buyer messing me around

[brownie57]

We had a lady come and see our horse at the weekend, she loved her and said she wanted her vetted and would transfer a deposit to me as soon as she got home (which she did). I told her i would cancel the people who were due to see the horse the next day, but i said she must get her vetted this week because we had dropped the price of the horse by £2500 as we need to sell her asap, so now were receiving loads more interest.

She has phoned round some vets today and not had much joy, but one vet said they could do it, but she thought they were too expensive and said no, because it was £100 dearer than she would normally pay where she lives and she found another vet but they cant do it till middle of next week.

Problem i have is,
1) i have lowered the price of the horse by £2500, horse was oringinally for sale at £4500, so i am losing out big time.
2) I have had a lot more calls on the horse and people want to come and see her.
3) if i wait till next week for vetting, they probably wont pick her up till that weekend, so thats another 2 weeks full livery for me to pay.

The lady is now saying if i dont wait till next wednesday for vetting, then she doesnt want her and can i return her deposit ??

Where do i stand on this ?

 

[Tickles]

TBH if you thought she was a good match for the horse I'd wait.

You're unlikely to get anyone (who is a good home & wants a vetting) to take him sooner now anyway... if they view next weekend then it'll probs be the following until he is fetched earliest.

If she isn't from the area (sounds like not) then she hasn't done terribly to arrange it for Weds week. And if a seller was trying to pressure me to not have a vetting/use a particular vet for it (which might be how you come across) then I'd walk away too.

Sorry that probs isn't what you wanted to hear but unless you had any kind of 'stand up in court ish' contract regarding the deposit/timing of the vetting AND another immediate option you like for the horse then I'd chalk this one up to experience.

 

[brownie57]

Im not backing out, but the buyer wont pay extra for the vetting for it to be done this week (as i requested) and is not offering to pay the extra weeks full livery for me to hang on to the horse for another week, why should i have to fork out an extra weeks full livery when i have already dropped £2500 off the asking price of the horse

 

[alainax]

Its simple really...

You wait and sell the horse to her.

You don't wait and pray for another buyer - but you must give her her deposit back.

Your choice.

Deposit rules are simple, the one who cancels their side of the deal forfeits. If she said " you know what , Ive changed my mind" then she loses the deposit. If you are the one cancelling the deal, you must return it!

 

[molly7886]

if you're not happy give her back her deposit and hope some one else wants her quicker! although you'll lose the sale and risk that other potential viewers might not be keen and you'll have to pay more livery/advertising!

 

[brownie57]

The thing is, she has found a vet who will happily come and do the vetting this week, but she says they are too expensive.

But its ok for me to pay an extra weeks full livery when i have already taken £2500 off the asking price ??????????

 

[nervous nelly]

its not her fault you chose to drop the price you didnt have to reduce

 

[Hoofprints in the Snow]

There is nothing stopping you letting other people view the horse, on the understanding that you already have a prospective buyer, a bit underhand tho. If you aren't prepared to give and take a little with the first people, it is your choice and you would have to give back the deposit of course if you sold him from under the feet of the first lot. I wouldn't do it but some would.

 

[molly7886]

you have my sympathies but i also don't think she's done anything wrong...she's doing exactly the same as you...trying to save herself a few pounds!

 

[SadKen]

It's a buyer's market at the moment. I'd take the hit of a week's livery and hope the vetting goes well rather than cancel and maybe incur a lot more weeks' livery while waiting for another genuine buyer. It's not really the buyer's fault you dropped the price; you can't factor that in and ask her to complete more quickly on that basis imho.

 

[OscarandPenny]

Sorry but I think the buyer is fully entitled to a refund of deposit if you back out. It is unfortunate that the vet she has chosen can't come out until next week however most vets don't vet within a week ime.
You could however discuss it with her and try to reach a compromise?!

 

[WelshD]

If you genuinely had lots of interest then why drop £2500? I'd return the deposit and call back one of the interested parties if you are very sure that interest was genuine

 

[brownie57]

I have had the interest since i have dropped the price, im literally giving the horse away.

I told the lady to get the vetting done this week as i have had LOTS of calls and dont want to lose a week and a half hanging on to the horse when i could show him to other people, i dont think im being unreasonable to be honest

 

[WelshD]

Your option then would be to contact one of the interested parties and offer them the horse subject to them being able to move him/her this week

But you'd have to be really sure of yourself I think

 

[nervous nelly]

if you really cant wait give her the deposit back and find someone else how can take him sooner but personally i think you are being totally unreasonable if you needed rid of the horse that quickly you should have written a contract when the deposit was paid to that effect! sorry i wouldnt pay an extra £100 to have the vetting done sooner

 

[brownie57]

Everyone on here has totally missed the point i was trying to make.

but, no, i wouldnt keep the ladys deposit at all.

Thanks for your comments

 

[catwithclaws]

So you want to keep the deposit and also sell the horse to someone else? What was the point of her paying the deposit in the first place?

^^this.

I wouldn't shell out an extra £100 for a vetting to be done sooner, just to convenience the seller. Not the buyers problem that you dropped the price and have the horse on full livery. I'm another who hopes the buyer isn't a member of this forum!

 

[Noodles_3]

I get your point OP but I don't think it's unreasonable of what the buyer is doing.

It's up to you really, wait and wait for your horse to be vetted or give potential buyer deposit back and risk someone not buying her as quick therefore you paying more livery!

