Posted on 09/23/2022 4:21:06 PM PDT by Not_Who_U_Think
Fellow FReepers, I welcome any and all advice on a sticky situation.
I sold a small camping trailer through FB Marketplace. The buyer, a guy about 30, was almost obnoxious in pleading to come see it. After others fell through, I gave him the address and he came over. He was enthusiastic, but seemed somewhat naive to camping. We got along well.
He had asked before if I would take a Zelle bank transfer, I pointed out that the $3000 price was more than Zelle would allow. So how about cash? He agreed, texted me that he was at the bank before arriving, but shows up with a $1000 in cash and then wants to do Zelle for the difference. Whatever, I guess, we do the transfer, I take his cash, we sign a bill of sale that I've prepared and I sign over the title.
All good. And then...
He says he's having transmission trouble, he's going to have it worked on next week, but he's afraid to pull the camper home today. Can he leave it here until his car is fixed? The camper is sitting beside the driveway, a little in the way, but I agree and he leaves.
For the first week, he's responsive but vague, bad sensors, parts on order, sorry for the trouble.
It's now over two weeks. I'm still getting the runaround about repairs, but I'm not sure why. During our transaction he mused about where could park it at his apartment complex, and I suspect that may be part of this.
But it just reeks of a con somehow. In the meantime, I've put a lock on the hitch, so that it can't easily be moved while I'm not home.
So FReepers, I'm trying to figure out what to do. I've never had a situation like this!
I've gave him an ultimatum a few days ago to get it moved by 9/30, and if not I would take to a storage lot. But that means I would have to pay the rent, for at least a month or two, and then what if he still doesn't show?
After this long a time, you should proceed as though a strange trailer of unknown provenance had simply materialized on your property.
That’s similar to what the cops said — demand he move it and if not, take it to storage. Unfortunately, it’s a little more difficult than dropping a pet at the animal shelter. They won’t just let me drop it off, I’ll have to pay for at least a few months. And maybe, that’s the best solution. I’ll come back to your comment next week and let you know.
Put a sign in the window, haul me and its yours.
I like that!
And as crazy as it sounds, what would I do if I came home and he were living in it, beside my driveway?
please next time you sell, cash only in your hand. Meet them at the bank if necessary. Way too many cheaters out there.
‘please next time you sell, cash only in your hand.’
And that was my policy until he’s standing in front of me, shoves $1000 into my hand and then wants my email address for the $2000 Zelle transfer. Faced with the prospect of either taking his cash and accepting the rest in bank transfer, or walking away, I couldn’t think of a reason no to.
The Zelle money transfer went through, no problem.
The idea of meeting them someplace public is sound advice, but with this caveat: I had three women, previous to this guy, contact me and state they were coming over to buy it. One was even driving over, before her daughter texted her it wasn’t what she wanted. so, I would have potentially towed it back and forth three times!
Whatever you do, you don’t tow it. My suggestion was that you find if there is a towing company nearby that would tow, impound and the buyer can pay to get it released. If buyer doesn’t show up, the towing company is most likely familiar with state laws regarding abandoned, titled property. That’s how they recoup their costs of towing and storage.
Another FRiend wrote, the other option is put it in the street and let the local regulatory process run for getting that moved. Similar to when one sees an abandoned car on the interstate. The state police slap an orange sticker on it, and one to two weeks later it is towed.
It’s basically the same option - just who is corrdinating the towing and the towing company will remove the property faster if you contact than the local authorities. Knowing what you can do in your area is important. Le us know how it turns out.
” I’ve thought about offering to take it to him, but the problem is that he lives at least an hour or possibly two away. He just might agree!”
You aren’t willing to tow it only ONE HOUR away to be rid of it?
Me thinks you protest too much.
What is this anyway, Dear Abby?
oh, no i only meant meet them at the bank for the money exchange if it’s a large sum, like 3K.
i understand people are flaky my hubby sells stuff on FB and yeah, they don’t show up or they show up and say, “ Less money”
I wanted to mention something that I found out today. Apparently someone had accessed my Citi credit card info, and attempted to charge a few things today. Fortunately Citi denied all the charges, and will be sending me a new card shortly. While checking out their website, I came across information to prevent one from being a victim of fraud. The very first item listed on that page said to never use Zelle to make a money transfer. It caught my attention, because you specifically mentioned Zelle in your post, and I wanted to let you know.
There’s been some alarms raised about Zelle, but mostly because people get hoodwinked into giving up verification code they send you. In other words, if they send you can code from your bank, and you share it with the other party, they can link up to your account!
But in this case, all was cool. I just could figure out why he left it. (I think he didn’t have a place to store it - apartment dweller) but now he seems to be taking action and hopefully will pick it up this week. Thanks for your note!
Thanks for your reply. I’m glad to hear the guy will hopefully be picking it up soon.
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