View Full Version : Sold my bike....now in a quandry. Advice needed please mighty .org
Hi All, I need your advice!!
My bike recently sold on ebay. Item number 170227788511. Last night the new owner came to collect.
After the new owner got home, he gave me a call to tell me that the front wheel is buckled!! He is saying that if the weather hadn't been so bad (was pi$$ing it down) he would have rode it straight back!! He also said that he would like me to source him a new front wheel.
Now if you read the advert, I think I've been pretty honest with the description. In fact I have been as honest as I can be, and I know that.
Now if the front wheel is fubar'd, then I honestly didn't know it. But I went out on it last week, on a good thrash up the twisties, and I don't think there is anything wrong. He said to me that there was a huge wobble around the 50mph mark, but it smooths out at 70mph.
So having slept on it, and thought about it, I have come up with the following thoughts:
1) The wheel may indeed be fubar'd, and I'm too crap to notice! In which case I would replace the wheel. I'm an honest guy after all!
2) He is trying to pull a fast one and get some money back from me (although he said he would be happy if I sourced him a wheel). I don't think this is true though.
3) He could be totally wrong in his diagnosis. Could it be a wheel bearing, or a warped disk? If I buy him a wheel, and he gets the front bearing out, he may discover that needs replacing! There is actually a tiny ding on the front rim, which I didn't mention in the advert, but I honestly didn't think I needed to. The bike came to me with 12months MOT - surely it wouldn't pass with a buckled wheel?
So....what should I do? I believe these are my options:
Buy him a new wheel, have done with it.
Take the bike back, and give him his cash back (less the cost of a new log book and ebay fee).
Tell him to go forth and multiply!
The guy was in his 50's, and seems to have had many bikes. He came with his son & son-in-law, both SV owners. They were also, quite local (within 30 mins drive). (And yes they could post on here, but I dont think they do.)
What really is f00king me off, is the fact that they were close enough to come look at the bike before hand. But they didn't. I didn't recieve any e-mail asking me to clarify anything else about the bike.
They waited until the last minute, came in with one bid which as seen as there was no reserve, they won it.
I did state in the advert also that I would put 12 months MOT on the bike if any potential buyer contacted me before hand with any concerns. But like I said, he never got in touch before hand.
AND....what if I get him a wheel and he isn't happy with it?? Where do we stand then?
What ever happened to buyer beware??
So, any thoughts very welcome. Also, if anyone can define a buckled wheel, I'd be grateful too.
I did have another thought - we could take it to my MOT tester for an independant opinion, and go from there?
sold as seen.
did you get what you wanted for the bike? you could offer him a small refund towards a wheel
I got £950. I was hoping to at least get a grand to be honest.
He di say to me on the phone he saw one on ebay for £50. So I could offer him £50 back, and tell him to sort it. Like I said, what if I buy him a wheel and he isn't happy with it?
Not even sold as seen though.....sold as photographed and viewed in ebay!! ;)
plowsie
25-06-08, 08:21 AM
How do you buckle a motorcycle wheel...I know you can bend the spindle...Tell him to knob off! Sold as seen!
Camel, its nothing to do with you now, the advert you placed has to reflect the condition of the bike which they come to see on completing the sale. The buyer was obviously happy with the condition of the bike on seeing it and has therefore completed the sale and taken it away.
Who is to say the wheel is buckled? Perhaps it needs balancing again? Are the forks slightly out of alignment in the yokes? I wouldnt budge on buying a new wheel for him, it was sold as seen in a private sale. You take your risk
Not even sold as seen though.....sold as photographed and viewed in ebay!! ;)
did he check the bike b4 he left?
Camel, its nothing to do with you now, the advert you placed has to reflect the condition of the bike which they come to see on completing the sale. The buyer was obviously happy with the condition of the bike on seeing it and has therefore completed the sale and taken it away.
