Am I solely to blame? FB sale gone wrong

[PrincessShmoo]

I 2nd this advice. NOT responding is a response.

And I'll just add, after that time block her again.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sorry, I had to run off right after I posted. One thing that occurred to me, is this ‘laptop’ a Chromebook without a CD/DVD drive? That might make a difference. If it was advertised as a ‘laptop’ I would expect a CD/DVD drive to be able to download old software like games.

ETA: a Chromebook also runs a different operating system from Windows and Apple so she would have to download specific games that run on that platform.

Laptops don't really come with CD/DVD drives anymore. Just about everything is now digital downloads. You want MS Office (word, excel, etc) ? That's a download not a CD software disc anymore. You don't buy actual physical software much anymore anyways.

We have a Lenovo that is several years old without a CD/DVD drive. Lenovos are born from being bought from IBM's personal computer line. It most def. is a laptop.

My husband's work laptop, which is a Dell, is several years old and does not have a CD/DVD drive.

Like I said its not a chromebook.
The box said Asus laptop and it said no CD/DVD drive.
I gave that info.
I'm not a techy person either so I assume when something says laptop its a laptop....

The truth is people who are looking for a gaming laptop buy a gaming laptop. While most laptops can handle downloading of games you need something of tougher stock if what you're mainly getting it for is gaming. Obviously this does depend on what kind of gaming you are going to do but still if your main purpose is playing games you need something that can take the abuse, the memory space, etc.

Depending on what type of games the daughter was wanting to download a tablet may have been a better fit if it was just apps she was wanting.

Sounds like the mom really didn't know what she was looking for and assumed that any ole' laptop would do for what her daughter was wanting. It happens. Just means she probably didn't know what she was really wanting and should have stuck with going to a store where the representative could have steered her in the right direction.

 

[Mizzoufan]

I have a laptop that has a place for DVD player and it new

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have a laptop that has a place for DVD player and it new

I know there are ones that do but it's not the norm now like everything used to be years ago--years ago there was never any thought but having a CD/DVD drive.

 

[robinb]

I’m not sure why you feel you need to set a time limit because she didn’t respond right away. If you wanted an answer in a certain amount of time you should have specified that in your message to her. I would send a friendly (not snarky like your suggested message) like:

“Hey there! I sent you a message yesterday about the laptop. If I don’t hear back from you by tomorrow I’ll assume that everything is working to your satisfaction.”

 

[mummabear]

OP here. I started being harassed by more family members so I decided to unblock the buyer and asked to discuss it in a calm manner.
I told her that I have used it for internet usage only so I know it works for that function.
I asked her to calmly explain what she deems is broken.
That was 45 minutes ago. She saw it and has not responded.
Have I done my part?
How long do I wait for a response?
I did not mention a refund as I'd like to know what she says is wrong with it.
If its nothing operationally wrong with it but just that its not what she expected then I don't plan on offering a refund.

I would not offer a refund, no way. It was in her to ensure it was fit for purpose and working when she bought it. Via a 2nd hand site the fact it was for Xmas is irrelevant.
No way would I accept it back-you don’t know what has happened to it in the time they have had it.

I would not respond again, the only response I would have given was confirming that fact to her.
At this point I would just ignore her, you should be able to Facebook block any family members that are harassing you.

 

[Kaytie]

Laptop/Notebook is a form factor. It doesn't matter what operating system it has.

I find the automatic blocking strange but it is up to the buyer to match the specs to their needs. As long as the seller listed the make, model, memory speed and amount, processor type, speed, and generation, any inputs and outputs, and the video memory the information should have been there for the buyer to make their decision. That is the minimal I would expect for a laptop listing.

My guess is it was a video memory problem.

Or just that the computer doesn't come with enough memory to allow the downloads.

Be advised, I wouldn't buy anything from anyone that had a fake account nor would I be pretty leary of anyone blocked me as soon as I bought something from them that would make me report to the group asap.

Seven days really isn't "as soon as" (and I'm guessing you meant 'and' rather than 'nor'?)

 

[anniemae]

I’m not sure why you feel you need to set a time limit because she didn’t respond right away. If you wanted an answer in a certain amount of time you should have specified that in your message to her. I would send a friendly (not snarky like your suggested message) like:

“Hey there! I sent you a message yesterday about the laptop. If I don’t hear back from you by tomorrow I’ll assume that everything is working to your satisfaction.”

