Have you ever sold a car and someone back out the last minute? Send you a deposit and everything? I refused the buyer his deposit back. It happens to me too often. What are your situations? Has it happened to you?
Did he have a legitimate reason to cancel the deal? Check with him to make sure. I once did this with two y-blocks I bought and my fathers house burnt to the ground and I had to cancel the deal because I was living with him at the time. Shit happens.
I put a 50 deposit once on a car and backed out,I didnot ask him for the deposit back,And were friends...........
You may have lost the sale with some other offer if he dont have a real good reason the money is yours cost of biz.
i had just the opposite, left a deposit on an old corbinder pick up when back the next day to get it the truck was still there he said he sold it to someone else because he wanted it more than i did. assholes are everywhere
it happens to the best of us . You did the right thing and should not feel bad about it. it may be a good gesture to check to see in serious circumstances caused this to happen, if so, a refund would be the proper thing to do.
Did the guy ask for his deposit back? If he did he's got alot of nerve... I dont know how much money were dealing with here, some people think they can put money down to hold a car and then go look for financing. Fucking deadbeats... Keep the deposit
As said earlier a man's word is his bond,there is no excuses. That is one reason I will not take a deposit on a car. If you want it come get it and pay for it. What really pisses me off is a buyer will come to look at a car,knowing the price and then come up with the bullshit can I give you a deposit. Hell no you can't because the next person might be smart enough to come prepared with the cash to buy the car.
There is a reason we take deposits on sales. To show good faith. When you breach that faith you pay the price which usually amounts to forfeiture of the deposit.
so, I heard the guys girlfriend emptied his checking account and took off with his brother, his mother got hit by a truck and has no insurance and his daily got torched. Glad to know your principals are rock solid. The point of this thread is?
That's the whole point of a deposit, to enforce a contract. I work at a dealership, and rarely keep deposits, but recently I did. Lady wanted a specific color used OT car, Gave me a deposit, I got her a car with even less miles (Agreement was for under 30k, I got her one with 20k) and for $19995, which is market price. She shows up for delivery, wants to be $19995 with taxes, fees, etc. No way. She walks, we still have her deposit.
Yup keep it. A deposit is always forfeited when the persons back out of the deal. Whenever I've sold cars on E-bay I've had people try to get around paying deposits. I flat don't sell them the car then. Always be clear with the terms of your deal, that way if the persons break those terms you can terminate the deal.
I had a friend list and "sell" his GTO three times. He got to keep two deposits for his trouble, though it didn't amount to much. Later on when he listed another car he upped the deposit amount and the sale was completed the first time. Some folks just don't understand how these deals are supposed to work and I consider it an education for them. Some have to back out legitimately for tough reasons. In those rare cases, I might be inclined to refund the deposit.
Be sure and stipulate on the receipt of the deposit, that it is non-refundable to protect yourself..and to let the prospective buyer know you are serious. Keep the deposit, that's what it is for after all.
Buyer- "Hey buddy, let me give you $xXx to hold this thing so I can buy some time to blah blah bla.." Seller- "That wouldn't be ethical due to my occupation... I could be called for duty and have to disappear for a while so in the meantime you might have a tough time getting your money back or finishing the deal." Buyer-"Whoa man what kinda work do you do? Seller- "I'm not at liberty to discuss such things"
I find that a fifty percent non-refundable deposit of the agreed on price usually weeds out the bullshit artists and be-backs.
I was recently on the other side of it. I put a $1000. deposit on a $3000. car; after I went to the trouble of sending him a cashiers check for a grand, he 'changed his mind' less than a day later about selling it. I could have 'held him' to the deal since it was all specified on the cashiers check but didn't feel like going through the hassle. I got my deposit back but the whole deal pissed me off and left a sour taste in my mouth. Needless to say that's one guy I won't be doing business with ever again no matter what the circumstances are.
I have sold cars and taken a deposit, before the buyer came back I turned away several other potential buyers including some who offered more money. Nope, the car is sold, a deal is a deal. If the buyer reneges I keep the deposit. Once I have a cash deposit, I have a deal and I stick to it. I expect the other party to do the same. In addition to possibly turning down a better offer, you also have the additional work and headache and expense of advertising and selling the car all over again. I am talking about a deposit of $50 to $100 here. If it was up in the thousands it might be different. In that case I might keep $100 for my trouble and refund the rest. By the way without a cash deposit I will not hold a car. It is not sold until cash changes hands. I tell possible buyers this up front, if someone wants the car I will tell them so. If they want to go get the money, maybe the car will be here when they get back and maybe it won't and I will not kid them or tell them otherwise. I have had too many people say they will be back , or think it over, ask the wife etc and never hear from them again. Now I assume they have no intention of coming back but are too polite to say so right out. I also respect the buyer's time and will not waste his time or waste a trip by lying about the condition of a car or promising something I can not deliver and will also be up front about selling and paying. So that may be blunt but at least it is up front and does not waste anyone's time.
My experience with taking deposits has been generally good..BUT...a few years ago I took a $1000 deposit on a 1966 Corvette project car I had. I wrote on the deposit receipt that it was NON REFUNDABLE deposit, had him sign it and I kept an original copy with his signature. The next day he calls me that his daughter got in a car accident and he wanted to back out of the deal..he then asks for his deposit back. I said..."what part of non refundable dont you understand?" Fast forward...he sues me in small claims (California) wanting his deposit back...claims I misrepresented the car and a bunch of other bs. My argument was that he knew his deposit was non refundable, he signed the receipt claiming such, I turned away other potential buyers, we had a contract....buyer loses...right? NOPE...asshole Pro-tem judge says I was "unjustly enriched" and I have to give his deposit back. Unjust enrichment basically means I didnt do anything to "deserve" the money. Since I still had the car, I could resell it. Small claims is a court of equity which means rough justice...not letter of the law, contract stuff....be warned! So if you are in California, even though you have a deposit receipt with non refundable on it...the buyer can change his mind, sue you, and get his money back. A GREAT argument for not taking deposits as has been said here, or make them smaller so that it will hurt them, but not be enough for them to bother to sue you...like $100-$250 or something like that....I am sure other states might be similar.
My old man took a deposit on an OT car, then the guy backed out and my old man kept the deposit. I can't remember how much exactly, I think a couple hundred bucks. Then a few days later a lawyer calls him and started a big shit storm. The lawyer was a buddy of the backout buyer so it cost him nothing to have him make waves for my old man. It went on for a few months, with a court date arranged and so on, but I think in the end he just gave the money back with and the guy agreed to drop the whole thing. It was a great big headache, my old man missed a day of work dealing with it, all for a little bit of cash and the principle of it. I'm all for keeping a guy's deposit when they go sour on "their word", but you just never know if the asshole is a lawyer, or knows an asshole lawyer.
I had a guy back out a yr or so ago. He said he lost his job. I believed him and sent back his deposit. His wife and mother both sent me "thank you" cards. Stand-up people in my book, I wish them well.
I Never accept a deposit, if they want the car they can pay for it, or someone else can while the first ones are fretting around about it. A deposit just gets you in trouble.
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