Some friendly advice please!!

cowcio · #1 03/30/2007, 10:02 PM

I had a sale go a little wrong and I want to make sure that I am being reasonable with my response to it. I won't use any names, as that is not important.

I sold a lighting canopy that was in working order when I had it. It consisted of a MH and 2xVHO setup. I drove and met the guy that purchased it and after that a couple of week or so went by before I heard anything.

When I finally heard something, I was told that the MH bulb did not work. I was a little baffled, as it had worked for me, but I was willing to offer the following:

A. He returns the canopy and I give him a refund.

B. I will pay 1/2 of the price towards another bulb purchased from another person.

C. He sends me the bulb and gives me the money for shipping another one back to him. Or he could drop of the bulb and exchange for another tested and working bulb.

D. I also found an awesome deal on 2 very slightly used bulbs that could be shipped right to him and he could leave me out of it completely.

Do those options seem fair enough?

Note: He just had to pick the one the best suited him. I even offered to take it all back!

Because of the headache that this guy has given me, I am asking for some friendly advice on how to better handle this. Any suggestions or criticisms are welcome.

Thank you.

anaelitz · #2 03/30/2007, 10:04 PM

You're being more than fair with your offers to remedy the situation.

cowcio · #3 03/30/2007, 10:25 PM

Thank you.

I thought I would correct that it had been 2 1/2 weeks before I had heard anything about the bulb not working, not 1 week.

The only part that I could have been wrong in was saying that he must have mishandled the bulb. It's not fair to assume that and accuse him of it. However, it's hard for me to accept that a bulb that worked for me stops working without any wrong doing to it.

Despite that, I still offered the above remedies.

BTW... sorry for all of the drama. I'm an opera singer, I get paid to do this for a living... haha!

crazyseany · #4 03/30/2007, 10:36 PM

seems fair to me... but your avatar scares me a little... j/k

Sean

cowcio · #5 03/30/2007, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crazyseany
seems fair to me... but your avatar scares me a little... j/k

Sean

Luciano Pavarotti is a bit scary... but he's a great singer, probably the best singer, (or used to be anyways... he's sick now), in the world. If you've not listened to any opera, start with him. Preferably in his younger years. Singing the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto or Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore would be my choice.

djones5412 · #6 03/30/2007, 11:49 PM

Seems fair , If it was me I would have taken you up on the 1/2 price for a bulb. Then I would have new bulb for about a yr. at 1/2 price. What did the buyer expect it was used after all. If they didn't want to take the chance then they should have bought a new set-up with the warranty for full price.

DJ

cowcio · #7 03/31/2007, 12:26 AM

B. I will pay 1/2 of the price towards another bulb purchased from another person.

I guess I was thinking of this as finding another used bulb to buy and I would pay 1/2. Not as good as buying a new one, but still fair. I found some bulbs with about 3 months use @ $25 each and I was going to pay half of that.

Maybe the options confused the guy. He was replying back with words like "Apparently you are new to this sort of thing". Also, after offering the first two options, I recieved this reply:

-----"Please review our agreement as you have the obligation to comply with our agreement. Working is just that, lighting up...no issues. So with this being said are you denying me what was offered in the deal? If so this may complicate your situation. It is quite funny how when we met you said, " no worries if it does not work Ill take care of it, dont worry."----

Am I dealing with a credit card shark? I cut up all of my credit cards 2 years ago for this reason... why would I want to deal with it in one of my hobbies?
I'm pretty sure our agreement, not in writing of course!, was that the setup worked for me and I would make sure this guy gets what he paid for.
With offering to refund the money or pay a portion of the cost of a bulb, I felt that I was being more than fair. How is that not taking care of it?

Now for my personal feelings... Even if I offered nothing, the bulb did work for me. If I was only to offer to take everything back and refund the money, that should be enough of an option. I feel like I have bent over backwards for something that was not in my control at all.
I feel like I should have made a video before selling it to prove that it worked! I don't think anything short of that would have been sufficient for the buyer.
Now, I'm not taking it all out on him. The bulb, evidently, is not working for him. I would want something in return too.