This is exactly what I was thinking, the message OP wrote was a little harsh in wording. If you want to end it and want some proof that you closed things on your end, without causing more backlash, I would send the bolded message.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

I do a fair bit of online sale/purchase FB groups in my town.

Contact the Admin of the sale group and send them screen-shots of the conversations and "claims" The buyer will probably be removed from the group and in my town there is a pool of admins over several of the pages, so they may be removed from several groups.

It sounds like they are just blowing smoke in hopes that you'll offer a refund, which will appear that you admit some type of guilt and who knows what condition the item will be returned in, probably not working actually. She set the stipulation of turning the item on, but then did not proceed to do so at the time of purchase. You are free & clear of her inability to operate the laptop.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

If you didn't offer warranty it should be as-is sale. You gave 7 days or whatever. They waited to long. Save screen shots of messages, block buyer and move on. You're going to get yourself in trouble by saying too much if you keep messaging her. You did nothing wrong. Drop it... Let it go.

She was idiot to not plug in, test or meet at place with internet. Her fault not yours. If she was in rush, her fault.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I don't think you owe them a refund, but you may want to reconsider your blocking process. The family & friends probably wouldn't have gotten involved, if you hadn't blocked the buyer. You kind of brought that on yourself. It's probably better to just ignore future buyers looking for a refund than block them. I can't imagine anything positive that can come from that. As you've found out, there can definitely be negatives.

 

[aprilgail]

Blocking someone after a sale seems really odd and hecka shady to me- but other than that I don't see an issue, you said what the item was and didn't try to lie about it...just really odd blocking people that buy things from you, that is a red flag to me.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Blocking someone after a sale seems really odd and hecka shady to me- but other than that I don't see an issue, you said what the item was and didn't try to lie about it...just really odd blocking people that buy things from you, that is a red flag to me.

Not so odd or shady. If you sell things online via the various options, chances are you're going to get some "buyer's regret type people" who then hound you about how awful your product is and how you're a real sleaze for foisting off such bad merchandise on unsuspecting people.

OP didn't block the buyer for a week due to her own past history, apparently. That sounds reasonable to me (yes, I've been in that position - one reason I no longer sell anything online).

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Not so odd or shady. If you sell things online via the various options, chances are you're going to get some "buyer's regret type people" who then hound you about how awful your product is and how you're a real sleaze for foisting off such bad merchandise on unsuspecting people.

OP didn't block the buyer for a week due to her own past history, apparently. That sounds reasonable to me (yes, I've been in that position - one reason I no longer sell anything online).

I'm not sure most buyers would agree with you.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm not sure most buyers would agree with you.

Of course they wouldn't. And, yes, I've been a buyer.

 

[mom2rtk]

Blocking someone after a sale seems really odd and hecka shady to me- but other than that I don't see an issue, you said what the item was and didn't try to lie about it...just really odd blocking people that buy things from you, that is a red flag to me.

If I tried to contact an online seller a week after the sale with a question and found myself blocked, I would immediately assume bad intentions on the part of the seller.

 

[lynxstch]

I have a hard time believing a group that big doesn't have any admin. There has to be someone running the group.

Not necessarily true. I belong to a local yard sale group on FB. It had 6 admin and over 10,000 members. A year ago, someone hacked the site, blocked all the admin and removed them. FB said there was nothing they could do. There was no way to reinstate them or add them back, according to FB. As I was a 'watch dog', who helped admin, I am still able to access the site, where the admin cannot. I try to do what I can to keep the site running smoothly, but with no admin, it's almost impossible to catch all the problems!

 

[rajak73]

Contacting admin is not an option.
There are 6 of them and they all jumped ship once the group became too big and too many people were having petty problems.
They have not monitored the group in probably 18 months.
The group has 50,000 members at this point and even though it was supposed to be for the county I live in there are mostly members from outside of the county I live in.
This buyer lives an hour away not in the same community nor in the same county as I do.

I am a member of a few smaller groups where the admin have to approve all posts which means that it often takes weeks for your post to show publicly which is the reason I also post in the giant group because there's much more traffic and opportunity to sell.

Then this is the chance you take in a group without adequate Admin. I, personally, wouldn't be a member of any group that doesn't have Admin.

 

[chewysmom]

OP-have you heard anything back?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

OP-have you heard anything back?

No