OK. My husband listed his jet ski on Craigslist for $1500 and a buyer came and looked at it. The battery was dead at this point, and he believed a piston might have been going out. (thus the cheaper price). Well the next morning he called my husband from the water saying he thought the gasket head was blown (I don't know anything about the mechanics lol) but said he had it in the water. Later called back and said he was bringing it back and my husband told him all he would give him back was $1100, he would attempt to work on it for the guy then he could come back and get it, which he agreed to. (ive been told we did not have to give any of the money back period) but he was being nice about it. So the guy and his wife show up and after about 10 minutes he demands all his money back. So after a heated discussion where I said he bought it as is, and that he had already had it in the water how did we know he didn't break it because there wasn't that gasket issue the last time my husband rode it, he got in my face cussing that he didn't take the da** thing on the water, and had his wife call the police. I am pregnant and emotional anyway and wrote a check for the remaining $400 to diffuse the situation and get them off our property. I then cancelled the check :). Now he's saying he'll see us in court. Am I correct that he doesn't have a leg to stand on without any kind of receipt of sales, promise of condition, nothing? All we did was trade cash for ski, which he returned. Thanks for any help :)

You were doing fine right up to the part where you wrote him a check for $400. I am assuming that there is no contract that you and the buyer signed prior to the sale - correct? That was a mistake - you should always have a bill of sale specifying that the item is sold AS IS with no warranty or guarantee implied. That would have avoided this whole mess. But even without a contract, you're OK with respect to the ski being sold as is (assuming there was no verbal statement by your husband that provided a guarantee). The problem I see here is that you wrote a check for $400, thereby agreeing to the buyer's condition for returning the ski to you. From his perspective if you had not written the check he would not have surrendered the asset back to you. Thus you are now in breach of your agreement to pay him the $400. Sorry - but I think you lose here.

I agree, writing the check was basically making a contract to settle the claim. When you canceled the check you crossed the line.

I understand that. I mostly cancelled the check because once the man left and my husband got to really looking at the ski, there is a big scratch w a dent where the man was trying to load or unload and caught the bottom of it, parts of the motor or gasket were all taken apart as if he tried to fix it or figure out what was wrong, and it was in worse shape than when he left. So in my opinion we no longer owed him the full amount back.

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Originally Posted by jennifermarie84

...it was in worse shape than when he left. so in my opinion we no longer owed him the full amount back.

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You're saying that when you bought it back that you didn't buy it from him "as is?" Seems like you're trying to argue both ways - that the man bought if from you "as is," but when you bought it back there was some sort of warranty or guarrantee implied. You had a chance to inspect it before buying it back - that argument won't fly.

I completely understand what you're saying. And I was not considering it "buying it back", to us it was refunding his money on a purchase he was screaming he got the raw end on. We weren't required to return any of the money which was our first mistake. But my husband was under the initial understanding that he would fix the issue for the man prior to the situation escalating.

You were great up to the 400 dollar check, and cancel it.

I would say he can sue for the 400 dollars and win, since writing the check was an agreement.

If you had written the check them sued them for the money back, that would have been another issue.

As soon as they knew you were willing to do "something" they say that as a weakness and knew that by getting angry they would most likely get it all back.

You needed to have sale in writing, and listed as final, and as is. Then stick to it.

It will be a lot cheaper to give him the 400, and learn a important lesson than the cost of court most likely, since I believe almost all of the experts here feel you are in the wrong at this point