Who is to say the wheel is buckled? Perhaps it needs balancing again? Are the forks slightly out of alignment in the yokes? I wouldnt budge on buying a new wheel for him, it was sold as seen in a private sale. You take your risk
I think you are right Rob....it may just need balancing (I posted the same on VD, and I got the same response, surpising really as I expected everyone on there to say a big **** Off! :)).
When I call him tonight, I will politely point out that fact that it could just be a balancing issue, and I will offer to pay for it to be balanced. But thats about it really.
did he check the bike b4 he left?
I went over the bike with them, showing all the bits as described on the advert. They seemed happy enough.
As I was going though all the lights, it emerged that the electrical connector under the front brake lever is a bit dodgy. It was news to me, and I offered there and then that if he wanted to back out of the purchase, I would not be offended.
But he was happy to take it.
add seems ok........ and he has had a cheap bike
I wouldnt even offer him the price of balancing, unfortunately its sold as seen. It is a risk buying privately but you take that risk because its cheaper than buying from the dealer. Its only about £8 anyway to get the wheel balanced.
Sold as viewed when they picked it up.
You were honest enough, I hate selling privately for exactly this reason. People think its a given to try and knock you down a couple of hundred £££ and pick faults.
I have only ever sold one dodgy item in my life which was my Laguna, it was a money pit which I spent nearly £2k fixing in 6 months.....I was not obliged to tell a buyer that though, they came and viewed it, test drove it and bought it following their inspection.
I shut the curtains and didnt switch any lights on for 2 weeks incase the returned.
did you tell him about the org?
plowsie
25-06-08, 10:04 AM
I am selling my bike on the big bay, i have been honest with mine, if the buyer leaves the driveway with the bike and I've got the cash, its sold and thats it.
did you tell him about the org?
Yeah! His son and son in law both have sv's!!
He was a nice guy, they all were. But I am concerned that nothing I do will make him feel happy about the sale now.
Anyway, I'll be calling him tonight, about 8ish. I'll post up the results!!
I would not offer anything.
If you do you will be admitting there is some responsibilty on you, then the amount is up for arguement.
I hope to see the buyers on the site.
Nothing in this thread nor anything in the ebay listing is unfair to them & I don't think you need to offer even so much as the cost of wheel balance.
They have got a basically good bike for a very cheap price, even advertised as probably crashed.
Please do not do not offer anything more to increase the expectation of buyers on ebay.
Anyway - how do you know that they didn't kerb it after they rode it away (in the pishing rain did someone say?)
I got £950. I was hoping to at least get a grand to be honest.
there you go he's already had his £50 towards a new wheel.
Please don't feel responsible Chris.
As for missing the North South :smt079
jimmy__riddle
25-06-08, 10:58 AM
Anyway - how do you know that they didn't kerb it after they rode it away (in the pishing rain did someone say?)
exactly what i was thinking. You dont owe them anything. if someone buys from ebay without looking in the flesh first, they are taking a gamble.
there you go he's already had his £50 towards a new wheel.
Please don't feel responsible Chris.
As for missing the North South :smt079
Aye, North v. South......
I had the pass out booked with the misus. But then.........
A) The bike had already been sold on ebay and I didn't want to tempt fate.
B) Our lass was monaing that she wasn't feeling well (she is 13 weeks preggers)
C) It was pi$$ing it down!
I was miserable all day, if thats any consolation!
Warthog
25-06-08, 11:50 AM
Well I don't want to be devil's advocate here, but your wrote "Mechanically this bike is sound, and ready to ride without spending any money. " If I bought that and then found out the wheel was buckled I'd be angry too. I think the key here is wether it is actually buckled or not? If they live so close, can't you go round and look it over with them again, maybe take it for a ride again?
If all else fails, its caveat emptor sadly.
No way I'd be offering anything towards it after they've bought it.
Whenever I've sold bikes I get them to sign a receipt saying 'sold as seen' and date it. No going back then legally or morally as far as I'm concerned.
