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Purchased jetski; doesn't work

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keeleyt83

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? sale was in Kansas, but I'm in Illinois

FYI, I've got a friend from Korea and he doesn't speak very good english, so I'm writing this for him.

Ok, so here's what happened. In February, my Korean friend bought a jetski from an individual (I'll call him the seller) who happens to be a customer at his restaurant. The seller said that the jetski worked, even said that he started it before he brought it by the restaurant to show my friend. When they tried to start it at the store and it wouldn't start, the seller told my friend that it wouldn't start b/c it was too cold out and would work reliably when it gets warmer out. My friend believed him, and with the help of another native-english speaker, my friend gave the seller the agreed amount for the jetski. No written contract was created. :(

Flash forward to today. My friend tries to start the jetski when the weather is better and it doesn't work. He calls the seller and tells him it doesn't work, the seller says to take it in to get it repaired and he will pay half of the repairs. My friend just wants his money back. The seller then says that the deal is final and he will do nothing.

My question is, does my friend have a case for small claims court? If so, any advice? This is the first time I've done something like this.

Thanks for looking this over. You guys are doing a great service to the internet populous.


Tony
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Your friend does not have a case. He should take the offer of reimbursement for 1/2 of the repairs and be happy.
 

stephenk

Senior Member
have your friend sue the seller in small claims court. The seller's representation that the jetski would work was false. The good part is that your friend has a witness in the person who assisted him in the sale.
 

CraigFL

Member
My take on this is that you should have your friend take the offer of half the cost of fixing it. This was an as-is sale and your friend should have had it checked out to be sure of the condition. It is possible that letting it sit 3 months without starting would require some mainenance anyway so it would be difficult to prove if the unit didn't originally work. If your friend does decide to go to court, he should get the unit repaired at his expense, get the documentation he needs to prove his case from the repairer and then hope the judge agrees.

A bird in the hand....
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
have your friend sue the seller in small claims court. The seller's representation that the jetski would work was false. The good part is that your friend has a witness in the person who assisted him in the sale.
Whatever was "said" really doesn't matter since the buyer KNEW the Jetski was not operating when he purchased it. Also, the buyer waited 3 months. For all we know, the buyer took it home, found a broken wire, fixed it and then ran the motor until it seized up.

As I said in my prior post, your Korean friend should take the seller up on the offer of paying for half of the repairs. It is a generous offer that the seller is not even required to make.
 

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