roburrito

I sold an '83 Takara Competition with a full Shimano 600 arabesque group - beautiful bike - in mid-June on craigslist. I test rode the bike for a few miles, the buyer road it around the block - no problems. Two weeks later he emails me to say the chain broke on a ride. I offer to replace the chain or give a refund. He says he'd rather have it fixed than take a refund. A week or so later I go to his place to install a new chain and tune the derailleur that's slightly off alignment. I also give him a voucher for a free tune-up at a local shop. I test ride the bike, he test rides the bike, no problems. I don't hear from him to today - early September. He says the derailleur fell off on a ride and wants a refund. He says he used the tune-up voucher in July and hasn't ridden it since (or something). Its been 3 months. I tell him its beyond a reasonable refund period. He says these are special circumstances and wants a refund.

How would you deal with this? I think its ridiculous to expect a refund after 3 months especially when buying a bike from craigslist.

loug

if the customer walks away unhappy, how much could you loose because of it? better to have a customer happy and telling his friends how well he was treated than to have one complaining to everyone how badly he was screwed by _______________ (fill in name here)

marley mission

i dont sell - but most of the bikes i buy are sold AS IS - meaning you get the problems w the bike - i'd say you are going above and beyond - god bless ya - but i cant imagine being a seller and going through that rigamoroll

bikemanbob

Hi Roburrito:

In my opinion, you've been very generous and understanding. He had an opportunity for a refund and turned it down. Both of you agreed to the terms. If he wants his money back, he needs to sell it himself. I would kindly tell him "no" to the refund and cease communication.

Good luck.

Spoonrobot 

I think you've gone above and beyond what most people who sell a bike on craigslist would do. Purchasing from the classifieds sections (even if it is online) is generally considered a buyer-beware, no warranty implied, as-is type of deal. Unless you have a side business or a reputation I'd just ignore any future contact.

SteveSGP

Ask yourself this, when is the last time you had a derailleur fall off a bike you built and when was the lat time a chain broke on you?

What are the odds of both things happening to the same bike?

If anything charge him three months bike rental and get it back from him, used bikes are used bikes.

TugaDude

I agree that you've gone above and beyond. If he wanted a warranty and that kind of service, he should have purchased from a LBS.

How in the heck can a RD fall off after a tuneup? Why not take it back to the shop that did the tuneup and have them explain it? Something is rotten in Denmark. I like Fordsvtparts idea. Charge him rental and get it back!

wrk101

I have given refunds three times. One claimed the bike was "too fast", another claimed: "changed their mind", the third just "wanted something different". I may be the only guy on C/L that does this. I don't advertise refunds available, and I sell bikes as is, but I do end up standing behind them. Fortunately, each time, I ended up reselling the bike for more, so I guess the karma was good.

Given the long, long time factor, I am not sure what I would do. The three I mentioned above were all within two weeks. And on one, he ended up taking a different bike, and then later I sold a bike to his mother, his girl friend, his girl friend's mother, and his girl friend's father.

I would probably give a full refund, not because it is what should be done, but just to get rid of the character. Guy would need to bring the bike back, and it needed to be damage free (paint good, no obvious wear and tear).

I've thought about formalizing a refund policy, something like full refund within 10 days (damage free), 75% within 90 days, and 75% credit towards another bike within one year. But I am not sure I want to go there.

It kind of depends how many bikes you are selling. If it is a few a year, forget it. If it is several a month, ponder the impact to your reputation.

jeepr

I would say to make sure he knows you do not have to do anything at all for him. Then, if your worried about your rep, begin negotiations from there. I would deduct for wear, dirt, damage and the derailleur (if broken.) The bike was worked on after you sold it.

I had a girl heading off to college and wanted to buy a bike and ship it there. I tried to talk her out of it (it was a 60 dollar Hercules 3-spd.) She came in three different times and finally bought the bike. About 2 1/2 weeks later her mother comes in with the bike and one of the crank arms is off, cotter missing. She wants a refund. I offered to sell the bike on consignment, or give her 50 dollars back. She opted for the 50, so basically she rented the bike for 10 dollars for a couple weeks.

tmh657

Some good points here and I don't believe I could make a blanket statement re: never take a bike back/ refund. Perhaps it just depends on the buyer and what the circumstances are. I have only had 1 issue and I sell about 3 bikes a month.
Maybe 3 years ago during the fixie conversion craze. Sold one to a teenager and the hub was stripped in a day. It was a used wheel and probably not up to skidding so he and I split the cost of a cheap replacement wheel. I felt the need to make it right since he lived in my neighborhood and the threads may have been suspect but I didn't skid on it first, (not my thing). I have since sold him another bike, with gears so I think it was the right call.

