Transaction complete but...

[gold-coast-2010]

We sold a used inflatable boat and engine on ebay.  All good buyer collected paid cash.

They saw the engine running, the boat was rolled up, we offered to inflate but they declined.

They got the boat home, inflated it all good - they were happy.

I have received an email saying that the following day they noted the boat had deflated in the bow, so they reinflated, but the same thing has happened.

They have been to a repairer and they have been told that it cannot be repaired and basically to take to the tip.

We have sold this in good faith.  The boat had been used once in three years, and had been kept inside out of any kind of light, so we are finding this hard to accept.

The buyer is looking for anothe boat, hasn't directly come back and said what he wants us to do.  We sold as is no warranty given or implied.

Where do we stand?

Thanks

[kopenhagen5]

On face value, it sounds to me you and the buyer were both unaware it had a fault.

It is a faulty item and not sold as such.

If it was me, I would suggest the buyer return it for a full refund and I would take it to someone that can repair it.

I don't believe it's impossible to repair.

Then resell it repaired stating it has been repaired.

[horizon1907]

IMO you have nothing to worry about. As with all Pick Up Items, the buyer had every opportunity to inspect, inflate & scrutinise the item but chose not to do so. Having said that, you are obviously concerned about the sale and want the buyer to be happy. ( like most sellers do ). I would wait until you hear back from the buyer and see what pans out, then you can then try and work out the issue.

[horizon1907]

What kopes has mention is quite true. How come it can't be repaired ?

[gold-coast-2010]

According to the Buyer he went to an Approved repairer and they have told him it is a chinese import! and the glue has failed and therefore cannot be repaired. We bought this from a dealer 3 years ago, used it once, inflated for the photos a few weeks ago, it was up over a weekend under the house, we didn't have any problems. We are honest people and the Buyer seems genuine too....

[horizon1907]

Just about everything you buy these days is a Chinese Import, let's face it. What I would do in this case, if they conatct you, tell them to return it and give them a refund. ( As kopes said ) That will keep them happy. Then I would take back to where you bought it from ( if they are still there) and see what can be done about the problem.  Hope all works out well for you 🙂

[gold-coast-2010]

So the email I had from the Buyer was at 2pm yesterday afternoon.  I responded with this at 5:30pm but no response.

We are very sorry to hear the news and are really quite surprised.  We are genuine people and the boat and engine was sold 'as is' in a genuine sale, on the basis that both have been used, but only once.  The boat has been inflated twice from new.  The first time being when we took it out on the water and the second time a couple of months ago for the photos.  When we inflated for the photos the boat must have been up for a good 3-4 days and we did not notice any deflation.  

We'll enquire with the dealer here about their suggestions on repairs/glues (but that won't be until the weekend due to work commitments). 

The Zoom is a Zodiac family product and you would think that repairs would be undertaken for one of their products?

Will let you know as soon as we have any information.

We thought that we'll pay to have it repaired as we know it is an excellent inflatable and try to help rectify the problem.....

Thanks for everyones input anyway.

[ambridgebuckskins]

My SAR group (Search and Rescue) have two Zodiacs that we use as tenders and for training our newbies.

They are a few years old now and have had many many many patches on them. Very much like yours in build and shape, ours came with a repair kit when new. We have patched pontoons, the air chambers on the floor and around the transom side bits.

I fail to see how yours cannot be repaired. Any place that sells Zodiac will have the repair kits.