Airgun Sales that go sour

[JustinThyme]

Just a general enquiry,

How many members on here have sold a perfectly good working airgun only to be informed a short while afterwards by the "new owner" that it is faulty and that they wish to return it for a full refund and then having sown that seed with the seller then go on to inform them that they would be willing to keep it for a partial refund to cover the cost of a full service ...

I can accept that this scenario could obviously be genuine in some cases as such things do sometime happen, but if a purchaser was to use this "ruse" on a regular occasion and the basis to obtain purchases at knockdown prices then they need to be "outed".

like i say just an enquiry ..... at present

[ken69]

Have had a similar situation myself on here although I was the one who offered the full refund

[Jesim1]

I've left two rifles at point of sale with issues, and after negotiating with the seller got a deal we were both willing to go with to cover the faults.

I've also had the scenario of selling a gun which subsequently went wrong quite legitimately within a couple of weeks and I offered a refund or help to cover any costs with it. The buyer got it sorted for the price of a seal kit by a friend, and I gave him a moderator for his trouble as I knew he was looking for one, so we both done ok with a bit of honesty and good communication, but these things can quickly become a slagging match and often no ones actual fault.

Be careful.

James

[robs5230]

I sold a 3 month old (in warranty and i was first owner) PCP on here.
Buyer noticed a fault that I had not.
As the rifle was under warranty, I refunded in full and sent the rifle back for repair.

[Shed tuner]

yeah, if it repeatedly happens to the same purchaser, either they are incredibly unlucky or dishonest. Or possibly very very fussy, in which case I wonder if the secondhand market is the best source of guns for them ?

[robhw97k]

Ive bought 3 guns off this site all had faults which werent in the discription,but i have bought lots other things which worked perfect,i dont buy 2nd hand guns now,cant beat brand new,im sure most people are genuine i was just unlucky,but only buy brand new guns now.

[I. J.]

Perhaps Ive just been lucky but Ive had the opposite happen to me on a few occasions where the item is in better condition than described. The last one recently was a Webley Hawk Mk 3 (thank you Kevin.Ronnie). Its hard to tell true condition sometimes with some 'For Sale' photos.
I did have one pistol turn up whoes seller had, shall we say, a vivid imagination. Mental note not to buy again of him.

ATB
Ian

[WILBA]

It can happen where the purchaser gets it wrong also. A guy bought my prosport off free ads. Turns out i knew hom from working together 40yrs ago. Anyway 2 days go by and he phones me to say he cocked the gun and loaded a pellet in it and it will not fire. So i go to his house pic up the gun and he explains what happened. You guessed it he had not cocked it till the safety popped out. So i pulled the underlever back a bit further and the gun fired ok. Stupid bloody thing is he ownes a tx200 so should have known you have to cock till the sear engages just like the tx. He was well embarrised. He saw me fire it several times at my house so you think he would have git the idea how it cocked.

[oldskoolzzz]

Just a general enquiry,

How many members on here have sold a perfectly good working airgun only to be informed a short while afterwards by the "new owner" that it is faulty and that they wish to return it for a full refund and then having sown that seed with the seller then go on to inform them that they would be willing to keep it for a partial refund to cover the cost of a full service ...

I can accept that this scenario could obviously be genuine in some cases as such things do sometime happen, but if a purchaser was to use this "ruse" on a regular occasion and the basis to obtain purchases at knockdown prices then they need to be "outed".

like i say just an enquiry ..... at present

I’ve only ever encountered that scenario once as a seller.

This was many years ago over a blooming grape buster co2 Pistol which was in perfect condition yet the buyer insisted there was an issue with it and it needed a replacement quite expensive part which I reluctantly covered the cost for.
As it was a well known member I just assumed naively he was honest, but I do feel the buyer just wanted to make his purchase stand him at a lower cost with a hefty expensive parts refund.

I had little interest in co2 pistols back then so just took it on the chin as a fairly big loss.

As the buyer I’ve purchased a few rifles that have had hidden or supposedly ‘unknown’ issues usually I just sort them out myself or on the odd occasion I have returned them for a full refund if I feel someone has taken the piss.

It’s the timewasters that boil my pee though quite a few times in the past I’ve held rifles waiting to be collected and waited and waited then either a total silence or a last minute message to say nah don’t want it anymore.

Must admit there’s a few members on here that are still on my avoid list from many years ago as avid timewasters or total loonatic idiots.

[bighit]

Only sold a few things on here. And they went OK.

What gets me is the buyers that give the seller no time to reply before then putting a post up calling the seller a conman.



Give the seller a chance to reply before blackening their name.

By time I mean more than a few hours.

[1mart1n]

i would insist on f2f and let them shoot it if i was the seller, if im the buyer i want time to look it over and have a shoot. sold as seen is sold as seen when i am the buyer or seller so when i buy its up to me to find the faults. if i find them later then its unlucky for me.. i try to be honest in my sales and price acordingly.

sometimes you have to suck it up

[rhyslightnin]

I've sent back a couple of things but not many... I don't believe in partial refund at all it just doesn't seem right to me, you either want it faulty or you get your money back. To me it's just asking for a sour taste and that "always wondering" feeling that you've been lied to or you think the other person thinks your lying., it's just more clean cut and instantly sorted if it's a refund & send the item back.
Rhys

[jeff0100]

I've had two, one as a seller, one as a buyer.

Selling a falcon FN12, the buyer came quite a long way to pick it up. He took the stock off and noticed that the front stock screw had made quite a deep mark in the cylinder. I was more concerned that he's had a wasted trip so I offered to take off the price of a new cylinder to keep the sale on track. I felt it was the right thing to do.

I bought a cheap pair of binoculars on here and they literally fell apart as I opened them for the first time, the plastic hinge bit in the centre just seemed to disintegrate. The seller wasn't happy but he did refund my money.

[angrybear]

Just a general enquiry,

How many members on here have sold a perfectly good working airgun only to be informed a short while afterwards by the "new owner" that it is faulty and that they wish to return it for a full refund and then having sown that seed with the seller then go on to inform them that they would be willing to keep it for a partial refund to cover the cost of a full service ...

I can accept that this scenario could obviously be genuine in some cases as such things do sometime happen, but if a purchaser was to use this "ruse" on a regular occasion and the basis to obtain purchases at knockdown prices then they need to be "outed".

like i say just an enquiry ..... at present

Never had it but I've heard about it a few times, I just take dozens of photo's to prove the condition with the buyers details in the pic to prove them recent.

I'd offer a complete refund after having the item returned, so that I could see it hasn't been damaged or "messed with", but not a partial refund.
The problem of course is that things can just break so a new owner might be unlucky that he takes X number of shots but then something inside goes wrong, not his fault - not the sellers fault either, just bad luck.

[rhyslightnin]

Never had it but I've heard about it a few times, I just take dozens of photo's to prove the condition with the buyers details in the pic to prove them recent.

I'd offer a complete refund after having the item returned, so that I could see it hasn't been damaged or "messed with", but not a partial refund.
The problem of course is that things can just break so a new owner might be unlucky that he takes X number of shots but then something inside goes wrong, not his fault - not the sellers fault either, just bad luck.

Agreed problems do just happen, and I think unless the item is broke when it arrives without any use, its down to the buyer because its working when it was purchased. yes it is annoying when this happens but its just part of buying second hand and it applies to anything.