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Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:44 am  |
Here's the story ... At our workplace, we have an internal bulletin board on our company e-mail server where we can post Buy/Sell items.
I moved condos last month, and during the clean-up and packing, I found many many extra items which I posted and sold on the board (clothing, accessories, electronics, housewares, furniture, etc. etc.) Among the items, was a regular 27" television ... RCA brand ... which I bought brand new only 2 years ago and in perfect working order. I priced a lot of things really low and was able to get rid of most of my extra items really fast. This TV was no exception, at $100, a lady at work jumped on it right away.
We arranged for her to pick up the item from my place on the next weekend. The Monday after, I saw her at work and asked her if she got a chance to set up the tv yet? And she said yes, all smiles.
Now it is a month later and I received a voicemail from her a couple days ago saying she is having problems with the tv (something about a black box appearing in the screen from time to time, which I have never had happen). She didn't make any specific demand in her message, other than saying it was "not what I wanted" and asked that I call her back (she was at home from work because she was sick). I haven't been in the office the last few days and only got that message yesterday during a few minutes I had to check my voicemail during a break, so I wrote her a quick email saying I was away on a training course and will be back in the office on Monday and we could discuss it then.
The advice I am seeing is what should I do? I'm not sure how to handle this situation? The TV was in perfect working order when I sold it to her, I had not any problems with it, and I'm not sure what I can help her with. The lady sits directly in the cubicle behind me though, and I don't want to create any tensions, so I am wondering if there is any "nice" way to deal with this situation??? Our job functions are completely unrelated and I won't be sitting at that desk forever, but I would still like to avoid any conflict if possible.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:23 am |
I don't really have an answer for you, but I'm frustrated for you. She must be hard up for cash to risk work tension like this.
Cleanest thing to do would be to offer a refund but then you get a TV that she probably broke...
Lemme keep thinking....
Oh, and for future sales, write a receipt saying "AS IS." Doesn't have to be too fancy or formal. A post-it-note works. Just keep a copy. You can blame this "incident" if anyone balks. |
_________________
36, skin in a "new" phase? Oil/break-out free but now having bouts of sensitivity and surface dehydration. |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:29 pm |
This must be very annoying, but the way I see it, you have 3 choices:
- consider if its worth $100 to you to risk her badmouthing you all over the office for selling her a "dud" TV....which leads to option #2...
- if it would bother you, take it back and give her a refund
- offer to go over to her house to check it out yourself - she might have scewed it up by attaching a periferal (DVD/VCR/PC etc.)
I wouldn't offer to have it fixed since you doubtless didn't give her a warranty with it and for a $100 TV she can go get it fixed herself 
Anya |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:47 pm |
| Is the warranty still good? |
_________________
Mid 40's, normal to oily skin, blackheads, occasional breakouts |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 1:57 pm |
That's right. Check the warranty first.
Normally TV has got a 3-year warranty period. |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 2:11 pm |
| Linnie wrote: |
| Is the warranty still good? |
The TV was sold to her with the original operating manual. I believe the manual talks about the warranty (if I remember correctly, it was 10 or 15 year -- I only skimmed it once 2 years ago when I bought it) ... however, I'm not sure if it requires a receipt (which I didn't keep).
That's why I feel there isn't too much I can offer her. I'm going to try explaining that to her, hopefully I can find a nice way to do it. I've sold many items on the board and not had a problem, so I'm not too concerned about her badmouthing me ... I have a really good reputation at work (besides, this is a large office building with 4 floors ... only problem is I am sitting very close to her now and might not be able to move desks until a few months later). |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 2:25 pm |
| I would think that the manufacturer is the one who offers the warranty and not the place that you bought it from so a receipt would not matter. Right? |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 2:59 pm |
As tough as it is to say it (to the person you sold it to) is that you are not responsible for what happens to the item you sell once it leaves your possession. You are not a store and don't provide warranty with whatever you sell, unless you verbally said to inform you of any difficulties you have with the item. There is a general marketing concept of buyer beware when buying used (and even new) products. Plus, it's been a month, not like it happened the day after you sold it to her.
Oh and like LandB says, always make sure the receipt (or advertisement) indicates you are selling as is (especially when you're selling higher priced items like cars). |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:23 pm |
It's only a hundred bucks. If you like your job and want to maintain peace in the workplace, I suggest that you give her her money back and move on. If you'd known the tv was going to die soon, you probably wouldn't have sold it for a hundred bucks, so now that you know, just take it back.
Most importantly, you should do what you need to do to just let it go, and don't harbor ill will. Her need to return this tv after she bought it in working condition is annoying (and really wrong), but it's her messed-up way of dealing with such things -- that's all. Nobody's perfect.
