Update: FB Marketplace Buyer Wants a Refund after I Sold Him a Computer That Is Older than He Thought -

LMunsta1975 on 15/03/2022 - 19:16
Last edited 15/03/2022 - 19:25 by 1 other user

G'day everyone….you may remember a post made by user 15fps740m who said I wanted a refund after finding out a PC was older than I thought.

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/687454

If you have forgotten how it went, here is the link above to his post and subsequent comments and replies. After not getting the response he wanted, he deleted his replies and disabled his account. There are a few people who agreed with him, and I have no problem with that at all. I believe 99.99% of you here wouldn't act as he did in this situation and would have answered the questions put to him truthfully and honestly. He admitted that he didn't want to lose the sale, and by deception was able to close the deal. Buyer beware is the saying. Yep, I agree to that too. I hate that I have to beware….why can't we all just do the right thing?

This is where I asked if the components were current BEFORE going to the sellers house.

15fps740m:
What did you have in mind? I am negotiable

Munsta1975:
Gee, I don't know mate. I am after a PC that my daughter and I can use for video editing…(maybe some games too…don't tell the missus).

Munsta1975:
Are the components still current?

15fps740m:
Yes the components will keep up with video editing and gaming no problem. Very relevant and current components. I have someone else interested at $1000 but they are waiting to get paid so if you wanted to get it before them you are welcome to

I went over, picked up the PC and went home.

I wanted to give the PC some extra grunt by getting some faster RAM. I found some and bought it from K1w1-Chris. I had mentioned that the PC was about 12 months old as told by seller and K1w1-Chris assured me that if this was the case, the DDR4 3600mhz RAM would be fine. I got home and tried to fit it and ended up asking K1w1-Chris if I was doing something wrong. I sent images of the inside of the case and was told that the main components were over 10 years old and not current as seen by 15fps740m's reply to my messenger question above and below.

I made contact with 15fps740m and the conversation is below:

Wed 2:41 PM
Munsta1975:
Hey mate.
You said the pc is about 12 months old yeah.

Wed 3:08 PM
15fps740m
Yes it was put together about 12 months ago

Munsta1975:
Right…are you home later?
I went to put some new ram in and was told that the board will only take dr3
the CPU was released in 2011
not very current in my book mate.
as someone who doesn't know much about all of this now I usually trust most people when I ask them questions.

15fps740m:
It was the fastest CPU in the world at release and easily keeps up with CPU’s from 2016/17, and the ram runs in triple channel so is comparable to DDR4 speed. I’m sure it will suit your needs.

Munsta1975:
Its 2022 mate
not 2011
I'll be bringing it back. Have my money.

15fps740m:
Sorry, I won’t be able to offer you a refund on the PC. I think you paid fair market value for what the parts are worth, the graphics card is selling for over $400 at the moment.

Munsta1975:
We'll see about that.

The conversation ended there. I was pretty pissed off and ready to head over with the PC, but thanks to my level headed wife, I stayed home and was prepared to just let it go and upgrade the PC down the track. Then last Friday the 11th March, I got a PM from K1w1-Chris about the post and that he had left a comment and shared the post with me. After reading the sellers comments and that he had told me those things because he didn't want to lose the sale, I decided the opposite of what Elsa sang…I wasn't going to Let It Go. The seller had sent me an image of a receipt that had his mobile number on it, I rang it and left a message that I had seen his post and how it wasn't turning out the way he wanted. To put the story to bed, I went back Saturday morning, got my $900 back after he checked to make sure I didn't rip him off. (I think he forgot who the deceitful one was.) and I now have an amazing machine that I spent a bit extra on and I am very, very happy with….this one has the flashy RGB's on it too. They are so pretty.

I just want to thank those that supported the other side of the story before hearing it and not just what this person had written.

Have a bloody top day.

Regards,

Munsta1975

Computing

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closed Comments

    • neonlight on 18/03/2022 - 19:19
      +2

      I don't trust FB nor gumtree. Just don't buy there.

