Craigslist Buyer DEMANDING full refund, says he will talk with a lawyer.

[Aivek]

What is the name of your state? California

So, yesterday a guy came over to buy my gaming computer off of me for $1300. I advertised it as used, and with the advertisement I included all the computer parts that would come with it. The computer, of course, was sold exactly as advertised. The picture of the computer shows the monitor and keyboard, but in my original post I said “peripherals and monitor not included”
Peripherals are keyboards, mouses, etc. I.e., just the computer.

So he comes to check it out, I notice he is quite hesitant, so I assured him he didn’t have to buy anything several times; I told him he could go home and think about it and let me know if he’s still interested. He decides to buy it right there for $1300. Great.

The next day (June 8), he says he wants a full refund, that he had changed his mind. I told him I’m sorry, the money has already been used. *I never said in my Craigslist post that I accept refunds, nor did I say in person that he could return it if he changed his mind.* He gets quite emotional and says that karma will come back to get me, to which I respond the following:
“I gave you opportunities yesterday to not buy it. I said ‘you can go home and think about it.’ I said ‘you don’t have to buy it.’ My hands are clean. Sorry. Good luck.”
He responds by saying “ok. That my fault. That why I lost. Let see your life. Tomorrow i will come to your house . Let see.”
I respond with “I cannot give you a refund. Sorry. I didn’t scam you. I didn’t force you to buy anything.”
This is when he says he’ll talk to a lawyer.

What should I do? Sorry for the long post, but I’m getting a bit worried and I didn’t want to leave out any information.

 

[xylene]

One question, that is very important: Is this buyer a minor or an adult?

Are you an adult?

Craiglsist buyers often get buyers remorse. And often talk trash. Don't worry about it.

You have an appropriate disclaimer, but small piece of advice...
Don't include items you don't intend to sell in your advertisement photos.
It is kind of a jerk move, doesn't help with sales and confuses buyers.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? California

So, yesterday a guy came over to buy my gaming computer off of me for $1300. I advertised it as used, and with the advertisement I included all the computer parts that would come with it. The computer, of course, was sold exactly as advertised. The picture of the computer shows the monitor and keyboard, but in my original post I said “peripherals and monitor not included”
Peripherals are keyboards, mouses, etc. I.e., just the computer.

So he comes to check it out, I notice he is quite hesitant, so I assured him he didn’t have to buy anything several times; I told him he could go home and think about it and let me know if he’s still interested. He decides to buy it right there for $1300. Great.

The next day (June 8), he says he wants a full refund, that he had changed his mind. I told him I’m sorry, the money has already been used. *I never said in my Craigslist post that I accept refunds, nor did I say in person that he could return it if he changed his mind.* He gets quite emotional and says that karma will come back to get me, to which I respond the following:
“I gave you opportunities yesterday to not buy it. I said ‘you can go home and think about it.’ I said ‘you don’t have to buy it.’ My hands are clean. Sorry. Good luck.”
He responds by saying “ok. That my fault. That why I lost. Let see your life. Tomorrow i will come to your house . Let see.”
I respond with “I cannot give you a refund. Sorry. I didn’t scam you. I didn’t force you to buy anything.”
This is when he says he’ll talk to a lawyer.

What should I do? Sorry for the long post, but I’m getting a bit worried and I didn’t want to leave out any information.

It does not appear you have any legal obligation to the buyer.

If he shows up at your house, and you feel threatened by his presence, you should call the police.

 

[Aivek]

One question, that is very important: Is this buyer a minor or an adult?

Are you an adult?

Craiglsist buyers often get buyers remorse. And often talk trash. Don't worry about it.

You have an appropriate disclaimer, but small piece of advice...
Don't include items you don't intend to sell in your advertisement photos.
It is kind of a jerk move, doesn't help with sales and confuses buyers.

We are both adults. He seems to have calmed down and apologized.

Thanks for your response. I agree with not including those kinds of photos. Companies do the same thing though, and add disclaimers specifying certain items don’t come with the purchase, so I thought I would do the same thing. Won’t do that again.

Thanks again for your response.

 

[Aivek]

It does not appear you have any legal obligation to the buyer.

If he shows up at your house, and you feel threatened by his presence, you should call the police.

The guy is calming down and apologized to me. But this is good information for me to know. Thank you for your response.

 

[quincy]

I am happy to hear your buyer has calmed down and offered an apology.

I hope you do not experience any problems with any future sales. Good luck.

 

[Dandy Don]

Did you give the buyer any type of receipt for his purchase? You need to look at business law for your state to see if you were required to refund a portion or all of his money within a 3-day period if he asked for it. He may still decide to take you to small claims court

 

[quincy]

Did you give the buyer any type of receipt for his purchase? You need to look at business law for your state to see if you were required to refund a portion or all of his money within a 3-day period if he asked for it. He may still decide to take you to small claims court

It appears the buyer is now content with his purchase.

 

[HighwayMan]

It appears the buyer is now content with his purchase.

Not necessarily, but he does seem to have realized that he acted inappropriately and is content with the fact that he is not getting a refund.

 

[quincy]

The buyer of a privately sold used as-is item should always inspect the item prior to purchase - as this buyer did. Once purchased, there is generally no legal obligation on the part of the seller to take the item back and refund the purchaser's money.

I don't know why so many buyers expect refunds from these sales. Perhaps they have heard of the "3-day cooling off" period and think it applies to all sales? It applies to very very few contract sales and not a sale as described here.