He was happy to take it away or he wouldn't have given you he cash. Forget about it. Please don't give him any money back. :thumbsup:
It was ridden away without spending any money. It was only when they got down the road that they realised that something wasnt right.
Tiger 55
25-06-08, 12:28 PM
Mate you are not only honest as the day is long, you are also very generous. Could've got another tenner for the Haynes manual easy!
Tell him you're sorry - which you are - but sh*t happens. Just coz he's local and an SV rider don't mean you're going to be taking long showers together in the wee hours of the morning.
Buyer beware, end of.
shonadoll
25-06-08, 03:45 PM
You have been totally honest in your description-right down to saying it could have been crashed. That's probably why you didn't have more bids, and he got a good deal.
It's always the risk on ebay, for buyers and sellers, but if you were trying to do him you'd have not mentioned half of what you did, and he'd not have got a bargain. Sadly there are people who think you are the gift that keeps on giving, but you are not, so don't. He could easily have done it on the way back and be chancing his arm. Give him nothing.
I agree with what the majority have said. Also, if the wheel is buckled, whose saying it didnt happen on his ride home?
I am willing to bet it just needs balancing, no way would i give him any money back. As stated already it is already a cheap buy, who is to say he has brought it cheap to sell on to someone else at an inflated price???? :smt068
philipMac
25-06-08, 06:39 PM
^^^ right... its almost certainly needing balancing and nothing more.
Wheels dont seem unbuckled at low speeds, and buckled at speed X, and then seem unbucked again.
Unbalanced wheels do though.
FFS he can balance the wheel himself with a bit of that sticky lead stuff.
glsuk1970
25-06-08, 07:31 PM
You've been more than honest in the description pointing out what's good and bad about the bike. Whatever is wrong with the wheel (if there is anything wrong with it!) my question would be that after reading your ad what were they expecting for £950? A bloody Desmosedici?
Tell 'em to **** rrrrrright off!
Well here is the end of the story.
I phoned the guy, and spoke to him for a what must have been an hour. F00k me, I am mentally DRAINED!! So I'm sat here, having a beer.
To cut a long story short, the guy is adamant that the wheel is buckled. Absolutely ADAMANT. I feel he is being honest in the way he feels. I still don't think the wheel is buckled......but I do believe that he believes it is.
So I put my point across also, that I felt that the wheel wasn't buckled. I think I made it well, and he did say to me that he believed what I said, and that he thought I was being honest.
So far so good....maybe?!
I then proceeded to point out that he bid on the bike without viewing. He never contacted me about a test ride, he never came to view the bike, he didn't call me to ask any questions. I also pointed out that he bought the bike, and as far as the law stood, I owe him nothing. It was a private sale, I was being honest, and that I am not obliged to give him anything, or take the bike back for a refund. He accepted that also.
I know, this is where you all say, "SAY GOODNIGHT AND PUT THE PHONE DOWN!"
I don't know what it was abou the guy. He is in his 50's, maybe early 60's. My gut instinct was that he felt the bike was not as described in some way.
So, what happened? I agreed to give the guy £40 back.
Yeah "£40 FECKIN' QUID??" I hear you cry! Yeah. This is why:
I'm not a jack the lad. I want the guy to be happy with his purchase. When he inspected the bike, the following happened:
The rear left indicator didn't work....then it suddenly started.
The electric switch under the front brake lever was discovered to be dodgy.
The brake light did not come on at all when the rear brake pedal was depressed.
At this point, I did offer that I would not hold the guy to the purchase, but he said, "No worries", and he bought it. He didn't start saying that he would need to knock £25 off for a new switch etc....which if he had of done, I wouldn't have had any argument. So I guess in a way I think he played the game in that respect.
Also, assuming the guy does get a new wheel, he then has to buy a new bearing (you wouldn't use an old one), pay for the tyre to be removed, refitted and balanced, which is still going to cost him a few quid.