      Your time is worth more than that.

      • Munsta1975 on 18/03/2022 - 19:38

        Yes, there are better platforms for sure.

  • Narull on 18/03/2022 - 12:03
    +11

    I think OP is trying to make himself the 'good guy' in this situation but all he has done in the comments is make himself look just as bad as the original seller, calling people the 0.01% lol how up yourself can you get.

    You learnt a life lesson by not doing research first, seller coulda been more honest sure, but again life lesson for you, sellers aren't always honest.

    Now you're just making yourself look like more of a dick with your replies mate. You're not the good guy in this situation, you're the uninformed guy who made a bad choice.

    • FireRunner on 18/03/2022 - 15:09
      +9

      Both parties were wrong in the situation. Seller was dishonest, buyer didn't do due diligence.
      I feel the end result is right; buyer gets refunded since they didn't get the product as advertised.
      However, the attitude and behaviour of the buyer is terrible.

      • Munsta1975 on 18/03/2022 - 17:21
        -7

        Interesting!

  • justwii on 18/03/2022 - 14:29
    +5

    OK, am late to the party but pretty clear that its just miscommunication
    Its like:
    Buyer: Are the components still current? (are they new products within a year or so)
    Seller: Yes they are still current. (can still do everyday tasks people do nowadays)

    Just different understandings to a pretty open question IMO.

    But to be honest, I am more on the Seller side as it would appear to me a dumb question to ask by the Buyer if what the Buyer was actually asking is if the parts are new products within a year or so, because the whole spec. is out there already so it is very obvious they are not. Not thinking someone with a sensible mind would ask such a dumb question, I would have also interpreted that the Buyer was asking if the components can still do everyday tasks or not.

    I am not defending the Seller, I am just putting myself into this situation as the Seller. And I don't think I am deliberately taking advantage of a Buyer who asked a silly question, am I any wrong by trusting buyers to look at the spec. and do their research first? Am I any wrong by believing people are smart enough?

    • Munsta1975 on 18/03/2022 - 18:29

      So the parts are still current when they are 10 years old?

      • randomusername2017 on 18/03/2022 - 18:50
        +1

        Actually he sold you a complete build..so they're not currently parts..

        • Munsta1975 on 18/03/2022 - 18:53

          Hmmmmm, I smell what you're cooking. So currently would mean at this time. 12 months ago before they were in a complete build were they current when they were 9 years old?

          • randomusername2017 on 18/03/2022 - 19:04

            @Munsta1975: Originally when purchased last decade individually they were then currently parts..12 months ago same parts morphed into the current build.
            Could also assume the build was tested under AC current load recently.

      • justwii on 18/03/2022 - 18:53

        My computer is 12 years old and yes I still use it for everyday tasks, its very current to me.
        But hey, that's my understand of "current" in your open question, I guess you have learnt your lesson by now, so if you think I am being "deceptive" just by looking at my answer, I think you can help us by being more specific what you are trying to ask?

        • Munsta1975 on 18/03/2022 - 18:58
          +1

          An Abacus can still do everyday tasks, too. It would be interesting to see what the definition of "current" would be in a court of law.

          • justwii on 18/03/2022 - 19:12
            +1

            @Munsta1975: Its just an informal conversation that you had with an Internet stranger, would you allow a chance that not all people share the same definition of words, not from the same dictionary and definitely not according to law terms, ok?

            And its not a trust issue here that you believed, because an honest Seller could have said the same (see my explanation above), coincidentally, also by trusting an Internet stranger to have read the spec. himself and is smart enough not to ask an obvious question with answers right there in front of him.

            So, if it were me, I would just be as clear and specific as I could when talking to some Internet stranger, who I shouldn't presume he/she shares the same culture/background/knowledge as me.

