What would you do?

[FreshFish]

My wife and I sold an elliptical on Craigslist about a month ago. In the year that we owned the machine there was never a single problem with it...and the original owners who had it for a year before us never had a problem with it. But lo and behold, we sell the thing and the console has some electrical malfunction less than a month later.

The buyer asked about 'transferring the machine to [his] name' to which I replied '...as for the transferring of names, there is no 'title' or anything like that, so I don't think it's an issue.' I didn't realize that he may have been referring to a warranty at the time...stupid, I know.

Anyways, he contacts me about this asking if I can call the company to get them to honor the warranty for him and replace the broken part. I suggest that he calls the company first and sees what he can find out. Apparently the warranty applies only to the original owner and is non-transferable (which i never knew - I had never even asked, this was something my wife bought).

So he asks if we can contact the original owners and confirm whether the machine was still within the warranty period. We did that and found out that it was not...it is about 10 months past its part warranty.

Now here's the kicker - he asks for me to split the cost of the broken part with him because it broke so soon. What would you do? Help the guy out? Or tell him 'tough luck?'

It's sad...I really do feel for the guy, but I feel like he took a risk by buying used. I just don't know if I mislead him.

 

[jagec]

I'm still trying to understand how an electrical malfunction makes an exercise machine any less of an exercise machine.

 

[rudeguy]

Did you advertise it as having a warranty?

How much did you sell it for and how much is the part?

How much would it hurt you to kick in the money for half the part?

How much would it hurt him to pay for the whole cost of the part?

 

[JS80]

caveat emptor...

 

[Farang]

If you never had any indication there was a problem and sold it in good faith, he took the risk by buying used. Even if you knew there was a problem, he took a risk, although then he might have an argument. Either way politely tell him no.

 

[TuxDave]

How much did you sell it for? And how much would it take to repair?

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

He bought it used. If he was concerned about this stuff, he should have asked beforehand. Tell him that you're sorry, but helping to pay for repairs was not part of the sale.

 

[FreshFish]

Sold it for $475 (down from $550)

The part costs $280 (ridiculous, I know) - the manufacturer told him he 'thought it was a software problem' which worries me a little...whose to say that they replace the console and it still doesn't fix the issue?

To jagec: I think the mechanical parts of the machine are still functioning, but the console controls the resistance levels and such.

To NSFW: I did not mention anything about a warranty in the ad nor in any conversation. It would be painful to part with $140, but since it is tax return time, it wouldn't be as hard as, say...Christmas time. I don't know much about his situation. He says that he and his girlfriend are living month to month, but their condo is in a very expensive area, so I can't say if that is 100% true or not.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's what sucks about selling stuff. You pretty much bind yourself to an unwritten support contract. Sucks really. That's why I stopped selling computer/parts.

though I would definably try to politely tell him no. Explain that it's just a really bad coincidence.

 

[T9D]

...

 

[rudeguy]

Your dilemma is that you have to decide at what point it becomes that guy's machine. When he bought it? A month later? Six months? 2 years?

I am all about helping people out, but you do have to draw the line somewhere. You are the only one who can make that call. Just remember that if you do help him out this time, he might be back when that part doesn't fix the problem.

 

[palswim]

I try to make it explicit to my craigslist buyers that I'm selling whatever as-is. But, with craigslist sales, I sometimes wonder if having so many people know where I live is the best idea.

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: FreshFish
Sold it for $475 (down from $550)

The part costs $280 (ridiculous, I know) - the manufacturer told him he 'thought it was a software problem' which worries me a little...whose to say that they replace the console and it still doesn't fix the issue?

To jagec: I think the mechanical parts of the machine are still functioning, but the console controls the resistance levels and such.

To NSFW: I did not mention anything about a warranty in the ad nor in any conversation. It would be painful to part with $140, but since it is tax return time, it wouldn't be as hard as, say...Christmas time. I don't know much about his situation. He says that he and his girlfriend are living month to month, but their condo is in a very expensive area, so I can't say if that is 100% true or not.

