I was ripped off - but am i out of touch with morality?

[CornwallThrift]

I was so chuffed when i bought a brand new integrated multifunction microwave oven for £150 from a lady in Plymouth through FB marketplace (half new price). She had bought it as part of a new kitchen but didn't need it. My kitchen extension was substantially delayed & it was 6 months before my electrician was able to fit said oven. All of the digital controls etc worked perfectly, BUT it didn't microwave or heat up. Over Christmas this provided a brilliant distraction for visiting family and friends, who studied the manual, determined to find the button to make it work ...which they never did. My electrician upon recent visit had a peek inside & said it was not wired up & there were substantial parts missing in order that it was to work as an oven or microwave. He suspected it was a 'show' oven. I contacted the lady & asked for my money back (in return for me delivering item in same condition i purchased it). She refused & said that no shop would give money back after 6 months. I said this is irrelevant as no shop would sell an oven that didn't have the capability to heat. She immediately exited the 'chat'. I just wouldn't be able to sleep at night if i had ripped someone off like this (regardless of whether i knew or not?). Is it unreasonable to expect my money back?

I think if you order something and it is broken or faulty, quite often the company just send you a new one, and tell you to dispose of the faulty one. (This happened to us with a kitchen sink that we bought). I suspect she may have ‘disposed of it’ by selling it to you…. Really sorry. It is really galling to lose money this way. I have a (growing) mental list of all the money we have lost over the years on things like this. In fact, that is the only way to make yourself feel better - by hearing about someone else’s dreadful time when they lost more money than you. So, if this will make you feel any better - at the end of a big house refurbishment, we lost £3.5k through email intercept fraud (an email that looked like it came from one of the builders, giving bank details for us to pay the final amount into). We had to borrow money to pay the actual bill afterwards, it was really gutting - but I hope it has made you feel better!!

I'd do this. Letter before action and then court, assuming you know the address. Worst that can happen in small claims court is you lose the court fee. You can do it on Money Claims On Line. Clearly it was implied it worked and if it was just a decoration she needed to be clear.
Many would say life's too short, and that's true. However this would annoy me too much so assuming i had evidence of purchase, I'd do this.
Screenshot everything in case she blocks you.

Don't buy, privately, goods that you cannot test/see working before you pay.

You can try small claims, but you'd be struggling even if you'd raised the claim within a few days of purchase as she could easily claim she had no idea and it was sold as seen as all privately purchased second hand goods are. Now it's six months + I don't think you stand a chance unfortunately.

I don't know how people can behave this way either, but they do.

Techinally the seller could be correct in that the machine was brand new, the devil in the details was was the machine fully functioning etc

I wouldn’t buy anything off Facebook Marketplace, let alone anything of any value. Quite honestly, I think if you pay silly money for an item worth much more and believe the nonsense the seller comes out with then that’s your fault. It’s widely known to be full of scammers and chancers. You could have got a brand new microwave for much less. When will people learn?

YABU

She is correct that a shop would not replace a product 6 months after it was sold.

You could be the cheeky one here, if it was working fine and then you broke it and then tried to demand your money back 6 months later.

You paid a lot of money for something that was second hand.
You chose not to test it before handing the money over.
You then chose to wait 6 months before testing it.

I don’t think it’s fair to blame this woman for something that may not have been her fault/intentional.
If you had asked for a refund at the time we don’t know how she would have reacted.

Lesson learned that next time test it before handing over the money.

For expensive things like this, I usually just buy new for exactly this reason.

She may have known, she may not have. The problem with chasing this money, six months later, is that it’s probably made you feel worse. At this point, you’ve convinced yourself that she took advantage of you and you’ve been unsuccessful in getting your money back. It’s better sometimes to take comfort in the knowledge that you would not treat somebody that way, and then just let it go.

No. I wouldn’t accept it being returned for a refund after six months. If it was within a matter of weeks I would.

But, presumably, you wouldn't have knowingly sold something that you knew wouldn't work.

OP, you were scammed and you are right to expect your money back. Do you know where the woman lives?

This.

We had a car accident last year and with finances being tight preferred to buy an older cheap run around at £2500

Did lots of research, did all the "right" things and seller seemed older, well to do and in large fancy property.

Car broke down 5 days later and garage said it needed 4 figure sum repair.

Contacted seller politely if they'd take the car back - No response. Contacted seller again to ask if they'd give us a partial refund and take car back - No response.

Our options chase with a solicitor which after the time/money involved didn't seem financially worthwhile OR a friend offered for their husbands "friend" to visit the seller to get the money back which I'm gathering was in a threatening manner.

Neither options felt like something we'd like to proceed with.

In the end we took a car out on finance.

We sold it on Facebook for £800 after being totally honest and upfront about the car and situation and stating "sold as seen". A chap bought it who repairs cars and sells them on again.

He said we were the most honest Facebook seller he'd ever met in the years he'd been doing this, which I though was a bit sad that he was used to other people trying to rip him off.

So never again and we will chalk that up to experience.

Every time I drive past the guys fancy house (It's in central town location), I think who would rip off a young family who'd just been in a bad car accident. If he didn't want to give us all the money back he could have at least given us a partial refund.

Some people are just scum to be honest.

Ktime · Yesterday 17:28

The woman knowingly sold an item that could never work. Calling OP a CF is misguided.

Just entirely! Of course she knew it didn't work. I think that Stoufer is bang on there, she's sold a piece of rubbish, which was replaced by her installers. Who get's a spare oven?

No one!

They plan the kitchen on a computer and include all the components. If it had been a genuine spare, the fitters would have taken it back.

“Beyond reasonable doubt” is the criminal standard. In civil matters you need to prove your case on the balance of probabilities.

YANBU for being annoyed

YABU for expecting a refund from a Facebook marketplace seller - especially for an item
purchased so long ago

We bought a dishwasher on eBay. The guy spun a very plausible tale about how his mum had bought it brand new a year ago and barely used it before going into a nursing home. When it conked out over a year later and we contacted the manufacturer to try to get spare parts they informed us that that model had been out of production for twenty years.

I'd try the Letter Before Action route but doubt you'll have a reply...
Just have to let it go, I think, and convince yourself that she didn't know...

In future always Google the model number!

Yeah sorry, this. I wouldn't trust anyone on there

It wasn't on the advert. And my husband drove a long way quite late to go and get it, he would have had to do it when he got there. The model number didn't come up on Google anyway, we had to phone to the manufacturer in the end, and they struggled to find records of it because it was so old.

@GiantPigeon while the car breaking down is unfortunate, it worked when you bought it and I'm not surprised he didn't give you a refund!

If I sold my working car and it broke down a week later, that's not my fault. I'm not a business!

In future look at the product when collecting it and Google the model number before accepting it and paying money for it. So yes, do it when you get there. Why wouldn’t you?

And if it doesn’t come up, that means it’s very old and you should walk away.

Unreasonable to buy anything from FB market place. To not test it straight away daft. I just wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole.

I buy lots of furniture from Facebook market place and have had dozens of positive interactions with sellers where they are happy to sell and I am happy to buy. I've only had one weird one where the woman was odd but as she was selling something amazing at a great price I overlooked it.

I wouldn't buy a car or an appliance from FB marketplace though.

People are cunts. That is all.

sadly Facebook marketplace is a home for scammers and thieves.... many of the bikes and bike parts on there are likely nicked. There's been a few people locally who've had their cars/caravans taken pics off and posted, the scammers get people to pay a "deposit" and they show up at the persons door to buy the item.