Legal Question in Consumer Law in Illinois

My question involves responsibility in the case of a classified ad sale.

I recently posted a plow attachment for a riding mower on craigslist classified ad website. I did my best to include as much info as I could, even though the plow belonged to my mom. I was selling it for her. The plow was heavy & awkward; therefore I wasn't able to move it from where it sat in her garage. She had very little recollection about the plow since it was purchased by my now deceased dad. This forced me to acquire the specs from the manufacturer�s website.

I was contacted by a buyer who had confirmed that the model number I had in my ad was what they needed, in order for it to mount correctly to their mower. I provided the buyer with both my home & cell number & address of my mom's home. I alerted them to the fact that I was not able to get at it for a good picture due to its weight & it's location in the garage & that they would need to lift it up & out themselves. They assured my they could handle that. We both left our respective homes to meet at my mom's.

Upon arriving, I pointed out where the plow was. They pulled it out to the middle of the floor & walked around it a few times. I told them to look it over & think about it while I took care of something.

All told, the buyer was there for over a half hour; 15 minutes of which they were alone with the plow. When I returned, they had decided to buy it & we agreed on $170. They handed me cash & loaded the plow in their pickup.

A couple hours later while driving to my own home, I received a call on my cell phone. The buyer had attempted to attach the plow to their mower without success. They said they found the model number on the plow & it did not match what I had copied from the manufacturer�s website; even though the plow itself was the same plow, literally.

Not being able to confirm anything since I was in my car at the time, I told them the only thing I could. That was, 'Well; if doesn't work, I guess I'll have to take it back'. I said I wasn't able to make the trip back for a couple days.

During this time I looked into why the discrepancy had happened. I researched more reference material on the Web & found that the plow had multiple model numbers depending on which modifying brackets came with it. These brackets allowed the same plow to fit different mowers. However the base plow itself was the same as described on the manufacturers website. Also during this time the buyer had researched whether these modifying brackets were available from the manufacturer & was given a price of $35.

I called the buyer to let them know what I'd found out & they told me they could get the parts from the manufacturer & would do so on their own. I said, 'ok, are you sure? and they said, 'Yes'. We left it at that. 3 days went by before they did anything about getting them.

With further probing on my part with my mom, I determined that there may; in fact, be more brackets still connected to her mower. There were. I removed them & told the buyer I had them & would bring them to their home so they didn't have to spend $35. They indicated at that time that those brackets would not help them so they did not want them. It was 3 days before they did anything about getting the parts.

A week went by with no calls. I assumed the matter was closed. I came down with the flu & didn't see my emails for about a week. When I did, there was an email from the buyer saying the parts would now cost $50 & that they wanted their money back as originally requested. Being sick & wanting to expedite matters & make everyone happy, I offered to send them $50 to get the parts. This way I'd still have made enough to be happy; the buyer would have the same deal they originally expected to get & my mom would have the space in the garage.

The buyer did not agree & again asked for their money back. I still feel bad this happened & I'll do that if it's absolutely necessary, but if not then I'd like to know if I'm libel, should they choose to take me to court. Thank you for any assistance you can offer.

Summary:

1) Buyer knew ahead of time that I couldn't get to the plow & hadn't cleaned it up because it was too hard for me to move.

2) Buyer confirmed what item# they needed before they came to see the plow.

3) In the 35-45min. they were there, they had ample time to examine the plow without any interference.

4) The item# was on the plow when they were looking at it.

5) They never checked the label to see if it matched what they needed. They examined it & made the decision that it was what they needed before paying for it.

6) Even department stores don't guarantee their advertisements are absolutely correct in every detail. They don't consider themselves bound by the details in their ads. There are accidental misprints that are honest mistakes but the buyer confirms details before buying. I'm not a store & have no return policy.

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Consumer Law questions and answers in Illinois

Looking for something else?