Would you give the deposit back

[karl210]

afternoon all. After being let down by soo many people who are interested in buying my car i finally hear from someone who sounds genuinley interested and half decent. We agreed on a good price, but i had 2 more people coming to look at it the next day to which i said if you want it i will need a £50 deposit to take it off sale which will be forwarded to the guys car i will be buying, he said no problem as he definately wants it. Anyway for some reason he sends a £300 deposit, ok no problem i sent that straight away to someone with an audi s3 i want so he could take it off sale. Ive booked the day off work today so i can drop the car off for him and arranged someone to book a day off work so they can take me to collect my new car. Today has arrived and all of a sudden he isnt interested anymore  and can he have the deposit back when i have the money for it as he understands its gone to someone else. Now i know i could of sold the car to one of these guys so i rang them both and just my luck they have bought one this morning, so im frantically ringing people up who have been interested in the past because i idealy could do with a sale today. Anyway ive been given an offer a few hundred less so i might go for it but i will now be £300 out of pocket. What would you guys do? im not a theiving git but at the end of the day number 1 comes first and i want whats best for me, i think if i sent him £150 back thats very reasonable, any comments? 

[jimojameso]

Keep the deposit. Thats the whole point in putting one down. Its not your fault he doesnt want it! What a scallywag!! 

[berg]

will have to dig out my contract law book as not done any since the exam in 2007, but in effect if you have agreed on a price etc you have a valid contract and he has tried to cancel that contract. if he was not sure he should have just sent the £50.00 and then it is not too much of a hit if you choose to change your mind.

[karl210]

if i did that and the brown log hit the fan, how would that fair over a paypal case or even a small clams court case? I would but i would feel a bit guilty but if i didnt i would be out of pocket. There are soo many time wasters out there its untrue

[edd666999]

Unless you can sell your car to someone else for the same agreed price then I wouldn't give the deposit back. Basically try not to profit from it.

[karl210]

exactly why i said a £50 deposit will do. Im not out there to make a profit atall, im a fair guy and i gave him an amazing price that anyone would be a fool to turn down. Ideally i want the car gone today so being in a rush i am prepared to loose out a small amount but not £300, thats why i was thinking of splitting it 50/50

[JPC]

You took a day off work, you got messed around. that guy can wave goodbye to £300.

If it was me, i value a wasted day of my time more than £300 so id definitely be keeping it!

[bacillus]

Seeing paypal is involved, I wonder if you should contact then to explain the situation and why you are not refunding the money in case he later lodges a case against you with them.

btw I'm assuming he didn't send the money as a gift.

[bakili]

If buyer just changed his/her mind, I think it is fare to keep deposit. If car is not as described, deposit should be returned.(again it should be agreed between buyer and seller before leaving deposit)
It is just my opinion.

[E30Dom]

Too right! Keep it, say you've spent it as it was the "deposit" and was being knocked off the total cost of the car... his fault he's not going through with the sale and it's cost you this to get to this point.

[bakili]

Also if it is paypal involved, pick phone up and explain your problem. They will listen and hopefully decide in your favour.

[RedRobin]

.
I think the fundamental question is whether a deposit is still deemed as non-returnable in spite of a non-returnable status not being declared.

In other words, if you told him that his deposit was non-returnable then indeed it is so.

But if you didn't inform him, then is it returnable?

It seems further complicated because he sent you more money than you asked for. That possibly gives him valid claim for the return of his £250 extra.

However, the onus will be on him to claim his deposit back from you and to offer 50/50 is more than fair as a way of resolving the issue without subsequent actions. If you don't know who you are dealing with and this guy isn't averse to applying his own law to get his money back it could get ugly. Who is in the right or wrong doesn't necessarily matter if you end up in a hospital bed and it can be a matter of principle rather than the amount of money which prompts such actions.

The bottom line is that you should have made it crystal clear to him how you were viewing any monies that he sent you. By exchanging money I think you have entered into some form of contract. It isn't as simple as who is morally right or wrong: You can justify keeping it all and he can justify getting some of it back.

[karl210]

thanks for the comments guys i feel a bit better about keeping it all or indeed some of it now. I didnt mention if it was returnable or not as he seemed very interested and it was just for my own sake that i know its not another time waster, He hasnt sent it as a gift i dont think, but i will contact paypal later on and see what they have to say

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Your original post doesn't mention PayPal so I assumed it was cash and answered accordingly. So I reckon that he will speak to PayPal to try and get some of his money back - Worth it for £250-300. The onus is on him not you.

[da_ansa]

I wouldn't give the deposit back, if he wasnt sure about your car he shouldn't if put a deposit down. Tell him he can buy the car or he can lose his deposit.