Today has been rather chaotic and all I want to do is purchase a fork lift which I will only see in the morning. The problem is the fork lift is a few hours drive away and I ran out of time to view it so I paid a deposit. When you are selling an item and have a willing buyer you do not foresee any problems or should not expect to have any.
I was informed it was a first come first serve sale and not wanting to risk losing the deal I put down a 20% deposit. The other interested party is a dealer and I was told if I can beat them to the punch the fork lift was mine. I paid immediately and have been fighting with them ever since as they now want to refund me the deposit.
When you pay a deposit, you enter into a contract with the seller or supplier. The contract can be verbal or written. Both you and the seller are bound by the terms and conditions of the contract.
I threatened them from a legal stand point that the deal is done as money has already been exchanged which is as good as sold. I knew from a legal stand point this was a verbal contract and I am in my rights having paid the deposit and the first come first serve agreement was reached.
The problem is the fork lift and dealership is nearly 3 hours away and otherwise I would have concluded the sale today. The entire negotiation and deposit payment has just not sounded right and now kind of regretting getting involved. The deal is a good deal, but unless the threat of legal action changes the deal in another direction I am going to walk away from this and carry on with the search. When a deal does not seem right then sometimes it is best to walk away. I will get the deposit refunded and thank myself I do not have to deal with these simpletons any more. That is what I was thinking, but have changed my mind whilst writing this article.
How hard can it be to get a deal over the line when you are prepared to purchase the item and it sounds like they have promised the other buyer the deal. They will be listing and selling this fork lift for more than double the price as we both know the value of this is much higher. The agent was wrong to sell me the fork lift if they had an agreed deal already and should have informed me. The first come first serve policy they informed me about should never have been mentioned and making a payment was wrong.
I have sat down now and thought about this and why it is complicated. The agent is selling this on behalf of a couple who are getting divorced. The wife was happy with me paying the deposit and the husband is not apparently. What it sounds like is the husband has got another dealer to buy the fork lift so he can make an extra cut when they sell it on again. This is so cheap and with no exaggeration could sell for 3 or 4 x the price I am paying.
We will see what tomorrow brings as I am still 80/20 whether I am taking a drive or not and still kind of want it. The problem it is a great deal and I would be stupid to just walk away and I know I will fight for this.