Can a seller back out ???

Aztec1

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Not sure what to do if i can do anything ??? Drove 500 miles round trip to c a lovely horse ... Drive home after trying her out phoned the owner agreed on a price and was going to arrange a vetting ... Checked with her twice she was def gonna sell her which she said yes she was ... Mean time I had a stable built as she was bigger than what my stables will hold ... Tried to contact owner a few days to find out about when I could have her vetted and couldn't get an answer ... Then an e mail came through saying she had changed her mind and is no longer selling her ... She wouldn't take a deposit from me so no money lost there but I had a huge petrol bill my trainer came with me and the stable built for her , which I don't expect to get the stable back as I will use it at some point .. Gutted is not the word but someone said that a verbal agreement is as good as a written one ??? I do have lots of e mails and texts which state she is selling her to me I was just wondering if there is anything I can do ???

Many thanks
 
No and you wouldn't expect a reimbursement of fuel/instructor costs if you hadn't liked it would you so can't see any difference in your thinking there. Back to the drawing board I'm afraid for you.
 
As the others have said. Also if you've had a stable built how long had you kept the seller waiting?
 
I wanted to pick her up within a wk after vetting but owner kept putting it off first she wanted to hunt her one more time 2 wks later and then it was due to work commitments she couldnt b there for me to pick her up ...it took me three wks for me to get a date i could get her , it doesn't take long either for 3 people to put a stable together in an existing building
 
She has either decided she really doesn't want to part with her horse or she still wants to sell her but isn't keen on vetting as may know she might fail??

Nowt you can do either way, its a risk you take with horses selling or buying.
 
I have thought of that because she would never let me know a time I could of got her vetted always avoided the question ... Also I know someone else had arranged to c her the following weekend and I wonder wether i had been guzumped and the owner carried out with the viewing when she said she wasn't going to .. X
 
You are correct, your contract with her for her to sell you the horse is valid. You could, theoretically, go and find an "identical" horse, and if it cost more, you could sue her for the difference in price between the horse she agreed to sell you and then refused to sell you and the one you bought.

I think that you can see the problem here! Define "identical" and prove it in a court of law.

Unless you have enough money to spend some making the owner's life extremely uncomfortable for a few months, you have nothing to gain by seeing a lawyer.

Next time, and for everyone else, a seller who will not accept a deposit does not want to sell you the horse. They either don't want to sell it at all, or they hope somone else will come along meanwhile and pay them more for it, or they don't like the home you are offering the horse but can't find the courage to tell you.
 
Next time, and for everyone else, a seller who will not accept a deposit does not want to sell you the horse. They either don't want to sell it at all, or they hope somone else will come along meanwhile and pay them more for it, or they don't like the home you are offering the horse but can't find the courage to tell you.

Not always! Once I've agreed a sale, I never ask for a deposit if owner wants to get horse vetted - or even if they need a few days to arrange transport/get money transferred. As long as they act fairly promptly - i.e. I get a date for the vetting within a few days - then the horse is effectively theirs! I won't go back on the deal unless they start pi**ing me about. And I won't show a horse to anyone else once a sale is agreed, even if it's not yet completed.

If I don't LIKE the potential buyers - or think they won't be a good home - or if I think they're not good enough riders to handle the horse, I just tell them I don't think the horse is suitable for them - sorry you've had a wasted journey - etc. I've done this a couple of times with people who just weren't capable of bringing on a youngster - one got abusive - but better that than getting injured a week after they get the horse home and blaming me!:rolleyes:
 
Similar thing happened to me. Went to see a lovely horse - it belonged to the groom of a dealer who my partner knew. We arranged verbally to have it vetted after trying it (no money for a deposit was left as I was told it didn't matter). On the monday I rang the vets and got an appointment for a vetting for the thursday for a five stage vetting. I rang the groom up and she said she wasn't selling the horse now as she'd been told by the event rider whose yard she was stabled at that she could get loads more money for it if she schooled it on. I was totally devastated as I'd set my heart on the horse and rang the dealer in floods of tears. As it happened it all worked out for the best as the dealer went on to find me a lovely horse who is the horse in my siggy who I have owned for over seven years who is my whole world and is the sole reason I have purpose in life :)

Sometimes these things happen for a reason. For me it was not apparent at the time, but when I look back now, I am so very, very glad I never bought the first horse.
 
I wanted to pick her up within a wk after vetting but owner kept putting it off first she wanted to hunt her one more time 2 wks later and then it was due to work commitments she couldnt b there for me to pick her up ...it took me three wks for me to get a date i could get her , it doesn't take long either for 3 people to put a stable together in an existing building

Ooo there's a big red flag right there. At that point I would have pulled out of the purchase. She doesn't sound as if she was a serious seller.
 
Next time, and for everyone else, a seller who will not accept a deposit does not want to sell you the horse. They either don't want to sell it at all, or they hope somone else will come along meanwhile and pay them more for it, or they don't like the home you are offering the horse but can't find the courage to tell you.

Not true at all.

I've always offered a deposit, and none has ever been taken. The seller has never pulled out.
 
Thanku everyone I always had a feeling from the start it was going to go pear shape as she didn't want to sell her it was due to a family divorce she had to but she tells me her daughter is going to take her on when she moves back in January .But if the daughter doesnt make it back as she is a pilot then she'll Ring me and i can have her then !!!!! Like AppleCart said things happen for a reason and yesterday I had a phone call from the owner who's first horse I wanted but failed the vetting as she was slightly lame due to pratting about in field to say she has been sound ever since and she is available if I want her ... Fate has brought me back to her so I'm going with my heart and going to pick her up on weds
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