Small claims court over mistakes in private sale

[OneAvidMintFinch]

We listed our cat reluctantly on Pets4homes ( our cat who we have had much longer was bullying him and he was very unhappy) under the category bengal as his mum and dad were bengals which we saw when we collected him at 12 weeks old. We estimated his age as 7 months old however upon further investigation he is 11 months old (genuine stupid mistake on my part) this small gap does not affect his health or temperament. It has become clear to me that the vaccination and chip was mistaken and is in fact my other cats records. All of these were genuine mistakes We informed his buyers that he was without paper vaccinations, and he was not a registered pedigree before they bought him They visited and saw him twice before purchase. The two weeks they had him they expressed his temperament was great. When they raised the issue of his vaccinations I offered to reimburse the cost spent vaccinating and microchipping him as I recongised my mistake and didnt want them to be out of pocket.They then raised an issue with his breed to which I reminded them I informed them prior to buying he had no pedigree papers. They then raised the issue of his age to which my response was that he was still under 12 months and they were happy with his temperament, the vet records they shared stated he is healthy I also suggested a refund on the basis the cat be returned to which they declined.

They threatened with court proceedings should I not send the money over. I've since stopped communications and received a letter once again asking for a full refund but no return of the cat or they'd start court proceedings.

I can't afford a solicitor. Will the buyer get what they are asking for if it goes to court? I have tried to be reasonable however they will not meet me in the middle with this.

They also requested a discount on him on the basis they wanted to get him neutered which I politely declined.

I'm happy to issue a full refund as long as he's returned. This feels like a scam and I'm not sure even if I refund if she will keep him or sell him on and double their money.

Please no hate its breaking my heart, I thought i had a good relationship with them and could stay in contact, sent treats and toys to them via amazon for him

trying to unravel this.

so you advertised a cat

as 7 months when it was 11 months.

that it was a Bengal breed, but no papers

And that it was vaccinated and chipped when it was not.

you rectified this by telling them before sale.

they are now complaining about cost of vaccinations, chipping and neutering as well as age and lack of paperwork regarding breed

they want a full refund but will not return the cat.

If this is correct they have no leg to stand on, if they want a refund they must return the cat.

You do not owe them anything

No. It won’t go to court because it’s ridiculous. If they want a refund they have to return the cat

It could go to court, but they won't get their money back and get to keep the cat. At best the court will award them a partial refund based on the inaccurate statements in your advert. If you convince the court that you informed the buyers of the mistakes before they bought the cat, they won't even get that. And they certainly can't make you pay for having him neutered unless you claimed this had already been done.

UK law now states that any cat over the age of 20 weeks is required to be microchipped so this could also affect the case.