    • leiiv on 18/03/2022 - 22:09
      +2

      You can't tell how old an item is just from the spec alone. You are selling used stuff. It is reasonable to know when it was first put in use. Sure it can sit in the warehouse for many years, but that's not your problem.
      Interpreting the meaning of "current" as "can still do everyday tasks people do nowadays" is stretching the definition too far. If you honestly think that here is the next question:
      Do you think the asked price is a bargain or even a fair price for the given spec? If you were in OP situation, would you personally buy it?

  • FlyingMiffy on 18/03/2022 - 15:39

    Good on you for getting your money back!

  • brawndo on 18/03/2022 - 16:24

    Definitely "buyer beware". But the seller has not done the most ethical thing here and this type of behaviour could cost him a lot more in future. Let this be a lesson to both of them.

  • skeaono on 18/03/2022 - 17:04
    +6

    I actually feel bad for the seller, good on them for refunding, probably dodged a bullet when dealing with a buyer like this.

    • Aureus on 18/03/2022 - 20:16

      Karma for lying. Even better now video cards have gone down in price this week, so he is going to sell his computer for even less.

  • FlyingMiffy on 18/03/2022 - 17:46
    -4

    There seems to be some victim blaming here. Lots of people commenting on the reaction of the buyer just because he decided to "celebrate" his version of justice. I would hate to think what the folks here shaming him would say to the likes of Grace Tame and Brit Higgins - "hey don't advertise how the experience has it's empowered you otherwise you are just gloating and not learning from your mistakes…". What a tough crowd…

    • Munsta1975 on 18/03/2022 - 18:01

      I think it is a good thing that people can voice their opinion, for or against. It is difficult though because they base it on what they read only and on their individual set of morals and values. Some people feel for the seller, some for the buyer. I say that someone is 0.01% because I get the impression from their comment, that they would act in a similar manner to the seller. I could never do that and I like to think 99.99% of people wouldn't. Some people call me ignorant, retarded, stupid, dumb….and that's fine….At the end of the day, if you can say you have acted with integrity and been honest in your dealings with each other, that is all we can do. I have openly admitted to my failure as a buyer and that I should have done more research and not been so trusting. I have said a couple of times that it is a shitty world we live in when we take someone at their word and trust what they are saying and then are made to feel like the bad guy for that trust.

  • neonlight on 18/03/2022 - 19:15
    +2

    Never buy second hand pc off Facebook gumtree and shit. Including all dodgy 12 month "builders"

  • utsc on 18/03/2022 - 19:44
    +1

    @Munsta1975

    You were rippled off and I am extremely happy that you got a full refund. Please do your research as you might no be so lucky to get a full refund next time.

  • dji1111111 on 18/03/2022 - 21:01
    +2

    The seller was definitely deceptive and intentionally too. He even used the classic 'I have another guy interested in it' which sounds like BS. If he had so much interest in his PC why did he feel like he had to resort to deceptive conduct to close the deal?

    Having said that, the buyer is extremely naive in asking subjective questions to the seller. You should be asking the exact specifications and then researching them yourself to assess what level of performance is to be expected and whether that will suit your needs. You don't go to a car salesman and ask them if the car on their yard is a good car, do you? You make that decision based on your own research.
    I feel like people shouldn't have to be told about this basic concept but it seems like people always pull the trigger first then research after lol

    • leiiv on 18/03/2022 - 22:16
      +1

      Buy first, think later!!! That seems to work well for highly upvoted deals here, most of the time.
      Just don't do that for gumtree and Facebook marketplace..

  • Mrgreenz on 18/03/2022 - 23:00
    +1

    Glad to hear it

  • pompompom on 19/03/2022 - 00:43
    +2

    I don't think OP deserved a refund.
    If specs were advertised the current vs not current argument is stupid. I can have a current machine that is a potato. OP sounds like a very annoying and entitled customer to deal with who doesn't want to do his own research and then blame others for it.

    • Munsta1975 on 19/03/2022 - 00:59

      A potato? That's new.

    • Munsta1975 on 19/03/2022 - 01:03

      Or should I say current. Hahahaha.

