[Closed] Help - I need advice on a pair of forks I've sold

If you are sure the forks were fine before you sold them, ask him to try adjusting the tension of the headset.

It may be the creak is actually coming from an incorrectly adjusted headset.

It may be the creak is actually coming from

I've already been through all that with him.

He suggested pouring loctite into the press-fit area which I told him to not to do.

I was going to propose the following:

Refund 80% of the price providing I'm satisfied that:

1. They are my forks
2. There are no further marks that when they left
3. The fault can be replicated on one of my hardtails ( rule out full Suss noise)

If non of them conditions are met then it's no dice.....

Sounds Fair ?

To be honest cutting it by a cm makes it worse as everyone I know has a cm spacer lying about.

Hahaha aye. Should have tapped a curtain ring off his wife

I wouldn't even be that generous.

by about 10x
Private sale so in reality no come back for the buyer. Also no previous creak.

Wouldn't propose anything.
He had the forks. Cut them to fit and now wants to send them back. No refunds just tough.

Obviously you're under absolutely no obligation to refund at all, fair play to you for considering the moral issue. The guy has made a mistake by cutting the steerer, if you take them back they'll be worth less then they were. If he's agreeable and I don't see he as any other option, I'd take them back and have them checked yourself. If there's a problem have it sorted and return them assuming that's cheaper than a refund. If there's no problem then he can have them back.

Sounds Fair ?

IF they worked then it really is their problem.

Well I've went against the grain here and took the hard line approach. Obviously communication has broken down because of this.
I have explained the situation and the guy isn't happy. He thinks my refusal of return because of a cut steerer is a cheap cop-out and that the goods are not sold as seen.

In the meantime I've spoken to the previous owner, who I trust, and he is also unaware that the CSU is creaking.
They were only sold by him as he was changing bikes and by me as I preferred Rockshox and was unimpressed with the RL's lack of tweakability.

I'm half expecting a house visit. It could get messy.

That's the last I need after a 12 hour shift from hell !

It was a mistake to entertain the notion of a refund for a creak anyway, given they didn't creak when you had them.

End of the day this is £120. no big deal for either him if he keeps the forks or you if you receive and refund.

Yeah.

I've come to the conclusion that it's not worth selling stuff anymore.

Keep it, enjoy it and give it away when your finished. Job done

Point him at this thread.

That had crossed my mind Renton.

Second hand forks, £120, onus is on him to check forks before he handed over cash, or at the max check forks before altering them. He handed over cash then cut steerer therefore they are 100% his. You are not a shop or manufacturer, and the forks are not new.

if you’re buying from an individual – which constitutes a private sale – the rules are slightly different. For example, the so-called ‘implied terms’ of the Sales of Goods Act only apply to title and description, not to quality. This means the goods must simply correspond with the description, and be legally owned by the seller.

“That means a dress can’t be a size 12 if it was described as a size 18,” says Stephen McGlade, a solicitor at consumer group Which?.

However, if an item is advertised as “a three-year-old bike”, for example, it doesn’t mean it has to work, just that it has to be three years old. In this case, especially when the item has been well-used, the transaction remains a case of caveat emptor, or ‘buyer beware’. “

http://www.moneywise.co.uk/cut-your-costs/shop-smart/your-rights-when-buying-second-hand-goods

Tell him that if he returns them to you, you'll offer him a full refund, minus the cost of fitting a replacement steerer.

then once you've got them back, keep the money and send him a bill for about eighty quid!

Thanks for that Nikk. Clarifies my position somewhat.

ninfan - Member
Tell him that if he returns them to you, you'll offer him a full refund, minus the cost of fitting a replacement steerer.
then once you've got them back, send him a bill for about eighty quid!

And a full service of course !

If they only cost £120 then yes, I'd tell him to suck it up. Unfortunately, that is the risk you take when you buy secondhand.

I'm gonna side with the buyer. If they are faulty it's not his fault regardless of him cutting down the steerer.