By offering the cash, the geezer said that it was very decent of me (thanks! but I don't normally buy compliments off men!). Before offering the money, I did point out though that if he did find any other faults, and he came back to me, he would not recieve a sympathetic ear. Infact, it would be quite the opposite.
So in that respect, it is now resolved, done and dusted.
I'm sure many of you will call me a mug. Please don't be too aggressive, as I still feel a little torn over the whole thing, and I quite like most of you ;). On one hand I think, yeah, ok, the guy is happy, glad he's happy, the bike has gone, I have the cash. I'm a good bloke, karma will come back to me etc etc.
On the other hand, he made some classic mistakes on buying a bike, which is NOT my fault, or problem.
Mrs Camel (who can be a real BI-TCH, believe me) thinks I did the right thing.
This has been a learning experience for me. I will take advice given on board, and when selling private, write 2 reciepts, both saying sold as seen, both dated, and both signed by the two parties.
If advertising on e-bay I will also put in big letters (like every other advert) YOU ARE BIDDING TO BUY, NOT TO VIEW. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE BIKE WHEN YOU COLLECT IT, YOU WILL STILL BE BUYING IT! I will probably also put something like a deposit to be paid within 24 hours via paypal, and that it is non-refundable.
I don't know if I've expressed myself well enough here, but I feel wierd. I'm glad it's resolved, and the bloke is happy, and that us fellow bikers have resolved the situation. If I met him in the pub, I'd let him buy me a pint (or 3) but I'm not the type to hold grudges.
However, I'm also ****ed off that I "backed down".
Wierd.
MUG;)
so you only got ?910 for it minus ebay fees thats less than ?900
TBH i think you have been very good to this guy. but as long as your both happy (ish)
let me know the next time your selling a bike:p
Chris what can I say, you are too nice! Ok the bike wasnt the cleanest of examples but at the same time, £910 is nothing for a bike.
I would have suggested that he brought the bike round and you took it round the block to see what you felt. At the end of the day, a buckled wheel is going to be apparent at any speed and wont just come on and off.
Give it a week or two and you get over it ;)
Tiger 55
25-06-08, 09:42 PM
I'm sure many of you will call me a mug.
I will but most of the Orgers are much nicer than me. (Except Hovis obviously.)
Mug!
Still, long as you're happy.
You will keep an eye out for it in MCN/Autotrader/Ebay/local rag though won't you...
Sig amended as deserved!!
And yeah, I'll be watching fleabay!
Gene genie
25-06-08, 09:46 PM
hes hit a kerb on the way home and thats why he never returned on it, needed time to think up a story. did he test ride it camel? i'd probs go halfs on the wheel just for the quiet life. i've just read this on vd. we've spoken before camel only briefly though. not tellin you who i am on there though, gonna keep you guessing.
hes hit a kerb on the way home and thats why he never returned on it, needed time to think up a story. did he test ride it camel? i'd probs go halfs on the wheel just for the quiet life. i've just read this on vd. we've spoken before camel only briefly though. not tellin you who i am on there though, gonna keep you guessing.
I don't think he's hit a kerb on the way home....no way of proving it either way though! Plus he phoned me as soon as he got home last night to tell me he thought the wheel is buckled.
He didn't test ride it, but he offered to bring it back to mine tonight for inspection. I didn't want to be going down that route though!
I think you may have hit the nail on the head GG with the term "quiet life". I am personally the type of bloke to put up with something I hate, just for a quiet life. Until one day when I snap and go all Michael Douglas on anyone who gets in my way!!
Hmmm, VD eh??? Lancashire?? Hmmmm......only one bloke I've PM'd in Lancashire recently......hmmmmm....
(OK, I have no idea!) :confused:
glsuk1970
26-06-08, 05:42 PM
If you're happy and if the hard-faced, miserable, ungratefull swine who took full advantage of your kind nature and generosity is also happy then who are we to judge ;)
Glad to hear you got it sorted, though.
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