What a day, as some of you might have spotted I have my very rare Hanomag R425 for Sale since last week, found a buyer, he came over today with his wife and kid from Kent to collect it, we agreed on the phone that he would pay online whilst here, arriving at a neutral spot where we meet ( do not give my address to all and sundry over the phone) this morning he said if it is ok with you I would like to pay half cash and I will transfer the other half online, although I had said not to want any cash on a sunday, because the bank cant check it, I thought it looks genuine, I will make a copy of his drivers license and then it will be ok, arriving at my place we look at the tractor, all good, then he uses his new phone app to make a transfer, turns out he never used it before and the limit is only £250, so that is not going to work, turns out that he doesn't do online banking ( NatWest customer), so he says no problem, I will do it with the bank over the phone, he then makes one mistake in his security numbers over the phone and they lock him out for the day, cannot try again this day, even do he corrected him selves immediately. after a lot of thinking and trying it turns out he can't get it payed today, but he drove for 4 hours from Kent to Herefordshire, he then says you can trust me to pay the other half tomorrow, now I did really feel for him and he was clearly distressed by it all, he looked like a genuine person, but I am afraid that I had to tell him that without all of the funds being in my possession, the tractor would not leave the premises, he then got a bit upset with me and just wanted to leave, he said you can trust me, I have all my paperwork with me , but I am afraid I just couldn't do it as it is just asking for problems I think, ( considering he wanted me to trust him, he wanted his wife to count the cash again which was after me counting it put into my coat, when I handed it back to him) pfffffffffffff I can do with less complicated things for a Sunday lol.
That happened to me when I sold an A4 a few years back, buyer turned up and his bank app hadn't been set up properly. No cash, no take the car... Preparation is the key esp if he is driving 4 hours ! I did the same as you.
It's tempting to give in and trust them and they are probably okay but if he hasn't met the conditions of sale before he even leaves the house, your suspicions are worth listening too. He may not like two trips but genuine people understand, you're not selling half a tractor so why would you accept half of the money.
No money, no tractor. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. You feel for the bloke, but imagine how you would feel if he had vanished having paid half... Did he leave you with the cash on trust until tomorrow?
yip that's my gut feeling too, I might be missing a sale, because I don't think he will return, but so be it, regardless my feeling that he was ok, their would be no come back for me at all, in this day and age it is hard enough to trust anyone for the price of a pint of lager, let alone that sort of money, a shame really, but the time of trust and not locking your doors at night are definitely a thing of the past, but this gives one of you new opportunities to buy it lol
You did the right thing. You don't know him, he hasn't earned or deserved your trust. Nothing that happened was your fault here. Who the hell comes to buy something using online banking, never having used it before and not checking he could use it beforehand? He couldn't give you the funds for the tractor, so he couldnt have it. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
You defo done the correct thing, Turn the table and would he of let you have taken it away? Probably not, Ide of felt for the bloke also but done the same thing you done. You would have had a sleepless night that's for sure if you had let him taken it
You did the right thing and if he really wanted it he should have made sure the money was ready and if he really really wants it he will come back And ..... did he really come from Kent who knows
I sold a Carby 900SS a while ago to a Guy who drove 3 hours to get here. He gave the bike a very thorough going over which was fair enough. He tried to pay on-line on my laptop, but he had not got the Paypal permissions set up properly. We ended up going to a local branch of his Build Soc for some cash - all ended OK. It did leave me feeling that this Paypal malarky was a deliberate ploy which would allow him to "Walk away" from the deal if he did not like the bike !
In the meantime you still own a lovely appreciating asset. A lot worse things happened in the world today.
