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AIBU?

To be fed up that I sold my flat over 2 months ago but the buyer keeps contacting me

97 replies

FreshFreesias · 19/07/2019 20:56

I completed on the sale of my flat 2 months ago. I was happy to swap contact details with my buyer - it is nice to remain on friendly terms as I know how trepidatious it can be to move somewhere new and I was happy to answer any (reasonable) questions. Also the odd bit of mail might slip through the redirection so it’s helpful if they can forward anything.

All was quiet until a received a flurry of questions from the extremely irritating estate agent saying their boiler had broken down and asking me for information about who had installed it and where was the warranty etc. I explained that I had responded to their solicitor’s queries to their satisfaction at time of exchange, as it was a new build I had passed on a final completion certificate and gas safety certificate but hadn’t activated a warranty on the new boiler - something that had never occurred to me until that call, submerged as I was in all the other red tape selling a property involves.

I can see getting a boiler warranty would have been a good idea but really it was the job of the buyer’s solicitor to obtain all the necessary paperwork and if they’d asked then I would have done it. Anyway, the boiler had been installed for a few years and was in perfect working order when I left.

I gave the estate agent the contact details of my builder who I said might be able to shed some light on why the boiler had broken and emphasised that while I was sorry to hear about this, in the spirit of caveat emptor, their boiler problems were no longer mine to deal with.

A few days later I receive a very prickly missive from my buyer asking me to activate the warranty as a matter of courtesy’ as apparently only I can do this. I said I had no objection to doing it but as the refurb was project managed by an architect (who ripped me off so badly that I’d rather pull out my teeth than have any further dealings with him), he was the only person who had access to required myriad details such as date of installation, name of installer and their CORGI ref and whether the moon was waxing or waning at the time.<br /> <br /> She was also in a state of high dudgeon as the tricky neighbours had sent her a bill for redecoration agreed during my ownership which I’d clearly told them in writing to pass on to me after I moved but which they mistakenly’ sent to her. I had made all this clear in the conveyancing forms to her and her solicitor but I told her I would settle the bill and not to worry as she had copied me in an email thread to them saying she was furious and trying to get hold of her solicitor for clarity.

I suspect if she had been a little more emollient and less entitled I might not have been so irritated. In her position I would have used charm and apology, realising I needed something from someone who really didn’t need to help me. I

I had to discount the property vastly to get a quick sale after years of tortuous building work and an architect who had nearly ruined me. I was so hugely relieved to sell, even at a vast loss, but to be plunged back into that terrible time after the amazing relief of being free from it has really rattled my cage.

To make things worse, I am dealing with a family bereavement so she hasn’t caught me at a good time.

I’ll be over it in a few days but just thought I’d have an anonymous vent on here. I mean, when does caveat emptor not mean caveat emptor?!

I wonder if anyone else has an interesting story about buyers staying in touch with sellers. My brother married the woman whose flat he bought so happier alliances than mine can be made.

OP posts:
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SneakySlinkieSiamezee · 19/07/2019 20:58

Sounds a right pain but hopefully things will settle down now

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Aquamarine1029 · 19/07/2019 21:01

I certainly hope you've blocked them. I would.

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BarrenFieldofFucks · 19/07/2019 21:01

Block her.

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RhodaDendron · 19/07/2019 21:02

Are you a writer? If not you should be!

She just sounds a bit needy. She’ll chill out eventually. We constantly curse the previous owners of our dreadful flat but wouldn’t dream of contacting them... you sound very kind to help her out.

I’m really just responding because I like the term ‘high dudgeon’ so much.

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thesnapandfartisinfallible · 19/07/2019 21:02

I'd just change my number tbh.

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Treaclesweet · 19/07/2019 21:02

My granny taught me "you'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar", i.e. it is easier to get what you want if you are nice to people. Many people could use this lesson it seems!

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username678889 · 19/07/2019 21:07

You shouldn't of given her your number so block number .

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Masketti · 19/07/2019 21:09

I second your writing skills!

You were polite to exchange details but if I was you my next correspondence to them would be 'if you can show me in writing where I agreed to be responsible for providing you with this information for the foreseeable future I will respond. Until then this will be my last reply on the matter of [address].'

DD1 is very good friends with the daughter of the people we bought our house off and I regularly go on nights out with the mum!

