etc.. kept all records of all communication, did not verbally abuse them as they did to me..

      • Archi on 20/01/2015 - 11:55
        +1

        sure you weren't talking liam neeson

      • the-mal on 20/01/2015 - 12:14

        If they send you threatening text messages then tell the police. Otherwise you've done all the right things, you haven't retaliated, you've explained to them your position. Nothing left to say. I'd just cut contact and if they keep hassling you tell the police.

        Unfortunately Gumtree has scammers on both sides (buyers and sellers) so it's often hard to tell who is the "dodgy" one in a situation.

        If your story is 100% factual, then it sounds like they're being dodgy and trying to scam you (return a fault phone that wasn't yours or something). Or they're just unlucky (phone was working fine, now it's not). Either way the onus was on them to ensure they wanted the goods prior to handing over the cash. That's how Gumtree works.

        • onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 12:16

          I couldn't agree more!

  • Axelstrife on 20/01/2015 - 12:02
    +1

    You have no obligation to refund them its up to the buyer on gumtree to check the phone out when meeting up.
    And threatening certainly isnt helping their situation.

    Idk what type of phone it is bit with android after resetting them they can stuff up. I sold a nexus 5 and the buyer messaged me later that day saying it wouldnt download from google play i told him reset it again and it worked.
    Maybe its a something like that idk what phone you sold.

    Either way you do not have to refund and certainly not after bwing threatend.

    • onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 12:15

      I have already advised them to reset or update the software but they dont want to do that.

      • Axelstrife on 20/01/2015 - 12:43
        +1

        Sounds dodgy.

  • onlyletters on 20/01/2015 - 12:18

    Thanks to everyone for your help!

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