WickedThump

I was selling a Crossroads frame to a fixie guy, and the buyer indicated his Mom was coming to pick it up. It was already paid for via PayPal, and I had it in my living room. Also in my living room is another bike I'm building as well as a bike I'm stripping parts from. Bike parts everywhere.
So the Mom shows up, I invite her in and offer to carry the frame to her car. She asks where the rest of the bike is, and I explain the other parts will be used or sold. As an example I tell her the wheels from the Crossoads are being used for the bike I'm building. This is the response: "But those parts belong to this bike! That's not right!" and begins crying.
Fortunately my gf was there and took the lady outside to talk her down, while I called her son and explained what had transpired. She came back and took the frame, but not before giving me a dirty look like I was an organ thief.

kjmillig

So the guy did not fully explain to his clueless mom what she was picking up, or she knew what was going on and was trying to con you.

Digital_Cowboy

Next time either insist that the person that you sell to comes to pick up what they've purchased, or print out any and all e-mails so that it is clear what the person knows what it is that they are picking up.

a1penguin

I feel sorry for the poor guy who has to be her son. She seems like she had no clue. Crying instead of asking questions? Sheesh. You should have had her talk to her son on the phone.

JonathanGennick 

Non-cyclists don't necessarily understand. To them, a bike is a single unit. To us it's a collection of parts to be used like Lego bricks.

Just chalk up the event as one of those experiences that gives you a good story to share over a beer.

Flying Merkel

Bingo. Often have I heard "My bike's broken; it has a flat".

SlimRider

A10K

I find this disconnect a lot at the community shop where I volunteer. People come in asking "Do you have replacement gears for my Mongoose" or "Do you have a handlebar thing (stem?) for a Trek?" A lot of people think bikes are like cars or consumer appliances, where every part is unique to the unit/brand. In reality bikes tend to be horizontally interchangeable; parts are the same across similar models/niches of different brands and less so between different types of bikes in a single brand. This modularity is part of the magic of bikes for me; there's a few different mechanisms that work pretty much the same across all bikes.

clydeosaur

Not to pick here, but you are displaying the same negligence about cars / appliances that people do about bikes.

A10K

You're probably right. Now I'm curious to go see if my Maytag washer has a GE motor and a Panasonic power supply.

cyclist2000

But some brands of vehicles use other manufactures engines. Ford owns the Range Rover brand and they were using BMW engines for a while.

WickedThump

Exactly. A bike is a work in progress. A new bike is merely a foundation for the rider to build upon. etc..

WickedThump

That lady, in her young life, may have been accosted by ruffians who stole her bike parts, leaving her crying over a bare frame.

thcri

Should have never left her in your house.

WickedThump

What?

2manybikes

So he sends his mom to a total strangers house, alone?

WickedThump

Some appliance parts are brand specific, electric burner elements and drip pans for instance, which are consumer replaceable.

WickedThump

Not total strangers. The buyer had been by with his gf, (friend of my daughter, who I've known a long time), a few months ago when I had been trying to sell the Crossroads as a complete bike. I try to sell extras on the "friend network" before going to CL and that's how this deal came about.

Camilo

What was the point of getting into the whole story about what bike the parts came off of, what you were going to do with them. Why didn't you just say "Oh, he's just buying the frame from me - that other stuff isn't for sale".

tonyjaja

+1 so funny story, i have never saw a women like this buyer's mother

clydeosaur

Absolutely. Some parts are, same as cars, bikes, etc....

WickedThump

I don't know. I must have been in a chatty mood.