If this 'buyer' sounds genuine I would be willing to wait for her.

 

[brownie57]

I made it VERY clear to the buyer that the vetting must be done this week

I made it VERY clear that i had other interest due to dropping the price.

The BUYER has not stuck to the agreement.

The buyer has a vet who could come this week but wont pay their prices, thats not my fault is it, i have stuck to my end of the agreement ??????

 

[Perfect_Pirouette]

Why don't you offer to pay the extra £100 towards the vetting for it to be done this week? If you need the horse gone that quickly and if another weeks or 2 weeks full livery would cost you more than the £100 then you could always just do that?! Weird I know but hopefully the horse will be gone quicker.

 

[Spring Feather]

Sounds like you don't sell horses very often. Understandable then that you wouldn't realise you have to be flexible to buyers. If you don't want to wait till next week and you think you might sell the horse to someone else then simply return her deposit, allow her to keep her vet appointment next week and if the horse sells she cancels the vetting, if it doesn't then the vetting still goes ahead. I can't see the problem at all. You shouldn't have taken the deposit if you weren't prepared to hold the horse till a suitable vetting date. And to be quite honest I don't see anything wrong with her shopping around for a cheaper vet.

 

[brownie57]

Yes Spring Feather, perhaps its just me being stupid,

but i made an agreement with the buyer to have the horse vetted this week, if she was unable to do this then SHE should not have left a deposit and then i would not have turned other people away that wanted to view the horse. I could have sold the horse to someone else, but i took the buyers word and now she is messing me around.

But yes, its obviously my fault totally - i see this now, what a totally unreasonable fool i am.

 

[Noodles_3]

Just stick to your original plans then and give the woman her deposit back and sell your horse to someone else because it doesn't sound like you are happy with the arrangement

 

[Bexx]

I think it is unfair of you to say the buyer is messing you around. She still wants the horse yes?
It is not unusual for people to shop around to save some money. Also how was the buyer to know that all the vets would be fully booked? There is no way she could have foreseen that the only available one was expensive.
Yes you have a lot of people interested but how many are time wasters? Or will just not mesh with the horse? Not everyone that comes to view will want to buy.
If she was messing you around she would have said she wanted the horse, then changed her mind. I don't think for one second she is messing about

 

[molly7886]

did you put that as a condition on the written receipt you gave for the deposit? if so you are totally in the right to feel aggrieved. if not...its unfortunate but the buyer has the upper hand and i think we've all laid out the options to you...

 

[Spring Feather]

Yes Spring Feather, perhaps its just me being stupid,

but i made an agreement with the buyer to have the horse vetted this week, if she was unable to do this then SHE should not have left a deposit and then i would not have turned other people away that wanted to view the horse. I could have sold the horse to someone else, but i took the buyers word and now she is messing me around.

But yes, its obviously my fault totally - i see this now, what a totally unreasonable fool i am.

And this is exactly why I do not ever take deposits. I cannot see the point of them. Simply put, if I have a saleable horse then there is no need to take deposits because I know the horse will sell. If you (OP) think your horse will be bought by someone else in the interim then invite these other buyers to come along and try out the horse. Simple If they like it, they buy it and you return your first buyers money to her and take the money from the other people. It's not a very professional way to do business I have to add but as you aren't in the business of selling horses then what does it matter to you? I sell a lot of horses so I'd never work like this but then I have a reputation to uphold. Having said that, I have held horses for potential buyers to have vettings; I have given them my word, that's all that's necessary and I will wait until the person can arrange their vetting. I usually tell other prospective buyers what is going on and that I will get in touch with them after the vetting to let them know how it goes. I've never had a horse fail a vetting so they always sell to the first people, but if I did have one fail then I would tell subsequent interested parties that it failed and what it failed on.

 

[Spring Feather]

I don't think for one second she is messing about

Neither do I. People don't undertake to have vettings done on other people's horses if they are not seriously interested in that horse. I don't know how much vettings are over in the UK but the vettings my buyers have had done on my foals are around $350 and for the older youngsters normally around $1,500. I don't think people throw money like that away on something they aren't particularly interested in, but what do I know lol

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I don't really see how the buyer is messing you around. She paid you a deposit and organised a vetting with her chosen vet as soon as she could. Yes there was another vet available sooner but I'm another one that wouldn't pay an extra £100 for the sake of saving the seller some money.

What you do next depends on where your interests lie. If you're just desperate to get rid give the buyer back her deposit and sell to whoever can get the vetting done quickest. If however you care where your horse ends up and think this buyer would give it a good home I'd wait it out.

 

[Polos Mum]

Whether she is or isn't messing you around is a little irrelevant to your choice of what to do next
1) wait the extra week and sell to this lady.
2) put horse back on the market and see who else turns up and how quickly they can try/vet/buy.

To me it sounds less like the issue is the time and more that you;ve had a lot more interest and think you can sell for more than the value you've agreed with this lady. If that is the truth - no harm in it (all be it the lady who's left a deposit will be pretty disappointed) guzumping happens a lot in the horse world - lots of sellers just tell the buyer they've decided to keep the horse (I prefer honesty but that's just me)

 

[twiggy2]

I have had the interest since i have dropped the price, im literally giving the horse away.

I told the lady to get the vetting done this week as i have had LOTS of calls and dont want to lose a week and a half hanging on to the horse when i could show him to other people, i dont think im being unreasonable to be honest

if you dont want to wait give her her deposit back and move on