If I'm not crazy, I still think I'm being fair.

cepaw · #8 03/31/2007, 08:16 AM

I think your being more than fair, He told you there was a problem, you addressed it with a couple of solutions.
A store would say.
I'll return it , and give a refund
or, I will exchange it for one that works
being used, an exchange of a used (not new) bulb
thats it, what do you choose.
By the way, a store would not drive it to you....
good luck with this

GSMguy · #9 03/31/2007, 12:19 PM

no bulb is guaranteed to work forever, that is a lil weird that he would care so much...

you have been more than fair. Buying used, without warrantys, is always an assumed risk what you have offered to fix it is totally fair.

serpentman · #10 03/31/2007, 01:16 PM

I wouldn't sweat it, you can't make everyone happy. I would figure the price of the used bulb out of the total price and offer to refund him that. I wouldn't go chase down another replacement bulb, etc. as it sounds like you aren't going to make him happy no matter what you do.

ReefWidowed · #11 03/31/2007, 01:32 PM

There's always someone who wants something for nothing. You're in the right....Used is just that, used....

stevestank · #12 04/02/2007, 07:33 AM

Be sure to demonstrate your equipment works before it leaves your property and make it known verbally and in writing the sale is "as is." As is... is implied for the most part when buying used stuff. Otherwise, ignore him. Just about everyone on this site know you as a reasonable aquarist. This hobby is very expensive. If someone gets bent out of shape about a bulb not working... I suggest they run from the hobby as fast as they can.

Norm R · #13 04/02/2007, 11:36 AM

At least you are remedying the situation....

johndawg · #14 04/02/2007, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by stevestank
Be sure to demonstrate your equipment works before it leaves your property and make it known verbally and in writing the sale is "as is."

Great advice, the other thing is I know is that anything I have bought I have plugged in the second I got home just to make sure it did work. Waiting a couple of weeks to say it doesn't work is a bit suspicious......

cowcio · #15 04/04/2007, 09:38 PM

I just received this PM...

"The plot thickens. It appears that the transformer is bad. Got an extra hanging around?"

Ugh... This lighting unit has 4 months of use on it and worked for me before it left. Now I'm even more suspicious of the integrity of the individual I sold it to. A week after the bulb doesn't work, he's now found a faulty transformer.

Why don't I just piece together an entire unit for him and he'll get 2 working units for the price of 1... seems fair to me.

Next week something else "will go".
Why in the heck would I sell something that doesn't work? I've sold plenty of things that do work and if they don't, I make it known.

He did however send the bulb back. When I receive money to ship another back to him, I will do so, as promised. But I think that's where my responsibility ends.

bigdaddyadam · #16 04/04/2007, 10:15 PM

first, did the bulb work when you got it back?

second, how does he know the transformer is bad? is he an electrician? and if so why didn't he check all this stuff when you brought it to him.

I agree here, as is means as is...its used and bulbs and electrical equipment fail sometimes. if he got a deal because the lighting set-up was used then he can go to hellolights.com and buy a new transformer or whatever.

you tried to cover here, despite that he waited for more than a reasonable time to tell you of the defect, I think you are in the right

stevestank · #17 04/05/2007, 10:32 AM

It doesn't seem as though it's worth it to tax your brain over this. Like I said... Ignore him. If I paid attention to everyone unreasonable in my line of work... I'd lose my mind for sure. Perhaps I will write a reefcentral ethics column sometime in the near future for the newsletter.

johndawg · #18 04/05/2007, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cowcio

Part I - I sold a lighting canopy that was in working order when I had it. It consisted of a MH and 2xVHO setup. I drove and met the guy that purchased it and after that a couple of week or so went by before I heard anything.

When I finally heard something, I was told that the MH bulb did not work. I was a little baffled, as it had worked for me...

Part II - "It appears that the transformer is bad. Got an extra hanging around?"

You've done enough, if the transformer worked when he plugged it in, it is now his fault..you are not Petsmart and you did not advertise it as being new.