    • akyeeeahdude on 19/03/2022 - 10:17
      +1

      Perhaps an extreme example but does that mean that I have a moral obligation to educate buyers on each component of a PC I sell and give them a detailed explanation of when it was released and how it performs today? I'd answer all questions truthfully but I can bet that most people here, would not take the time to give a prospective buyer who asks these type of questions (which the buyer could find out the answers to by doing some research) a detailed overview on the system.

      It reminds me of a gaming laptop I sold a few years back on Ebay - all specs listed along with age. The buyer received it and left positive feedback but the feedback pretty much just said thank you and that the hard drive was slow…Well, it's not a SSD as I stated in the listing, was my point of view on that feedback. Did I have an obligation to explain to the buyer that a 500GB 5400RPM HDD is not a SSD and is therefore much slower than a SSD? Did I have an obligation to provide benchmark comparisons between read/write speeds of SSDs vs HDDs? Mind you the buyer didn't make any enquiries before bidding.

      In this case, I believe most people (myself included) on here would've answered the "how old is it?" question honestly but I can assure you that most people wouldn't have raised the limitations around the performance of such an old i7 model and a somewhat outdated graphics card, when the buyer asked questions around performance.

      • Munsta1975 on 19/03/2022 - 11:21
        -3

        I hear what you are saying and I appreciate your input. I think if you are able to sleep straight in bed, that is all you can do.

    • Aureus on 19/03/2022 - 12:11

      Seller purposely lied to OP saying computer was 12 months old and he admitted to that. It wasn't a miscommunication.

      I am sure most people would agree with you if the seller didn't lie to make the sale and also lie to Ozbargain in the thread he made.

  • randomusername2017 on 19/03/2022 - 09:43
    +3

    Looks like 15fps740m has expanded

    • mandelbrot on 19/03/2022 - 13:56

      Looking for a good deal on a system with ddr3

  • snorkey on 19/03/2022 - 14:08
    +2

    Imo this was a miscommunication issue. Seller did embellish their sales pitch to advertise how amazing the pc is but seller also listed the specs.
    Based on that, it’s not hard to believe that seller assumed that buyer knows how old the components are and was questioning the performance capabilities.
    Given buyer’s questions, seller could have clarified the year of release of the products but then again seller isn’t there to dissuade the buyer. It’s not seller’s responsibility to educate the buyer (and vice versa - think ppl finding treasures in garage sales…).
    In one of the earlier post, it seems buyer thought i7 indicates the cpu is new.
    Makes me wonder if this misconception is common with bmw, mazda, the “plus/pro” versions of phones…

    Surprised and glad that buyer got lucky and got a full refund.
    Hope he does the bare minimum of research before buying items in the future and also pay more attention to how replies are phrased :)
    And glad he learnt this lesson with a relatively small purchase.
    Some people learn this when dealing with RE agents 😖

    • BigBirdy on 19/03/2022 - 14:35

      Yep. I go to Harvey Norman and the salesman says this "this laptop will blow your socks off". Get it home, socks still on … I want my money back!

      The seller had no obligation to return money, and when he did, the buyer still carried-on. Buyers like this are a reason why many sellers try to make their sales anonymous, and execute the transactions in McDonald's carparks. And that hurts all the genuine buyers and sellers.

  • TEER3X on 19/03/2022 - 14:45
    +1

    You're both in the wrong, seller for being dishonest and the buyer for trusting the seller instead of educating themselves for 5 minutes before buying.

  • Munsta1975 on 19/03/2022 - 15:17

    I just want to get peoples thoughts…..is closing comments on this topic something you agree with or if it can be done? It sure has got some legs. I am happy to keep it open. Not sure what you all think? I am always checking for new comments and it is getting distracting.

    I have a good mix of responses and I have admitted multiple times I should have done more research and not been so trusting. Lesson learnt, especially in a field I am not well versed.

    Thoughts?

  • john_conner on 19/03/2022 - 15:56
    +2

    FB Marketplace Buyer Wants a Refund after I Sold Him a Computer That Is Older than He Thought I Lead Him to Believe

    Well I sincerely hope both parties learnt a lesson here.

