Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Dissatisfied Buyer

We sold a riding mower to a man who came out, looked at the mower, ran the engine and said it seemed fine. We told him we used it once. His friend with him said it looked good. We paid $1800 for the mower and attached bagger. We were asking $800 but sold it for $500. There was a small hole in the bag because my husband ran into the forsythia with it when he used it. We gave him a brand new bag and both manuals. His sons picked up the mower in 2 days, he was not with them. He called to complain that a piece that held the bagger on was missing. We told him we didn't have it. He found it in his sons' truck. Then he called saying he is unhappy, the mower vibrates too much. He took off the blades and put them back on to see if it would help. He asked if we ran the mower a lot for it to have a hole in the bag. He says we didn't give him the right manual but we did. If he keeps calling, complaining, and if he wants his money back, what can we do? We feel he looked at it, we represented the mower honestly, it was like new, and if he wants his money back, we shouldn't have to give it back or take the mower back. And how can we keep him from calling us and complaining? Isn't it up to him to deal with any problems now that he has it at home?


Asked on 11/03/05, 10:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Dissatisfied Buyer

OK, I do NOT have all the information before me, and I do not have a client-atty relationship with you, but I can offer these general comments gratis...

Unless he says you misrepsented the mower to him, and but for that misrepsentation he would not have bought the mower, he is stuck. In Latin, they say, "caveat emptor", which means "buyer beware".

Did you make any oral warranty to him? I assume there is no written warranty (probably not even a reciept).

Private sales like that with no written warranty means the buyer has no real options. They can always sue and SAY you made oral repsentations, but the burden of proof is on them, NOT you.

Tell the guy you offered it for sale, he accepted, there were no warranties, and there will be no refunds - sorry he's not happy, but stop calling you. IF he files suit, the burden is on him, and unless you lied to him, and he can show that, you should not have any real chence of losing a Small Claims Court case.

If you need any help beyond this, especially if he files suit (unlikely, but some people are nuts), you are going to have to hire an atty - rediculous for small items like this I know, but it is what it is, you have to work with it.

Good luck.

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Answered on 11/04/05, 2:13 pm


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