What to do when a Seller ghosts you?

[Wwunder]

Not sure if this is the best spot for this, but since it started on here I figured it was as good as anywhere.

So the story goes that I saw an ad on this forum for a boat that I thought my parents would be interested in and sent it to them. They liked it, met with the seller and left to think about it for a bit. They went back for a sea trial, and were satisfied so they purchased the boat. The sale included two electric downriggers, but they were not available at the time they picked up the boat (apparently stored elsewhere) so they agreed to pick them a bit later.

Now, it has been a couple of months and my parents have phoned and left messages a few times with zero response. I offered to contact the seller directly on here through a private message and although the seller has been online since that message was sent (over 10 days ago) they have not responded. In hindsight, perhaps they should have held back some the purchase price or not included them in the sale since the downriggers weren't there at the time of pickup, but that ship has obviously sailed.

My parents are pretty understanding people, and I'm sure if the seller just sent a simple response indicating that they had not forgotten and intended to make good on the agreement, but had delay or something it would be fine. But this dropping off the earth and ignoring phone calls, texts and direct messages gives a very negative impression.

I have deliberately kept this generic as I don't want to call anyone out yet if there is some reasonable explanation. I have always had good success with purchases on online forums so this is an outlier to me.

So, given reasonable attempts to contact have been made privately is a time to call them out publicly? If so how long would you wait? Even if it doesn't result in getting them to make it right, it would at least caution others buying on the site right?

 

[BCROB]

couple months ? is ample time for a simple reply or reasonable explanation imo
personally I wouldn't have waited that long.....

 

[Fox]

Have you called from a different phone number like a friends cell? When they answer that call but not yours or your parents it’s obvious what’s going on. Public shaming usually gets someone to come forward with a long winded bs story about why they haven’t contacted you yet. I would have posted who they are here and on Facebook so no one else gets screwed by them in the future.

 

[Admin]

Going to nip this in the bud right now. There will be no public shaming on this forum regarding a seller or buyer being named in a transaction dispute. If you believe you have been treated unjustly, you will need to file a complaint with the authorities who can help you out, but, just like a newspaper would never print an editorial piece on how someone was ripped off by a seller in their classifieds section, we also can't allow someone's name to be published here on either side of the dispute. Unfortunately, as in all these situations there is a buyer/seller beware component that is the risk involved when completing any transaction, even though thousands of transactions have completed without incident over the years using this platform.

 

[baddogg]

I think Wwunder is handling this in a very appropriate manner. Hopefully the seller will take note and complete the transaction.

 

[Stizzla]

Have you or your parents gone to the seller’s house? I’m sure they could find them based on the name and address on the transfer papers. I would go knockin’ on their door. Nobody likes being put in an awkward position at their own home. It’s easy to ignore a phone call. Hope it works out.

 

[Wwunder]

Have you or your parents gone to the seller’s house? I’m sure they could find them based on the name and address on the transfer papers. I would go knockin’ on their door. Nobody likes being put in an awkward position at their own home. It’s easy to ignore a phone call. Hope it works out.

They don't live in the same town so its not easy to just pop by. Hoping as Baddog says the seller makes good. I have no direct knowledge of the seller, other than what I saw here and they seemed to be a forthright individual as was my parent's impression too. Which is why they didn't make a fuss about picking up things in a couple weeks.

 

[aheny]

If it's been more than a week of ignoring you i would just go to small claims court.
I'm pretty sure it will have to be at the location the transaction occurred though.

 

[sir-vivor]

If they were on the boat and then taken off AFTER the funding date and BEFORE the possession date a call to the RCMP or local Police department for theft might work (as long as you have the bill of sale with serial numbers of down riggers on it and solid proof of payment )BUT the AFTER and BEFORE must fall in place or only recourse is a trip to the court house. I feel there is no excuses scumbags are scumbags .... c'mon take them over to them ! GOOD LUCK

 

[Gong Show]

If they were on the boat and then taken off AFTER the funding date and BEFORE the possession date a call to the RCMP or local Police department for theft might work (as long as you have the bill of sale with serial numbers of down riggers on it and solid proof of payment )BUT the AFTER and BEFORE must fall in place or only recourse is a trip to the court house. I feel there is no excuses scumbags are scumbags .... c'mon take them over to them ! GOOD LUCK

Seems like a straight forward idea, but the police are not going to help.
Ten years ago maybe, twenty definitely.
Now they will tell you that this is a civil matter and to take them to court.
My experience is that the bureaucrats now run the cop shop. Sad.