Some people are just fruitcakes or can't accept responsibility for their own actions and may not act fruity when you sell them a bike. That can be a no win situation and you have to just make them go away with whatever method works at the time.

I have told several potential buyers that what I was selling is not right for them to avoid potential problems. Like people afraid to let go with one hand to reach for a down tube shifter. Yikes.

Roburrito: I agree, it's ridiculous to expect a refund after 3 months when he has had it serviced somewhere else. Tell him to take it back to that shop.

Scrockern8r

This just blows my mind...
I've bought lots of stuff of craigslist. Unless there was deceit, I've never tried to roll-back or alter the terms of a sale.
When one purchases something from a private party -with the exception of fraud or deceit- the sale is AS-IS.
These jack-holes that expect what is essentially, warranty, and return privileges, need a reality check.

I've bought stuff that didn't turn out. I take my lumps and make the best of it.

I guess I'm just old school. A deal is a deal. When the deal is done, the deal is d-o-n-e.

UberGeek

On Craigslist, I generally give anything I sell a "7 day warranty", but don't tell the person.

In those seven days, I'll give a full refund (I wont repair for them). After that, it's "Sorry, I'd be happy to do the repair for $X/hr, plus parts."

Just recently, I had a guy buy a set of Bontrager tires from me, and he was putting them on a Next bike. They were used, but good tires (Just didn't need them, I replaced them with commuting slicks), and I sold cheap ($9 for the pair).

The guy emails me telling the the tires, and tire liners are trashed, don't fit, have 9 gashes on them, and he tossed them out. I let him know,"If you bring them back, I'll happily refund your money." Never heard from him again.

roburrito

I just decided to not respond and leave it with my first email saying it was an unreasonable amount of time for a return. Haven't heard from him yet.

wrk101

That's probably a very good way to leave it with this nut. +1 To below, hopefully he does not know where you live. Another good reason to do C/L sales at a neutral site. I do it some, but not enough.

repechage

The way it is explained makes one think the buyer is a whack job. Hopefully you did not transact this deal at your residence.

randyjawa 

Each request for a refund, or repair, is judged based on the person and the situation. One guy brought a Bridgestone MB2 back with a wheel that had gone miserably out of true. I fixed the wheel, while he waited, wondering to myself how this could have happened.

A month later, he called and asked how to put air in the tires since he did not have a pump to fit the Presta valves. Now I understand the wheel issue and gave him an adapter. I have not heard back from him since and the free-bees are now over. Next time, he will have to pay for any maintenance.

Some people will just keep taking as long as you are willing to give.

In general, I do try to always give a customer the benefit of doubt. However, as mentioned, each case is different and must be weighed accordingly. I might add that I have lots of repeat customers.

The purpose of my little business is to help others, not make money. Funny thing is, I always make a bit of money, but not enough to get rich. Which, of course, does not matter all that much, since I love what I do to fill up my days of retirement.

mainstreetexile 

Another +1, don't feed the animals.

FastJake

+1

OP: are you a bike shop or something? If not, I say screw the guy. Sounds like it was his fault anyway, at least not your fault. I've sold lots of bike on CL and never had a complaint like that. I have also bought bikes that have had hidden problems I was unaware of. Not enough to complain, so maybe some of the buyers of my bikes are just keeping quiet like me.

Bottom line: it's a used bike. In the future put in all your ads, "bike is sold AS-IS"

billyb0b115

EVERYTHING on Craigslist is sold AS IS! 3mo is more than enough time and he rejected the refund when offered. Not your problem that most likely he was the one that messed up the bike...

As long as he doesn't know where you live then you're good

ColombianGT

You could flip a coin on it and pick best 2/3 or Rock-paper-scissors that shiznit!

bibliobob

I've never had a chain break on me, or a derailleur "fall off." That guy's either a liar or he's massively abusing the bike.

coldehammer

Personally I'd tell the customer the same - it's beyond a reasonable time period. One lesson to learn from all of this is when you sell an item used that is in an expected working condition, you write out a general contract stating buyer is responsible for item AS-IS.

This allows you to be worry-free.