sale fell through on the LCR- would you give the deposit back?

Sounds like he found a better car when he got home, or someone advised him to avoid yours etc.

Now do you still feel like giving him the deposit back?
 
if you keep the deposit, and you sell the car to someone else, and the original depositor comes looking to complete the sale then you'd give him the deposit back, but if the car is still there, then he either needs to buy the car or lose the deposit.
 
Tell him what a deposit is and how you went out of your way and lost money and ask what he thinks is reasonable to be paid back if he was in your shoes.

Simples
 
Given you took the afternoon off to work on the car, spent a fair bit of time and effort getting it ready for the impending sale, and are now going to have to re-advertise, I'd keep it. Seriously, who on earth puts a deposit down on a car without having looked into insurance on said car?
 
The_Abyss said:
How would you want to be treated?

That's what you should do.
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CSA said:
100% this
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I disagree, as I'd like to be given freebies and handouts but I wouldn't like to give them to someone else.

The deposit is not a deposit if he gets it back, it's there to pay for the hordes of other sellers you've turned away (lol) and lost sales to.
 
I'm with the Keep it gang. If i had put the deposit down then couldnt complete i wouldnt expect the money back.
 
You should keep it although if I was in your shoes I'd probably give it back because I'm a push over and like all of the windows in my house and car to stay in one piece ;)

So many of these threads popping up though. Certainly a learning point from my POV that if I sell a car privately again I'm going to have a well worded receipt typed up stating that the deposit is non-refundable which I'd get us both to sign.

EDIT- to those saying that it is reasonable to demand the money back, would it also be reasonable to go to pay for and pick up the car only to be told by the seller. "Sold it to someone else mate, here is your deposit back." because to me that is exactly the same thing!
 
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I would not expect it back, unless obviously the seller decided suddenly to remove the car from the market.
 
lordrobs said:
You should keep it although if I was in your shoes I'd probably give it back because I'm a push over and like all of the windows in my house and car to stay in one piece ;)
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That's the only thing I'd be worried about, not his feelings or doing the right thing.

lordrobs said:
So many of these threads popping up though. Certainly a learning point from my POV that if I sell a car privately again I'm going to have a well worded receipt typed up stating that the deposit is non-refundable which I'd get us both to sign.
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Absolutely, although it shouldn't be required. Legally I have no idea what the situation is with private sale deposits though. I guess the buyer could argue 'not as described' etc.
 
Foxtrot26 said:
had the LCR sold or so i thought guy came to view on Thursday and left a £250 deposit with balance to be paid tommorow when he collects.

he's just sent me a text saying he cant get insured on the car and wants his deposit returned

i'm in 2 minds whether to give him the deposit or just pocket it and tell him to bolt for wasting my time


firstly am i legally entitled to keep a deposit? no reciept given or asked for

and secondly would keep it make me a complete and utter you know what?
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Just give him the deposit back and next time you take one, make it clear it's non-refundable.
 
If I gave him the deposit back it would be minus a days salary, and the cost of advertising that I had paid out... personally I would not give it back, as has been said many times, he is trying it on. You wouldn't expect to get a deposit back on a car if you had paid it would you?
 
The guy got a £250 lesson in life. OP missed a shift to get the car ready and the buyer couldn't even be arsed to get insurance quotes on the car. Tell him to go do one
 
Robbie G said:
I disagree, as I'd like to be given freebies and handouts but I wouldn't like to give them to someone else.
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What goes around comes around.

I'd cover the time off I'd taken and car preparation and advertising costs and give him the rest back.
 
Depending on my personal assessment of the fellow, I'd probably give some of it back purely to avoid mental backlash. I'd rather offer some sort of repatriation along with a sarcastic reminder of what a deposit is, than find nitro mors on my car in a few weeks time.

Unfortunately in a perfect world you'd be entitled to tell him to get stuffed. But these are the perils of the second hand private car market. At the end of the day its just not worth the potential backlash - lifes too short.

Learn from it and in the future as you take their deposit money, tell them emphatically that they won't get this back if they withdraw for WHATEVER reason and give them a receipt (keeping a copy) also stating this.
 
gord said:
What goes around comes around.
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Can we keep superstition out of this? There are so many reasons why that doesn't apply here. Can you imagine if businesses applied this rule to every customer that took the complete pee?

'Oh, don't worry about the rest of your finance agreement, what goes around comes around so if we're nice to you, someone will pay it forward.' Geesh.
 
A decent human being would show some compassion and just give it back.

£250 is a huge amount of money to some people and the simple fact is it hasn't cost you £250 for being messed around for the sake of one night. If it has cost you anything then deduct it and explain why. Do the right thing and don't follow the money grabbing nature of some of the people in here.
 
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