When you sell things to people you know, you always run the risk of things getting sticky. In this case, things have gotten sticky.
My advice is to let it go.
-- Bee |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:15 pm |
I agree ... it's tough when you sell things to people you know. You never know what might happen to the object when they get it home and then they blame you! Recently one of the guys I used to work with was interested in buying my PC laptop I want to sell ... well, I talked him out of it and into buying a new Dell desktop! That way I won't have him calling me down the road whining about something having gone wrong. 
To ease tensions, I think I would offer her the money back as well and take your tv back. Now, wouldn't it be interesting if you get it back home, plug it in and it works perfectly. I like LandB's idea of putting in writing "AS IS". I'm going to do that from now on when I sell something through the Bargain Finder.
Good luck! |
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Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:39 pm |
I'm really sorry you have to deal with this.. It's a tuff call. Most everyone knows, unless specified, you get it the way it is, and if something goes wrong, oh well.. And after a month, that's kinda ballsy IMO... I guess you have to decide if it's worth it to you, to refund the cash.. I liked the suggestion tho, of going and checking it out for yourself.. After 2 years, it should go out, but then stuff does happen..
I was at a garage sale this morning and a man was looking at a couple of keyboards.. He asked if they worked and how much.. The woman told him yes, her hubby had checked them out and 1.00 a piece.. Then he asked if she'd take 1.00 for both, she said OK.. Then he had the nerve to ask what happens if he gets them home and they don't work.. All of us there were kinda dumbstruck.. Good grief, it's a buck! And at a garage sale even tho most are honest, you take a chance... She said to com back by and he could have his dollar back.. LOL |
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Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:38 am |
| BTW if you want to get the warranty you always need a receipt or invoice, etc. in order to confirm that you're still within the warranty time |
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Sun Jun 04, 2006 12:43 pm |
| I'm Kiki wrote: |
| I was at a garage sale this morning and a man was looking at a couple of keyboards.. He asked if they worked and how much.. The woman told him yes, her hubby had checked them out and 1.00 a piece.. Then he asked if she'd take 1.00 for both, she said OK.. Then he had the nerve to ask what happens if he gets them home and they don't work.. All of us there were kinda dumbstruck.. Good grief, it's a buck! And at a garage sale even tho most are honest, you take a chance... She said to com back by and he could have his dollar back.. LOL |
I absolutely agree that it is a chance, and I would have been more than happy to refund her or check it out if, say it was the day after or even up to a week after for that matter, but this is an enitre month after! I have been 100% honest about the condition of the TV and I didn't even have one single problem with the tv from the day I bought it until the day I unplugged it from the wall and sold it to her. I even asked her the first Monday after she got it if she got the tv set up to make sure it was ok, and she said yes! I stand by the fact that I had a perfect tv, and it worked when it was sold. I think that's as far as my responsibility goes (how do I know that she or someone else in her family didn't drop it or spilled something in it, etc. during that last month?) ... now for me to find a nice way to say it to her. |
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Sun Jun 04, 2006 4:14 pm |
Even if it was the Queen, I would not give her the money back after she has used it for a month. Just tell her that it was working when you last used it, you enquired about it soon after she bought it and everything appeared fine then. Just say sorry but you cannot be responsible for anything that may have happened in the month she has used it.
If you say the words in a nice tone (friendly rather than intimidating) then she may accept that. She really does not have any reason to bad mouth you. |
_________________
Skin: Over 60, ex combination now sensitive, Cellcosmet |
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Sun Jun 04, 2006 5:22 pm |
I could be completely off but is it possible that she has somehow activated the Picture in a Picture window box? This would be a black box that could pop up on the screen if she pressed the button on the remote. P.I.P allows you to monitor another channel in a small box on your screen while watching your current channel. This is primarily a male thing for watching more than one sporting event at once. If you don't designate a channel for PIP it will just be black.
I don't know if this TV had this function but most newer models do. |
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Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:23 pm |
Good news on this story ... we saw each other at work today and discussed the problem, asking me if I had any advice on what she could do. She didn't make any demands asking for a refund or anything ... I let her describe the problem and she was happy with me listening to it. She told me the problem doesn't occur all the time and some days, there is no problem and sometimes, there is a problem when she tries to change the channel. I sympathized with her and since I'm not electronically inclined, I couldn't offer any insight on what might be wrong. She said she bought a new infeed cable in an attempt to fix it and at first it was still acting weird, but then it was fine and has been fine since ... but she is scared of when the problem might come back. I told her the cables we used were straight from the cable company and I hope the problem doesn't occur again. And she says she knows I wouldn't sell something that I knew there was something wrong. So all is good ...
Thanks to everyone who offered their input, luckily this one ended up having a low tension outcome |
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Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:39 pm |
Glad to hear it worked out!  |
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