Am Fuming.... Timewasters and Trailers!!

fruity

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I've always wondered why lots of adverts have No Timewasters stated on them,well now i do! To tell you my frustrating experience today.... had a man ring up about my trailer sun p.m organised to meet him at the yard for 4pm today,when him and his daughter eventually arrived i did laugh to myself,they turned up in a Ford galaxy!! that had a towbar fitted today,i thought they were actually serious potential buyers,ha Big Mistake! It soon became clear they had set out without the intention of buying anything! The man asked ridiculous ?'s like,is there a lock on the spare wheel,ah no otherwise you wouldn't be able to fit it when you have a puncture.Are the top back doors lockable ,umm does any IW trailer you know have locks on it allround apart from the hitch and grooms door,NO! Then he decided to ask if he could hitch it up onto his car to see if it went on the new towbar i allowed this but soon regretted it as he couldn't line the car up to the ball.he then showed that he had never even been near a trailer as he took the brake off the trailer before it was hitched properly so the trailer started going backwards at speed,nonce.So anyway it fitted fine as i thought,he then tried to take it off the car but again couldn't so i did that for him,oh and then he said well i just want to drive it now to see how it handles i said No way,he then got funny about it i explained my reasons why he couldn't (quite rightly),after this began to get a bit arsy + so did i as it was an hour on now! He then said he'd never towed before and he wasn't sure the car would take the weight! I then v.sh**ely said 'you could of looked on the IW website for the weights etc instead of wasting my time' he said he had.He realised i was fuming and then said 'well thanx for letting us look at it,i'm going to sleep on tonight as i would of like to have towed it before coming to a descision' as if i'm a blo*dy dealer that has all the time in the world for people to come and do as they please.There really woudn't of been anywhere he could of towed it without me feeling uneasy.Do you think me refusing him to do that was right? My OH would of gone mental at him and probably would of chucked him off the yard! Luckily he is away,maybe i should make sure he's there nxt time as he does now a lot about trailers etc and would suss out if someone was taking the michael.I hated them as they knew they weren't going come to buy it they just wanted to see one up close as i think they were fairly new to horses judging by their comments.Arrrgh sorry major rant over am now off to edit my ad and add the words - No Timewasters. Any of you had a similar experience? please don't tell me i'm the only one with walk all over me written on my head!
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Sorry but NO WAY would I let a complete stranger hitch up a trailer or anything else of mine and then drive off with it for a test drive!!!

Lucky you have still got it as far as Im concerned!!!
 
OMG sounds like he was after stealing your trailer!

Doesnt sound like he even knew anything about them, could be a non horsey thief! Dont trust anyone!

The thing is most of these people dont even see themselves as timewasters!
 
I know i was lucky but our local gamekeeper lives at our yard and he was there with his shotgun,just getting ready to put it away after the season, i mentioned to him could he stay around as you never know! Also our yard is enclosed with 2 metal electric gates so he wouldn't of been able to go anywhere but still what a weirdo.Some people have no respect.I wouldn't of let him tow it off but i still wasn't happy him towing it around the yard,would of been there timewasting longer!
 
i have to agree with st bernard are you sure he wasnt just acting thick just to suss out the lie of the land ...security ...locks on trailer ect ....becarefull he dont come back in a few days time steal it.....did you get the reg of his car ......
 
No i didn't.It's so hard to tell whos genuine and who isn't.I'm going to be v.careful now.Does anyone have any tips on a safe sale? I want to be careful as recently my friend had hers stolen at a show,they unhitched her car and she is devastated.I'm glad i had the hitchlock on at all times whilst they were there as you could turn your back and then.... luckliy our yard is v.safe.People live there and there is always someone there.have told everyone i had someone look at the trailer today and the YO is going to put her v.bright outside lights on and leave the dogs out every night for while.We'll try and do what we can to protect the yard just in case,they said they came from London but then again they could be from anywhere,although he was a v.posh man but still who can you trust these days??/
 
its not fair that you have to think the worst of everyone these days but its getting a bit like it.....sounds like your security is good ....but unfortunatly if the have nots want somthing then a few locks wont stop them and again i think the world is turning into "THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS"
 
when we went to see ours, they said we could hitch it and take it for a test drive, i thought they were mad, we could of just driven off with it, fortuently for them we were honest and went back and paid
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but personally wouldnt allow it if i was selling
 
you may or may not have lost a sale.

the guy may have been genuine, who know's?
as for a test drive, yes, i would want one and would expect to be asked.
just get in their vehicle with them, let them go round the block, attempt to reverse and "kindly" offer to help when they have difficulties!

importantly, and this goes for selling anything, always get the registration number of any vehicle that arrives at your yard with "potential" buyers on board.
 
This sounds really dodgy - he must have being trying to nick it. I wouldn't get in the car with him either - just not safe for females to do this. I wonder if your OH had been there whether he would have tried to be this cheeky.

I think you did well to get rid of him and there will be a genuine buyer out there somewhere.
 
Thanx Moodimare.I'm glad someone else agrees that what i did was safe.Two of them versus me an 8 stone girl! They could of chucked me out and sped off! Yes i think if my OH was there they wouldn't of tried it on as he would of sussed them out and probably would of ended it earlier.I really dont think they came with any intention of buying, it seemed they were just browsing.So therefore they were timewasting.
 
fruity i think you ay have just been unlucky on this occasion. i sold my trailer on ebay to an englishman who came over from France to get it. I was on my own (apart from people at the yard) when he came to collect and as it was exactly as described was happy to hand me the cash and hitch up and go without a trial. There is no real need to test drive a trailer if you know what your are looking at.

Good luck with selling it and i'm sure the next person will be a bit more normal!
 
Did you get a landline number and ring them back later? That is always a good move, Make sure its well locked up!! Sounds like a con to me. Bring daughter- dont know much-think he was trying to intimidate you into letting him drive it. Then bye bye trailer!! Sell it for less to a friend- much safer!!
 
Thanx everyone for your replies.Posted the thread on another forum and soon regretted it, will not be using this site anymore due to v.rude people they said he wasn't a timewaster! They think i shot myself in the foot and scared him off! All their comments weren't realistic.I'm glad i scared him off in the end as i felt v.uneasy with him!
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