timewasters please

"john hamilton" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

No, it's the one(s) who never had any intention of buying it, and just fancied a go in it.

And those who intend to offer a price significantly lower than any sane seller would accept.

Like the two "private traders" who told me that the six-year old Fiesta I was selling was only worth half my asking price, because it had been involved in a serious accident, and had been badly repaired.

Thing is, I'd owned it from new...

Chris

Chris Whelan gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

You think that rules it out?

Somebody I used to know turned up one day in a brand-spankin' Cavalier. Just collected it that morning from the dealer.

I took one look at it and pointed out it'd had one front wing repaired badly. Poor colour match, bad orange peel and overspray from poor masking.

Next time I saw 'em, they were driving something else, having thrown the Cav _firmly_ back.

Thus spake john hamilton ( snipped-for-privacy@mail.invalid) unto the assembled multitudes:

It also invites deliberate time-wasters, I think. On the other hand the seller has to expect the shock-horror-scandal of a potential buyer actually daring *not* to buy, having viewed the item.

I do chuckle at the naivety of personal adverts sometimes. I remember seeing a lawnmower advertised in a newsagent's window and the words concluded with "would like £50 but will accept £30".

Essentially that, but the time-wasting can take many forms. The only time I've ever suffered at the hands of a time-waster is when I advertised a Honda C70 motorcycle for sale back in the 1980s in the local paper. Someone phoned and asked if I'd mind riding it round to their place so they could take a look before deciding whether to buy. It was only a mile or two away so I happily rode round to the supplied address only to find that the occupier knew nothing about it and I had been the victim of a prank. Although a bit pissed off, I did see the funny side of it, and I sold the bike to someone else within 24 hours anyway so no real harm done.

In message , john hamilton writes

with my daughter, her partner and my lady friend

My mate was a time waster, from bicycles through motorbikes up to cars. He went into a Merc showroom one day and kicked the tyres of one model, including sitting in the rear seat to see if the headroom was enough for his blind wife, who felt uncomfortable in a Toyota Avensis for example.

He then discovered that the door appeared to be locked, (child-proof catch) and caught the attention of a hovering salesman, who ostentatiously opened the door from the outside, and then pointed out that the window was open!

That's time-wasting...

From the point of view that I wouldn't have bought it if it had been as badly repaired as they were telling me, yes.

I know cars get damaged before delivery; I've toured Ford's Dagenham plant...

I also know of vehicles that were damaged to the point of being economic write-offs whilst in the "care" of a dealer for mechanical repairs, with the owner never knowing, but that hadn't happened with the Fiesta because it never went near a dealer after the first six months I owned it.

Chris

He contacts you from Jersey or somewhere saying he definitely wants your car, please send some more photos and as he thinks it's undervalued he'll send a messenger with a cheque to fix the deal. He'll take the car when the cheque has cleared. He comes for the car, but needs a small (£200) fee for helping out, you give it to him and off he goes. The cheque, which you thought had cleared, seems not to have done.

Rob Graham

Rob Graham gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Rather less effective these days, now there's a fixed cheque clearing period (introduced Nov '07)

"From the end of the sixth working day after we receive it, we cannot take the money from your account without your consent unless you have acted fraudulently."

Ditto, when I went into a bank the other day (not Lloyds) there was a really prominent sign behind the counter that said something along the lines of "after x days of a cheque being paid into your account it can be regarded as cleared payment and no attempt will be made by the bank to recover any funds from the customers account"

I don't think I'd try to prove it with a cheque from anyone I didn't know though :)

A good move - just in time for the banks to phase out cheques completely.

MattF