It sounds like you provided no warranty, written or implied. In this case I would say tough luck to the guy. It was sold as-is.

 

[zzuupp]

As long as you never lead him to believe that it was still under warranty, then no.

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: NSFW
Your dilemma is that you have to decide at what point it becomes that guy's machine. When he bought it? A month later? Six months? 2 years?

I am all about helping people out, but you do have to draw the line somewhere. You are the only one who can make that call. Just remember that if you do help him out this time, he might be back when that part doesn't fix the problem.

Exactly true... give in now, and the guy may be coming after you 5 years from now asking you to buy a tube of grease to lube the bearings. Also, you just don't know how he treated the machine. The fact they are living month to month shouldn't be a concern of yours... regardless of the area of town the live in, they did come up with the money to buy an elliptical machine in the first place.

If he makes a stink about it, offer to take the machine back and refund his money minus the cost of the part.

 

[rudeguy]

Also, does the machine not function at all? Is it possible that maybe he is trying to get some minor thing to work and can't figure it out? He calls their tech support and the tech support guy can't help him, so he tells the guy that its a software issue? Maybe he spilled a beer on the control panel? Is the damn thing plugged in?

I don't know man...this one sounds pretty fishy.

 

[Slew Foot]

Dude's living month to month but he can pony up 450 for an exercise machine? Idiot, pisses me off that Im going to have to bail his ass out when he forecloses.

 

[geno]

Man, this is Craigslist, the very last of the last places you'd expect to find a warranty. He's SOL and bought it as-is.

 

[KK]

as long as it was working when you gave it to him, that ends your dealing with regards to the product. Don't sweat it. You got the money, nothing more you need to do.

 

[FreshFish]

Thanks for the insight everyone. My sentiments are very similar to what I am hearing in this thread.

I already replied to him last night basically apologizing, telling him that this is a really unfortunate coincidence, but that the machine was purchased used which carries an inherent risk.

I just needed to validate my thought process, because I truly do feel bad for him.

Thanks again.

 

[AkumaX]

Once I bought a bunch of computer parts (CPU/Hard Drive/Memory/VGA/etc...) from a guy who wanted to sell it all at 1 bulk price. All I wanted was the hard drive, and I sold everything else on eBay around within a week of getting all the stuff, to make the hard drive almost "free" (minus the time used to list stuff/ship stuff out).

Hard drive died a week later. I never bothered contacting him.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: FreshFish
Thanks for the insight everyone. My sentiments are very similar to what I am hearing in this thread.

I already replied to him last night basically apologizing, telling him that this is a really unfortunate coincidence, but that the machine was purchased used which carries an inherent risk.

I just needed to validate my thought process, because I truly do feel bad for him.

Thanks again.

Exctly what I would have done. If he wanted the peace of mind of a warranty, he should have bought new. Buying used always carries risks.

 

[jpeyton]

Cash and carry.

I've gotten burned on CL before; took the loss and moved on. So far, the rewards of buying used off CL have FAR outweighed the risks.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: akshatp

Originally posted by: FreshFish
Thanks for the insight everyone. My sentiments are very similar to what I am hearing in this thread.

I already replied to him last night basically apologizing, telling him that this is a really unfortunate coincidence, but that the machine was purchased used which carries an inherent risk.

I just needed to validate my thought process, because I truly do feel bad for him.

Thanks again.

Exctly what I would have done. If he wanted the peace of mind of a warranty, he should have bought new. Buying used always carries risks.

Yeah. I mean it sucks for him and I would really want to help him out...but he has to be a big boy. It sounds like he haggled with the OP on price and now wants a warranty too. It would be hard for me, but I would have to tell him to beat it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Especially if the buyer knew that the product was used, he should have known that it carried no warranty, because it only applied to the original owner, thus he should have known that he should be responsible for all repairs.