Buyer has found a dent

Hi, I’ve just sold a bike. I met the buyer and he checked it over pretty thouroughly (for about 30mins) before giving me cash and leaving with the bike. He’s now just text saying that on closer inspection a scratch on the down tube is actually dented. He’s text again saying that one of the reasons he was interested was that the advert said no dents (I didn’t realise the scratch was dented). I don’t want to be a dick about it, but he did buy the bike. So should I give him a refund when he asks for it or should I tell him it’s too late?

. I met the buyer and he checked it over pretty thouroughly (for about 30mins) before giving me cash and leaving with the bike.

I think he’s missed his chance, unless you’re feeling generous?

Sold as seen?

I’d be telling him to do one.

After 30min of checking they didn’t spot a dent ….. 😕

Then a text rather than call follow up …. 😕

I would say it was the safest way to have sold I.e. In person and so caveat emptor should apply.

Then that said how much of a ball ache would it be to take it back, re sell etc?

He studied it for 30 minutes you say?
Sold as seen.
He handed over the cash with the apparent dent already there and he was happy enough to accept it.
You owe nothing.

He checked it for 30 mins, didn’t see a problem and now has found a dent…

If you don’t want to be a dick refund him and get the bike back.
If he asks for a bit more off the price he paid, I call chancer.. Jog on would be appropriate…..

Does he know where you live?

If not, just add his number to your blocklist & move on.

If so, just reply back tomorrow saying “very sorry, assumed you checked the bike over thoroughly before payment and was happy, hence you paid”

Inspected and paid cash. As above, it would be a polite ‘jog on, sold as seen. No warranty given or implied’

The Giant?

If it is looking at the pics I’d just ignore him

Sold as seen. Politely decline any request for a refund.

Any dent missed with a 30min inspection is not worth worrying about. I’m normally pretty happy to oblige but in those circumstances a polite but firm jog on is the order of the day. He sounds like he really should be buying new.

How long have they had it?

It’s a 5 years old DH bike, of course it has a dent in it.
You shouldn’t have mentioned “no dents” in the ad, he should have seen the dent in the 30 minutes inspection. Everyone’s wrong, so everything’s fine.

He checked it for 30 minutes and was happy. How do you know he didn’t drop it / pack it badly and caused the dent themselves.

Reply to say that you both saw that it was fine when you last saw it.

I’ve bought used bikes before and found issues once I got the bike home. Never complained to the seller as i thought it was my own fault for not being thorough enough.

Ha, would be funny if it was the same guy that walked away from mine last week after a minor scratch!

Maybe too late for this but if you did the deal face to face a receipt saying
Sold in good faith
Sold as seen
All damage declared

With some words to make it a joined up sentence covers pretty much everything….

30 mins inspection and bought it… Unless your feeling guilty , it’s a jog on, from me.

Give him his money back minus your petrol for dicking about.
And mention the dent in the next advert.

The pics alone are quite clear it’s a reasonably well used 5 year old DH bike. I think the guy probably had second thoughts when he got home and used the ad wording as a way to rethink the purchase maybe. If someone was really desperately unhappy with something they bought from me then I’d take it back but then I’m soft. If you get the impression he’s a chancer looking for money off then definitely just ignore it

If he paid you anything close to 1400 then it’s a clear case of buyer’s remorse.

This happened to me once. I gave the guy his money back.

We are a collection of individuals who should go out of our way to be good to each other. We are not Barclays Bank, selling our grandmothers for a buck.

Yes I think you are in the right re the sale. I would still give him his money back. Because it’s the nice thing to do 🙂

I buy/sell face to face on anything £50 plus for this very reason.

If I brought something and missed something as others have said my bad! I would take it on the chin, if I missed it the seller probably did too and so assume it was sold in good faith.

If I sold something and they missed something then generally that’s why they were allowed to inspect it, your ad looks genuine to me with more photos than most…you allowed a good inspection and he was happy with it, it’s his problem now he needs to accept it.

Personally I think if you got £1400 it was a damm good price for you for what looks like a very well used DH bike. But he saw the ad, saw the pics, inspected the bike and paid the cash. I think he’s a chancer or has buyers remorse due to the price he paid!!

I wouldn’t give him his money back in a million years. 30 minutes inspecting a bike, and now he finds a dent 😯 😯 . Sorry I’d just tell him to jog on but not so politely. Don’t listen to the bleeding hearts. Just tell the buyer to ride and enjoy “his” bike. If you wanted to buy it back you wouldn’t have sold it in the first place.

He owns it now, IMO! 😮

30 minute inspection, takes home, wants money back?

Jog on. The transaction is complete.

He’s got buyers remorse and is mistaking you for a shop. No harshness involved, it doesn’t mean you’re not a “nice” person, it’s just an unrealistic expectation.

Yep. A dent so small it was missed in 30 mins does not get a refund. I missed a bigger flaw on inspecting a bike. My problem not the buyers. That’s why private sales are cheaper than shops.

I’m a bit out of touch with UK pricing….but 1400UKP for a 5 yr old Giant Glory with X5 and RF Chester cranks?! If shipping wasn’t so expensive I think I’d start an export business. I sold my 09 Glory with a one ride old 2012 Boxxer R2D2 fork, Atlas FR cranks etc for the equivalent of less than 500 quid! No wonder dent guy suddenly wants his money back!

Blimey, hadn’t seen the ad when I wrote my comment above. Doesn’t change anything re offering reduction/refund. But that’s a pretty impressively high asking price.

Was he happy when he left or did he take 30 mins because he took that long to persuade himself it was worth it?

If you want an unblemished bike then buy a new one*.

Jog on.

* or one of Hora’s cast-offs.

Take the money and run!

How long ago did you sell it though? The advert is over a month old….

Definitely sounds like a case of buyers remorse though; if they were truly happy with their purchase, I don’t think noticing a small dent after they’d got the bike home and had completed the sale would be much of an issue.

I sold it yesterday and the price dropped significantly from the original toe in the water/ overly optimistic asking price 🙄

Legally you do not have to refund. What you choose to do then is down to your own conscience, only you can decide. No amount of supportive talk on here will make you feel better if you have a shred of doubt as to whcih way to go.

In slight contrast to what others have advised, I’d offer a different suggestion – don’t bother replying at all.

You are not legally bound to, so don’t even bother.

He had plenty of time to inspect it. From the sounds of it he even checked the ‘dent’ and didn’t identify it as a dent. So as above, jog on.

Id agree, carry on normal jogging.

Yes I think you are in the right re the sale. I would still give him his money back. Because it’s the nice thing to do

Balls to it, I’m too soft and my conscious has got the better of me, so I’ve agreed to take it back, however I’ve now edited the adverts to get rid of the ‘no dents’ line.

I best get a good spot in heaven/Shangri-la/valhalla etc 😆

We’re going to need a picture of the dent now, you realise?

OP you are too soft. He inspected it for 30 minutes and the debt must have been tiny as it was at a scratch you had identified which he must have checked. You are correct to have removed the “no dents” line. Good luck with the sale.