Painful gumtree Pinball buyer

[joele]

wow was that a pain in the butt.. So I had advertised my pinboxed RFM on Gumtree and had a guy come out and look at it, for what must have been almost an hour, I explained all the work done on it etc NOS driver board, new computer, pinbox, LEDs, new amplifier and two way speakers in head box etc etc

He negotiated a price and said he was interested, then left and called and wanted to negotiate price again.. Anyway needless to say he got a damn good price IMO.. On organizing pickup day he decides he wants to negotiate again, FFS.. anyway machine loaded onto his trailer and gone..

Then the phone calls begin (each point was a new call)
- 4 lights are out when he got it home why? so I explain must be loose from transport in trailer, just try taking the LEDs out and re-seat them.
- Lock bar won't release and can't get the glass off, I explain to move the lock bar to the right fully and then maybe loosen back a tiny bit as the RFM lock can be slightly finicky.. OK he got it unlocked now.
- Says he reseated the globes but they don't seem to work, I do not understand this as they were fine before he left, but offer to send him some spare globes as I have plenty he says he has some and will use his own... (so why call me?)
- Calls to say he put them in and the work so 4 of my globes must have been bad, OK sorry not sure how that coincidentally happened but life goes on, it is about the cheapest problem you could have.
I stopped answering calls as was at a bday party with my son but he switched to calling from wife's phone I guess so I saw a different number
- Another call to say the flashing martian eyes don't work now he changed the globes, I point out they were connected to one of the globes he changed and they rely on the plug being plugged in the right way, so turn it around and they will work.
- Calls to say it is working and apologizes and agrees to stop calling me now (but at the end adds if he has any problems in the future he will call me)  

OK so email time the next day
- So the bottom speaker doesn't work, I point out I know that and told him I had put new amp in and two way speakers just in the headbox.
- He wants the bottom speaker to work so I tell him to get a small subwoofer and sub crossover and hook it up himself..
- He emails asking what models to buy     I gave him a link in reply - http://dziedzic.us/wpc_speaker_replacement.html

Seriously you bought a 15 odd year old pinball machine and spent an hour inspecting it, then hammered me on price, you don't get ongoing free support, if you want that pay twice the price for a worse condition machine from a Melbourne dealer... OK vent over...

Is this uncommon with gumtree?

[Freiherr]

He should not be calling you. You are not a dealer who just sold a used appliance with a 3 month warranty. Once the exchange is made, end of story.

[joele]

He should not be calling you. You are not a dealer who just sold a used appliance with a 3 month warranty. Once the exchange is made, end of story.

Yeah I know at first I was willing to help out, trying to be nice, but damn no good deed goes unpunished, LOL

Another email just then, asking how you change the globe in the launcher button, probably another one that came loose.. but FFS, he can't even work out how to get to the globe in the launch button without feeling the need to contact me again??

Ignoring this one altogether, if I keep responding I am just encouraging him... See how long it takes to call me if I don't answer his email?  

OCPD??

[ddstoys]

Sounds pretty common I get calls years later the machine you sold me isn't working its been in storage since I bought it plugged it in and it doesn't work what are you going to do about it.   I normally just laugh

[Boots]

I would have told him to f%^&K off when he tried to re-negotiate over the phone.
Once you shake hands on a price that is it, a men's agreement.

[joele]

Sounds pretty common I get calls years later the machine you sold me isn't working its been in storage since I bought it plugged it in and it doesn't work what are you going to do about it.   I normally just laugh

WOW  

I actually have a funny non pinball related one of these, a friend of mine sold a house and five YEARS later the guy who bought it tracked him down and contacted him complaining the element in the oven had died and he wanted him to pay for the replacement.. ROFLMAO

I would have told him to f%^&K off when he tried to re-negotiate over the phone.

Good advice for the future, seems it would have saved a lot of hassle 

[joele]

mmmm I could just..

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Start+Button+Bulb+Replacement+pinball#

[skywalker]

By the sounds of it Joel he got a very good deal, He'll have to put in the effort to sort out the minor bugs, all the best on your next sale 

[joele]

all the best on your next sale 

meh that will be a while away, restoring Dr Who, Judge Dredd and Shadow simultaneously (at least shadow doesn't need a re-decal).. I don't like selling machines and only do it so can start another project... LOL

[DSB]

  And its not even funny! Some people  Don't think I would be as patient as you.

[Strangeways]

He should not be calling you. You are not a dealer who just sold a used appliance with a 3 month warranty. Once the exchange is made, end of story.

This is exactly the point. It is like a private car sale. Once money changes hands, then you are on your own.

I would call your phone carrier and ask them to block those two numbers. Some people are just incredibly stupid, and you unfortunately found a bad one !

[Slash]

Yeah it sounds like you were extremely patient!  I can understand wanting to do the right thing by someone and make sure they are happy with their purchase which you certainly did, but jeez some people have a hide.  I would have been too embarrassed to continually ring you back like that repetitively asking questions, plus I wouldn't have expected to have the right anyhow to get ongoing tech support.  lol

The second time he tried to renegotiate the deal it would have been alarm bells for me and possibly deal over.  Trying to renegotiate a third time when he picked up the item I would have told him to pi$$ off right there.  That's poor form.

[Homepin]

All of this nonsense is simply because consumers have been "taught" to behave this way. It all started when companies like K-Mart etc began offering unconditional money back - then we have PayPus saying "use us to pay or you will be ripped of by those nasty sellers".

Consumers expect far too much these days. It is fair to think that a new product will work as you intend but it is certainly unreasonable to think that a 15~25 year old, complex machine that probably has been operated in a commercial enviroment for many years will also behave flawlessly.

A few lamps out - - I would have told him to go jump at that point!!!

[pinnies4me]

I think you can see the funny side from the way you wrote  the post, so I hope you don't mind me saying that you gave me a laugh describing the calls! I have clients like that - call after call, and then they find my mobile number and start calling and texting out of business hours - drives me spare, but as some have mentioned, expectations seem so high by so many these days.

[Pintoxicated]

I should have just bought the machine off you.  Let him know when it is too hard for him to look after the machine I will buy it off him.  Also let me know how much he paid for it so I can screw him on price as well.