Need legal advice on bad ATV transaction

[Thomasj]

I recently purchased a King Quad 750 that I found on Ebay. The seller had a buy it now price that I was willing to pay so I contacted them and they ended the auction after I made a 100 dollar deposit by credit card so this transaction was NOT done through ebay. He stated he would mail me the Invoice and title to the machine in the mail. They are a used atv dealer that always has at least five or six auctions going on Ebay. They have decent feed back of over 400 so I felt pretty safe buying it.

I sent the dealer a check and he shipped the ATV the next day. When I received the ATV it was an absolute wreck. The frame had seventeen cracks in it. The rear diff mounts were torn loose and the cooling system was bone dry. The list goes on and on and on. And the papers he mailed me did not include a title. This was his exact description copied from the auction on Ebay.

"Offered for wholesale is this 2008 SUZUKI KING QUAD 750 AXI 4X4 ATV. This machine was just taken in with only 1470 miles. This machine has lots of power and would make a great work machine or an extremely fun play toy. This ATV has some real nice extras such as a full body skid plate which also includes both front and rear A-arm guards, also included are the very fancy Chrome Rims with ITP Mudlite tires for some real good grip in the mud. This ATV looks very good with the extras on it and make the ATV stand right out. This ATV is the 750cc Fuel Injected motor, Fully Automatic Transmission with both high and low gears, Fully Independent suspension, Selectable 4wd with differential lock and full digital guages. This ATV starts right up and drives good! This is a nice used ATV and a sure pleasure for work or play! This ATV has usual wear such as scratches and scrapes on the fenders and body from normal use. Call us if you have any questions. Take advantage of this ATV and call now"

The pictures showed no damage and the machine looked good. Obviously pics do not show cracks or damage to the cooling system so I relied on the dealer to bring these to my attention prior to buying it. I even called him and asked if there was any damage not shown in the pictures and he said "no, my guys check them out real well"

I contacted the dealer with detailed info on the damage to the machine and even included pictures and a vid explaining the damage. He quickly replied and said to take the machine to the shipping terminal I picked it up from and he would ship it back. I did so and he had the machine back in a few days and relisted it on ebay the day he received it. since he received the machine back he has not contacted me and will not answer phone calls. The auction for this machine only has two days left so hes about to sell a machine that I returned to him and have not gotten a refund for.

Prior to him receiving the machine he was quick to reply and answer the phone. Now it seems hes fallen off the face of the earth. Im pretty sure at this point hes going to see if he can get away with my money. Ive never had an issue like this before an have no Idea what to do next. I dont have money for a lawyer and im not even sure If they could do anything since it was a used machine sold as is.



Any advice from anybody who has maybe dealt with this kind of thing would be much appreciated.

[blueline15]

Wow, okay..this sucks.

First things first, print off the entire auction, right now before it ends, and also after it ends.

I am not a lawyer by any means, but I am 99% sure it is against the law in any state to keep your money, and sale this machine again. Even though he sold this to you as is, he also accepted your returned item, and relisted it. Which would be an implied return, which should propt a refund to you.

You need to gather up all your paperwork you have on this guy, from the first day you made contact with him, all your pictures, and the proof he relisted it, and do a few things....

A) File a claim with eBay. Explain exactly this, and provide them with any proof possible. Do this tonight!

B) File a police report with the his local police department. You must know what city he is in (shop/where you returned the quad too). I would be calling that police department tomorrow first thing in the morning, and file a police report. Fax, copy, email, whatever they need. I am sure having the local PD pay a visit to him should make him change his tune.

And finally, how far away his he from you? You probably do not need a lawyer, but if you need to, sue him in small claims court if you can. I dont know how much you paid him, but most small claims courts have a limit of $3,000-$5,000 lawsuits. No lawyers allowed in small claims. Anything more then what small claims can handle, it has to go to civil where he could hire a lawyer to defend him.

[Gear_Head]

you would file with your police dept, not his. There really is no need for a police report though. This is a civil issue, you need to handle it thru ebay or an atty. Did u send the title back when you sent the wheeler back?

[Thomasj]

Originally Posted by Gear_Head

you would file with your police dept, not his. There really is no need for a police report though. This is a civil issue, you need to handle it thru ebay or an atty. Did u send the title back when you sent the wheeler back?

I only found the ATV through Ebay. He ended the auction and I paid for the ATV outside of Ebay. Ebay really has nothing to do with it and they frown on this type of thing cause they lose there money when people deal outside of them. They will not help me in any way.

As far as sending the title back, I never received a title. He stated on the phone he would mail me the title and paperwork. I got the sale paperwork but no title. This was another reason I immediately returned the ATV to him. In PA I NEED a title and registration to ride legally. I have the original sales invoice as well as the shipping papers where he shipped it to me and where I shipped it back. I also have the fedex papers where the check was delivered to him and the carbon copy of the bank check itself.

[Action]

As you said Ebay is not going to help you. How much are you out, the $100 plus shipping? You can complain to the BBB and keep harassing the dealer but your probably going to have chalk it up as a lesson learned. Any attorney is going to run you $100 per billable hour plus fee's. Are you close enough to visit the dealer. An unhappy customer in the show room is bad for business. Good luck and I hope you end up getting your money back.

Action

[Thomasj]

Originally Posted by Action

As you said Ebay is not going to help you. How much are you out, the $100 plus shipping?

As of now I am out $4498. 4199 for the ATV and 299 for shipping. I had no worries on sending it back cause he was quick to ship, responded quick even after I told him about the damage. It was until he actually received the ATV that he stopped contact.

[jordaman17]

yea i looked at the ebayer too, many problems like this in feedback. like the above said, get up there and get your damn money back, damn frauds.

[Action]

Originally Posted by Thomasj

As of now I am out $4498. 4199 for the ATV and 299 for shipping. I had no worries on sending it back cause he was quick to ship, responded quick even after I told him about the damage. It was until he actually received the ATV that he stopped contact.

Ouch! Sorry dude. Hope you can get it resolved without too much more pain.

Action

[pieguy03]

I feel your pain. I also had a bad experience with this dealer. Bought a 2007 polaris ranger 700. Had it shipped to Canada, thought it was a good deal even with shipping. Went through the paper work process with customs then to pick it up at shipping terminal and wow... it was not as described. I ended up keeping it as would have cost to much to ship back and a hassle to go back through the paper work. I ended up putting about $2000 in parts to get running properly and safe to drive which ended my good deal, its still not perfect. Only had 1200 miles so even with some bad feedback I figured this machine can't be in to bad of shape, but through paper work found out it had been a repo, so they probably trashed it before picked up. I would never buy another atv, boat ect from ebay unless I could inspect the machine in person before bidding. some tire shine and armour all and its not hard to make a rough machine look decent for some pictures.
I hope you are able to get if figured out and get your money back.

[Gear_Head]

consider small claims court as well