  • Tiredman on 19/03/2022 - 16:13
    +3

    Strange behavior from both sides.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/03/2022 - 16:37
    +5

    If the seller disclosed all specs and models of the parts within the pc, it's a clean deal. What the seller said has no bearing. The seller could have said, the pc is the "greatest pc ever built in the whole wide world" for all I care, that's just sales talk. What you buy, is factually disclosed under the specs.

    It's like buying a second hand car. When the seller says, "I looked after the car very very well, and drove it gently, and had the oil changed every year", this has no bearing. It's just sales talk. We just want to see the log book. Stick to the facts.

    I think the buyer was too rushing to jump ahead of another buyer, so he did so without doing proper research on the parts.

    Now it'd be a whole different story, if the seller said it had Ryzen7, but it only had Ryzen 5. But in this case, it seems that all specs were disclosed before the buyer agreed to the deal.

    Case closed.

    • strangeloops66 on 19/03/2022 - 21:51
      +1

      What the seller said is the only issue here. If he had not responded to the question at all, or been completely forthcoming and said "I built this 12 months ago from second-hand parts" and the buyer had proceeded with the purchase, then no problem, caveat emptor rules. Here the words used were not mere puffery: cf. the words you exemplified, which are no doubt puffery and no reasonable person would understand them to be factual. The seller's words induced the buyer to hand over his cash and take the machine away. Innocent or negligent misrepresentation (possibly fraudulent misrepresentation, but that would be difficult to prove, despite the seller's admissions), meaning that each of the parties should be restored to his original position, as if the contract were never made. The seller, realising the legal risk he was facing or simply doing the right thing, decided to act of his own volition, avoiding any possible claim being filed. That is to his credit.

      • Munsta1975 on 19/03/2022 - 21:57

        I agree with everything you have said and yes, I am grateful the seller had a change of heart, for whatever reason.

        • iNeed2Pee on 20/03/2022 - 00:34
          +1

          Probably the reason being you said:

          Munsta1975:
          We'll see about that.

          Could come across a low key threat.

          • akyeeeahdude on 20/03/2022 - 01:06
            +1

            @iNeed2Pee: Yeah exactly. It's disappointing that Munsta is portraying himself to be noble based on his many responses and even more interesting that many that have jumped to his defence, haven't recognised that threat. I wouldn't be surprised if that threat played a key part in why the seller reconsidered and offered a refund. Even if the seller is physically confident in himself to handle Munsta, sometimes it's just not worth the risk of having a disgruntled buyer turn up at your door (perhaps multiple times) and annoy/threaten you (and upset your family), along with the risk of property damage on the way out.

            • Munsta1975 on 20/03/2022 - 01:20

              @akyeeeahdude: I'm not portraying myself to be anything. You can interpret "We'll see about that!" as whatever you like. I rocked up to his house with my family in the car and he had my details. It would be a pretty silly idea to physically damage or harm anyone or anything. You can make all the assumptions or aspersions you like. I have nothing to hide, hence laying out the entire conversation before and after the purchase.

  • Pudina Chutney on 20/03/2022 - 08:08
    +1

    The seller and buyer should go on a dinner date.

    • Munsta1975 on 20/03/2022 - 08:38

      Mmmmm, I've already said he isn't my type and I'm not into dudes….sorry akyeeeahdude….plus, I couldn't go on a man date because I have the bloody Covids.

      Although, I would make an exception for Ryan Reynolds…..and Hugh Jackman.

  • Munsta1975 on 20/03/2022 - 09:06

    I think we can agree this thread has been flogged. I did want to wait until 500 replies but it is probably time to pull the plug. Thanks for all of your input….there are definitely take away lessons here for me which I will be sure to take heed in the future.

    • Munsta1975 on 20/03/2022 - 09:40

      Where are those emojis…..

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 There they are!

  • Moderatorscrimshaw on 20/03/2022 - 16:28

    Thread closed by OP request

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