FS/FT issue.....advice needed

[iamme]

now, this isn't a rant, but i'm asking for advice.

i sold an old, out of warranty laptop (PIII 1GHz) to someone in the FS/FT forum. i shipped via UPS and i'm pretty sure i insured it for the FS price (~$450 shipped).

i shipped out the laptop on 11/09/04. he said he didn't get to see the laptop until right after christmas. two weeks after using the laptop the hard drive died (1/09/05). about two months have passed since i shipped the laptop out.

i just got a PM saying that the laptop HD died. now my question is what should i do? i feel bad, as i've sold many laptops here on the FS/FT forums with no problems. i, obviously, didn't sell the laptop with any intention of ripping anyone off. i feel bad saying "sorry, bud not my problem".....but at the same time, i don't want to refund the money or anything like that.

what would you guys do?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

it worked as advertised when he got it, just has shtty luck

he needs to suck it up and replace the hdd himself. you try to save money buying used, but sometimes it backfires

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: iamme
now, this isn't a rant, but i'm asking for advice.

i sold an old, out of warranty laptop (PIII 1GHz) to someone in the FS/FT forum. i shipped via UPS and i'm pretty sure i insured it for the FS price (~$450 shipped).

i shipped out the laptop on 11/09/04. he said he didn't get to see the laptop until right after christmas. two weeks after using the laptop the hard drive died (1/09/05). about two months have passed since i shipped the laptop out.

i just got a PM saying that the laptop HD died. now my question is what should i do? i feel bad, as i've sold many laptops here on the FS/FT forums with no problems. i, obviously, didn't sell the laptop with any intention of ripping anyone off. i feel bad saying "sorry, bud not my problem".....but at the same time, i don't want to refund the money or anything like that.

what would you guys do?

If the buyer knew it was used, then he bought it as is. No way for you to know the HD was going.

Have you checked the tracking # to see when it was delivered?

 

[Gulzakar]

you fufilled your part of the bargain.

two months is too long to come back for a replacement drive...you didn't offer a iamme warranty, right?

If you really feel guilty, explain to this person that two months is too long...but you might be willing to go half on a new hdd.

 

[dabuddha]

I'd only go as far as to help him find a cheap good deal on a replacement hdd. He bought it used and just got unlucky.

 

[spanky]

did it really take that long for the lappy to be delivered? why dont u punch in the tracking number and check. if he is full of it, then i would say "you're on your own bud". if it in fact did take that long to get to him, even tho it's not my fault, i would feel bad and offer to pay maybe half price to replace the hd. that's just me tho.

 

[RossMAN]

They bought a USED laptop in AS IS condition.

I'd say it's their problem, not yours.

Kudo's to you though for being a good trader

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Sold: AS IS.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: spanky
did it really take that long for the lappy to be delivered? why dont u punch in the tracking number and check. if he is full of it, then i would say "you're on your own bud". if it in fact did take that long to get to him, even tho it's not my fault, i would feel bad and offer to pay maybe half price to replace the hd. that's just me tho.

it was delivered on 11/12/04. it was delivered to a relative's business, while i assume he was away. he wasn't able to get a look at it until around Christmas. once he got a chance to look at it, he said it died 2 weeks later.

and no, i didn't offer any warranty.

 

[rudder]

depends on how nice you feel. Thats the risk of buying used stuff that is out of warranty. If he received it broken, thats a different story, but he had it for 2 months.

 

[Brackis]

You can get a new laptop HD for pretty cheap these days. HD's die and stuff happens, not your fault. If he had PM'ed you the day he recieved it and it wouldn't work then, that calls for an insurance refund.

 

[iamwiz82]

I have had HDDs purchased on the boards go bad shortly after arrival, but they always worked on receipt so I cannot fault the seller.

 

[spanky]

true, u did not offer any warranty. i find it hard to believe that after investing $450 on a deal thru an online messefe board, it took him that long to go check out his purchased goods. i find that somewhat hard to believe. anyway, i think someone else made a good point... just help him find a "hot deal" and the rest is all him.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: spanky
did it really take that long for the lappy to be delivered?

It reads to me like it got delivered right away but he (a) had it as a Christmas present or (b) just didn't have the time to use it until after Christmas.

I say you don't owe him anything if one condition is met. That is that you had no idea of a faulty drive. If you shipped it out knowing the drive was acting strange, then that is a whole other story.

 

[Drakkon]

once it arrives there its his responsibility you have no way of knowing what happend in that month that went by. It doesn't matter if he didnt get to see it until xmas....he should've known better to test it out as soon as it got there not a month later.

 

[CraigRT]

No worries man, you just have to word it in a such a way to describe the fact that it's not your fault.

Nothing you can do, not your fault the HDD failed (they do often in PC's afterall)

Maybe try and search the net for a good bargain on a laptop hard drive to make him feel better about not spending full price on one or something, that would be something I'd do for him.

 

[iamme]

cool, thanks for reassuring me, guys

i actually think that i might have an older laptop HD, from an upgrade i did on my current laptop. maybe i'll sell it to him for cheap, if i can find it.

hopefully that'll stay good

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: iamme
cool, thanks for reassuring me, guys

i actually think that i might have an older laptop HD, from an upgrade i did on my current laptop. maybe i'll sell it to him for cheap, if i can find it.

hopefully that'll stay good

If you happen to have one, by all means give it to him or offer him a deal on it. If not, he waited too long. It sucks, but life goes on...

 

[jamautosound]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
I'd only go as far as to help him find a cheap good deal on a replacement hdd. He bought it used and just got unlucky.

Agreed.

I have also purchased a used HDD for a friends laptop through the forums, and it is still working fine.

Just the luck of the draw. Two weeks is a decent time frame to test and determine integrity.