Sold my bike....now in a quandry. Advice needed please mighty .org

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.

It was ridden away without spending any money. It was only when they got down the road that they realised that something wasnt right.

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.

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????

^^^ 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.

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