I sold a flash on the B&S board back in mid-September 2007. It was in good working condition when I sold it. The buyer e-mailed me today saying that he tried to use it today, Jan 29, 2008, for the first time and that it doesn't work. Wants to know what I am going to do about it.
Do I have any obligation to do anything more than 4 months after the fact? I can't believe that he wouldn't have tested it when he originally got it.
Nothing, you sold it to him knowing it works. If he gets it does nothing with it this long there's nothing you can do about it. How do you know he hasn't used it 4 hours a day for the last four months?
4 months? come on who does that. Anytime I buy equipment, I test it out to make sure it works properly. At least put batteries in it and see if it fires. It is hard to believe he let it sit around for 4 months and like monochrome stated, maybe he has been using it all this time maybe not.....4 months though.... I still can't get over that. Don't even worry about it. His fault. I am sure if he would of told you right away you would of resolved the problem.
I agree that you have no obligation to do anything after four months. I rarely sell anything on the BS forum here but on my ebay sales I state that I will offer a full refund on the item from the date it is received if it is not in the condition described in my listing. Depending on his type of photography he could have taken several hundreds of shots using the flash before it went bad.
He should have let you know within a few days after receipt of the flash if it was not working.
Forrest Egan wrote:
I hate to say it but I agree with monochrome. A few days, even a week or two, perhaps...but over 4 months, c'mon. Tell them to talk to Fred.
Statute of limitations has expired. I agree with the consensus. After 4 months!!?? Sorry it "broked" but not to be anal but crap happens, however unfortunate.... and it has happened to me alot...
Dan
Yep I agree. I think he has an obligation to test it when he received it. Because otherwise, like you said, you have no way of knowing if he has used it already - and used it a lot. This is just one of the risks of buying something used. It can break at any time.
I wouldn't think you had any obligation in this whatsoever. As monochrome mentioned, you sold it knowing it worked. It was the buyers responsibility to check it on arrival. Besides, how do you know he didn't use it for the last 4 months? He could have used it so much he burnt out the flash head for all you know.
Tell him to send it back to Canon for a repair quote to see 'why it stopped working' and see what he says!
carlsbadbum wrote:
Used items are as is, he should of buy new with 1 yr. warranty.
I think this depends on the people involved. "As is" does not mean the same as "not as described". If someone described something as "in perfect working order" or "like new", and what showed up was a masonry brick, or heavily used and worn, I would expect the seller to to make good (like a refund). That said, when I buy used equipment, I buy face to face and check what I am buying. The seller gets to check the money.
pixelpics wrote:
4 months? come on who does that. Anytime I buy equipment, I test it out to make sure it works properly. At least put batteries in it and see if it fires. It is hard to believe he let it sit around for 4 months and like monochrome stated, maybe he has been using it all this time maybe not.....4 months though.... I still can't get over that. Don't even worry about it. His fault. I am sure if he would of told you right away you would of resolved the problem.
Agreed. If he had let me know right away that there was a problem, I would have refunded his payment. I have bought and sold a lot of stuff here and take great pains to accurately describe the items that I post for sale. I certainly wouldn't expect someone to refund money to me for an item that I let sit around untested for 4+ months.
? come on who does that. Anytime I buy equipment, I test it out to make sure it works properly. At least put batteries in it and see if it fires. It is hard to believe he let it sit around for 4 months and like monochrome stated, maybe he has been using it all this time maybe not.....4 months though.... I still can't get over that. Don't even worry about it. His fault. I am sure if he would of told you right away you would of resolved the problem. 