Deposits when buying a horse

greenlivery

greenlivery

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Bit of a rant really but want to see if you lot agree or disagree.

Will keep it simple so as to cut a long story short.

I have a pony for sale, lady and daughter view pony, love him, say they want him and pay a £10% deposit. They then say they will have the cash to buy him available in 8 days. In 8 days they come back and ride him again, and say that they are not sure when they can take him as have issues with the other pony they have at home. I wait another week, they don't get back to me. I send them a message asking when they will pick up my pony, they call and say they are pulling out the sale. I keep deposit and re-advertise pony.

They are now sending me abusive messages, demanding the return of the deposit.

Now, I believe that the whole idea of a deposit when buying a horse is to secure the horse, and if you pull out the sale you lose the deposit - if not, putting down a deposit would be slightly pointless. On the strength of the deposit I turned down another buyer - who is now not interested, I also held the pony for two weeks and they came up and schooled, hacked and jumped him twice. The second time they came up was half term, the daughter had a schooling session and a hack and a play in the field on him, I spent all day with them showing them everything they needed to know about this pony.

They seem to think that the 10% deposit is far too much for two weeks of care, but in my eyes, it is not just two weeks holding onto him, it is also the loss of another potential buyer.

I personally would expect to lose my deposit if I pulled out of a sale. Do you agree?
 
defo do not give their deposit back..you are right if they pulled out of sale as opposed to you pulling out of sale then thats their problem, however if the tables were turned and it was you who pulled out then yes they are entitled to their deposit back...hope this makes sense! x

ETA go to the cops if they are harrassing/threatening you. hope its sorted soon!! x
 
Yup i'd have thought it was non refundable and to cover your readvertising costs... tell them to stop contacting you and if they continue to abuse you contact the police.

Bx
 
Thanks guys, just as I thought, and he passed a 5 stage vetting, so nothing to do with the horse at all. Will keep the messages from them incase they get nasty (they have already said they are going to come up to the yard to get it!). I have never had to deal with this before as any horse I sell is normally sold easily with no drama, I had one person pull out of a previous sale (on the same pony!) due to a dramatic change of circumstances (personal injury) and she was perfectly happy for me to keep her deposit to cover the time I had kept him and the re-advertising costs.
 
Totally agree with the other posts. A deposit is taken so that you dont accept any other offers. They tried the pony and agreed to purchase giving you a deposit to hold it for them and Im assuming turning away any other prospective purchaser. They seemed to have a fair trial from what you have said. The issues with their pony at home isnt your problem.

If it was agreed that the deposit would be returned if the pony failed the vet then yes I would expect it to be returned but you havent mentioned this so assuming that wasnt part of the deal.

If it were me and I paid a deposit and couldnt go through with the transaction I would expect to lose the deposit.

Was there any agreement drawn re the deposit? That said a deposit is a deposit and if they cant complete the transaction then its their loss.
 
Liesel said:
Totally agree with the other posts. A deposit is taken so that you dont accept any other offers. They tried the pony and agreed to purchase giving you a deposit to hold it for them and Im assuming turning away any other prospective purchaser. They seemed to have a fair trial from what you have said. The issues with their pony at home isnt your problem.

If it was agreed that the deposit would be returned if the pony failed the vet then yes I would expect it to be returned but you havent mentioned this so assuming that wasnt part of the deal.

If it were me and I paid a deposit and couldnt go through with the transaction I would expect to lose the deposit.

Was there any agreement drawn re the deposit? That said a deposit is a deposit and if they cant complete the transaction then its their loss.
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No agreement re deposit but I assumed they knew how it all works - being a mum of two girls and business woman I'm pretty sure she knows how a deposit works. Pony had already passed a 5 stage vetting before deposit was paid. Like you say, they have issues at home with selling another pony, which was nothing to do with me and I had no idea about the sale of my pony being reliant on them selling another pony! They simply put down a deposit and agreed to pay for him in 8 days, which turned into two weeks and another trial ride, then eventually after not getting back to me for ages, finally text me to say they were pulling out the sale.
 
greenlivery said:
I had one person pull out of a previous sale (on the same pony!) due to a dramatic change of circumstances (personal injury) and she was perfectly happy for me to keep her deposit to cover the time I had kept him and the re-advertising costs.
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That's it...you're destined to keep him!! ;)

On a serious note...no they are not entitled to there deposit back! Good luck!!
 
It seems the mother is just trying it on. You dont have to be a business woman to realise a deposit is a deposit, especially as your pony had passed a 5 stage prior to the deposit being paid.

Im with you on this one and its their loss. You keep the deposit and they lose out. Only a fool would pay a deposit without have the guaranteed funds to complete on a sale.

As others say, if threats keep coming let them know you will report them to the authorities for harassment if it continues and hopefully they will get the picture and leave you alone x
 
DipseyDeb said:
That's it...you're destined to keep him!! ;)

On a serious note...no they are not entitled to there deposit back! Good luck!!
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Aww I wish I could keep him! But he is only 14.3hh!

Have saved the two text messages from her today, both saying I owe her money and she will be round for it. Lets hope she doesn't turn up as it will be a wasted journey for her.
 
Hi,

after being stung many times this is how I word my receipts now-

Deposit of £X received. Deposit ONLY refundable upon failure of vetting. Vet to be booked within 7 days of deposit being received and horse to be collected within 7 days of passing vetting, otherwise full livery charges will be incurred of £X a week.
 
natalia said:
Hi,

after being stung many times this is how I word my receipts now-

Deposit of £X received. Deposit ONLY refundable upon failure of vetting. Vet to be booked within 7 days of deposit being received and horse to be collected within 7 days of passing vetting, otherwise full livery charges will be incurred of £X a week.
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Perfect, I would add 'sold as seen' also, to cover any future drama if people are going to get funny.
 
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