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FreshFreesias · 19/07/2019 21:11

@rhodaDendrum, v kind to say that. Yes, high dudgeon is a good phrase and not a common one these days!

Squeaky wheel buyer doesn't have my number but my email but I shall probably block it.

OP posts:
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P1nkHeartLovesCake · 19/07/2019 21:12

Block the number?? I would.

You sold the place none of this is your problem......

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MatchSetPoint · 19/07/2019 21:14

The boiler warranty is useless to them anyway isn’t it? I thought it only applies to the person who bought/had it installed. I may be completely wrong but I had a new boiler in my last house and this was the case when I sold.

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ferntwist · 19/07/2019 21:16

I loved your use of the word trepidatious! I thought I was the only one who said that.

Agree with PPs, you’ve done more than enough and your buyer and the estate agent are CFs.

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IhaveALooBrush · 19/07/2019 21:17

Meh.
Caveat emptor

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user1471449295 · 19/07/2019 21:17

Block her OP. I third your writing skills too Smile

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Sandybval · 19/07/2019 21:20

Our boiler broke a month after we moved in, never crossed my mind to hound the sellers (and I see them frequently). I did find warranty documents in the cupboard with some other paperwork they left, but it was only valid in their names; it's the nature of the beast. They were being very unreasonable.

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Sc0neCreamJam75 · 19/07/2019 21:21

The property was sold as seen

None of the issues are your concern

There was a post recently, where someone had bought a car from a friend. After 2 years, it failed the MOT & were moaning at the friend !
No warranty was specified & an old car would be lucky to have 2 months, not 2 years

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MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 19/07/2019 21:22

We bought a house many years ago, family with 3 children lived there.

About 3 weeks after we moved in they turned up unexpectedly to visit the old house Confused but weird but no problem, it was a sunny day, had a cuppa in the garden.

Then they noticed that we had filled in their beloved pond...he couldn't believe we'd done it and their kids then got upset so they hurriedly left.

We often laughed about pondgate over the following few years 😂

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Piglet89 · 19/07/2019 21:23

You write so well; your style reminds me of “Eleanor Oliphant”.

I hope venting has helped. You have been beth accommodating: too much so, perhaps!

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JoxerGoesToStuttgart · 19/07/2019 21:24

No idea about the buyer but goodness that’s a wordy post. Couldn’t finish it tbh.

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KitKat1985 · 19/07/2019 21:24

Provided the boiler was working when you sold it, and you weren't aware of any problems when you sold it, then it's not your fault or your problem if it broke a few weeks later. Just bad luck, and they need to sort it themselves.

We moved last year and we has serious plumbing problems about a couple of months after we moved in our new house. Do you know what we did? We got a plumber and got the problem sorted ourselves. It was nothing to do with the seller. It's just bad luck.

Block your buyer and forget about them.

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DuckbilledSplatterPuff · 19/07/2019 21:24

Does she even understand the responsibilities of owning a house. They can just take out a British Gas insurance policy which most landlords do anyway. It keeps the annual inspections up to date. It doesn't have to be a new boiler. Warranties only last about 2 years..5 years if you are lucky. but in any case the boiler will have id and serial numbers on it somewhere ( usually on the bit the pops out so that you can examine the inside... All she has to do is contact the manufacturer where she can get a manual and all the details and they probably have a registration scheme too. Its a simple matter of finding the serial number on the boiler and looking it up on the internet.
You've been more than polite and generous and she's not repaying you in kind.

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FreshFreesias · 19/07/2019 21:25

Do you think men have to deal with this kind of cheeky fuckery?
I do, all the time. I guess people suss out a soft touch.

So sooner do I see off one CF then another one pops up.

It's like there is some kind of cheeky fucker school, churning them out.

OP posts:
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hsegfiugseskufh · 19/07/2019 21:25

We had the same issue. Our buyer found me on fb and complained that when she had turned the dryer on it had blown the electrics. The dryer which we left them, for free, at their request. The dryer we offered to remove (we hadnt used it for years previous) because we thought it wasnt efficient. But they wanted to keep it and then had the cheek to complain!

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TwistyTop · 19/07/2019 21:26

Oh god, absolutely block her and disengage both mentally and spiritually. This is not your problem.

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BlueSkiesLies · 19/07/2019 21:26

Block and ignore

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