 

[Trophy]

Feel sorry for your parents, I was ripped off by a Courtenay german shepherd breeder several years ago. Deposit/contract on a registered pup, run around that female didnt breed, pick of next litter, no next litter, more run around, no call backs, no emails, deposit not returned. Police - civil matter. Small claims court - my incidental costs off work/travel more than deposit. Sad there are people like this out there. Maybe the good out of this was a wonderful girl I got from a kennel in Langley. Hope your parents land a tyee and take it as payback.

 

[baddogg]

Seems like a straight forward idea, but the police are not going to help.
Ten years ago maybe, twenty definitely.
Now they will tell you that this is a civil matter and to take them to court.
My experience is that the bureaucrats now run the cop shop. Sad.

You are spot on. Civil Matter.

 

[Franko Manini]

I’d be on that pluckers doorstep at 4:00am every day until he produced cash or the riggers. Persistence man.

Also, I’d post his name in another forum then post a link to that post here.

The admins here are overthinking this issue. If it’s true and factual rather than an opinion, you can post whatever you like without fear of slander or libel suits.

 

[Stizzla]

I’d be on that pluckers doorstep at 4:00am every day until he produced cash or the riggers. Persistence man.

Also, I’d post his name in another forum then post a link to that post here.

The admins here are overthinking this issue. If it’s true and factual rather than an opinion, you can post whatever you like without fear of slander or libel suits.

Good first paragraph, I totally agree!
I do think admin has the right to prevent calling out names. I think the ghost seller, if still on here shouldn’t sell anything here again and if they do, then @Wwunder can post on that thread “maybe you don’t want to buy this.”
That should do it.

 

[noluck]

theft is theft, we publicly post people poaching traps, this is no different

 

[Admin]

I’d be on that pluckers doorstep at 4:00am every day until he produced cash or the riggers. Persistence man.

Also, I’d post his name in another forum then post a link to that post here.

The admins here are overthinking this issue. If it’s true and factual rather than an opinion, you can post whatever you like without fear of slander or libel suits.

Not over thinking anything. Your last line has a BIG IF in it and we have no way of discerning the truth here. We have shut down threads or removed posts plenty of times in the past where the only evidence of proof is one persons statement. Sorry, it isn't worth the risk for us to be embroiled in a mess of he said/she said, so it won't happen.

 

[Stizzla]

Admin is earning his paycheque today.

 

[nicnat]

have you been looking on craigslist or kiji etc for downriggers for sale by that same phone number, might be worth a look.

 

[Peahead]

Small claims court or I'd suggest unfortunately take the loss as a lesson ( re not negotiating a price based on down-riggers not being available at pick up) ....and move on. For court you'd do best to have proof of the inclusion of the riggers with the boat sale ( promissory note/IOU receipt /e-mail). Otherwise the seller could just say that there must have been a misunderstanding as a verbal deal was reached that did not include the riggers (even if that was not fact as to what happened) . The seller however is looking rather bad right now as they appear to be ignoring several diff methods of contacting them ...... all while they apparently have been logging in to this forum. You could just link (or cut paste) the boat ad in another thread and title it "The Boat My Parents Bought" or just a photo of the boat and title "The Boat My Parent's Bought From Forum Member ____ ;-) lol .

But more seriously I am a little concerned that if this seller is in fact not providing the buyer with the goods promised but paid for, that they then could very easily do the same to other buyers on here if the site admin's policy is to not allow a member to be called out for a possible bad sale on the forum. Would it not be in the best interest of admin and the success of the site/ Buy&Sell forum to, at the very least, contact the member who is being accused and attempt to find out what happened? If for example the admin can not be satisfied that the member has behaved appropriately in the selling of an item, can they not just revoke their membership? As a member and buyer on this forum I can say if this isn't policy in these cases, I 'd think hard about using the site to buy anything. The one safety net I thought we had here is that it was harder for a member to rip off another ( less likely ) due to the membership sign up.

 

[macro]

Id rather know who it is.. Better forewarned. The seller could always chime in with their side of the story..