I'm gonna side with the buyer. If they are faulty it's not his fault regardless of him cutting down the steerer.

Bought secondhand, sold as seen, it's the buyer's choice to pay in cash - to to get buyer's insurance through something like Paypal Goods for a 3.4% fee.

If I buy anything that could possibly go wrong, then I'll Goods it.

Generally, it sounds like buyer's remorse - as tracking down a creaking steerer is pretty hard to do, as you'd have to replace your headset cups, bearings, caps and starnut/bung to be absolutely certain - unless you wanged them in a vice and really hung off them.

Well I've went against the grain here and took the hard line approach

Aaargh. Why?!

Just imagine for a minute something is genuinely creaking, he might be reet pissed off, but it's something that could be puzzled over a brew, together, stroking of chins 'n' everything. if you simply invited him to bring the bike over with the forks fitted?

Might turn out to be the forks, might be his wrists, might be a total scam which would reveal itself somewhat if he wouldn't come over.

What was to be lost?

Written word is rubbish in situations like this.

EDIT: ^ Whilst legally you may be fine, it just seems the right thing to do in the situation described and would weed out any potential dishonesty.

Morally I've done the right thing.

I've invited him over for hobnobs with the bike attached to the forks.

We'll take it from there.

I'll keep you informed

Stu

I think that's the best approach, much easier to come to an amicable agreement when meeting in person.
Assuming the forks aren't trashed and the only change is the cut down but still very useable steerer I'd probably suck it up, refund him and move on with my life. You are going to have a hard tome selling them on here after this thread though..

ou are going to have a hard tome selling them on here after this thread though..

only because they are Fox.... 😀

A couple of things - how long has he had them? Did you buy and sell without fitting and trying yourself?

I know cutting down the steerer was wrong to do (in retrospect). But maybe he was eager to get his bike built and took your word on good faith.

I think your doing the right thing by trying to replicate it.

*waits for the update "well would you believe it there [i]was[/i] a squeak"*

Or, he lowered your hobnobs by 10ml.

I've invited him over for hobnobs with the bike attached to the forks.

That's what I would have done first, TBH. 🙂
First thing I'm suspicious of is the crown race fit on the forks....

Seems like a good solution even if a bit time consuming for you.

And the final outcome is the following...

After further riding he's come to the conclusion that the performance of the forks outweigh the the small noise he can hear. He says you do really have to listen for it though.

I never got to hear it in person, shame really because I would have fitted them to a couple of other bikes just to rule it out. At least we have wrapped this up on good terms, I'm sure he'll get many hours of use out of them.

At least he's happy.

Stu

At least we have wrapped this up on good terms

Exactamondo! Good work (in the end 🙂 )

Sounds like a chancer still I'm afraid.
Good that it has worked out though

Everyone loves a happy ending, nice one.

Lets hope he isnt worried by the squeek on those really quiet off road trails....

Glad you got it sorted. FWIW my Float RLCs have creaked a bit from new, in 2008. They still work just fine. They can creak a bit sometimes.

I sold a car once that was VGC, V low mileage and there was a full length crease where the previous owner had caught a wooden post. The paint wasnt broken anywhere, it was just a crease.
Buyer came to see it one evening (it was dark), didnt see it, paid for the car and drove it away happy.
He saw the mark the next day. Apologised to him, but its not my fault he didnt see it. Tough titties. He got a car in great nick for a good price. Private sales = buyer beware.

not my fault he didnt see it.

Crosses bigyinn off list of people to buy from.

Sorry but that's totally different, you knew it was there, he clearly didn't.

Yes it's his fault (legally) but an honest and open seller would have at least pointed it out and explained etc.

Meh, if he couldn't see a ruddy great crease along the side of the car that was OBVIOUSLY visible it's hardly my fault.
He'd already knocked me down quite considerably.

That said anything bike related that I've sold has always been perfectly and properly described. Not that I have much to sell these days. 😥