getting my money back

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2 June 2007
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i have recently bought a lovely palomino for my daughter. in the sellers yard he was perfect, but as soon as we got him to the yard where he was to be kept he started getting very aggressive. soon realised it was to do with the mares and tried to mount a young girls mare as she was saddling up.
we have had a blood test showing him to be a rig and have tried to contact the seller who refuses to take him back or give us any money back.
she must have known what he was like as she is now refusing to even answer our calls and as she is in cardiff and us in swansea we can hardly pop up every 5mins to catch her in.
does anyone know where we stand legally and what if anything can we do next. thankyou.
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Was he bought from a dealer or privately? Do you have the original adverts for him, and if so what do they say in terms of behaviour, any vices, etc etc.

If from a dealer you should be able to pursue them through a small claims court under the bill of sale act which gives you certain rights as a buyer. If you bought him privately then that is going to be more difficult.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience of this will come on here soon to help you.
 
I would get in touch with a solicitor, and send a solicitors letter to her, you were sold a horse that is not what he was advertised as, I live in Swansea, there are a few good solicitors there who can help you
 
thankyou for your response, it was a private ad but from a regular advertiser.
the ad stated he was gelded with passport which is true but he was not properly gelded.
if it was a horse for an adult it would have been bad enough but the woman knew it was for my 6, near 7yr old child which is downright dangerous. she doesnt answer the phone, but will occasionally reply to a text but she said she didnt know he was a rig, but he goes mad if he smells a mare miles away on neighbouring farms. and wont take him back.
iv said if she is as innocent as she is making out, she should take him back then do the same to whoever she bought him off but wont even reply now.
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i have threatened her with this, iv been fair up to now asking for an exchange for a different horse as she had 15 or 16 others but in the one text reply so far she reckons within 2 weeks she has sold all her other horses, spent my money and is moving house as well.
 
I feel for you have no idea as to where you stand as it all depends on the terms of sale. However, from what I know Riggs are not desirable however, like humand hormone replacement (supplements) might be an answer. OK, it looks like you've been done but ultimately there is an animal at stake here...good luck
 
I'd speak to your vet before trying the solicitor avenue to get some background on whether seller would have known that pony was dangerous/difficult around mares.

Are all the sellers horses geldings? If she had mares she would surely have experienced the same problem as you and I would imagine this would give you a further leg to stand on.

Finally, ask vet what's the possibility/cost of an operation to properly geld the pony?

I wish you luck
 
I do feel for you - I just bought a new horse and then when I got it home I realised it had developed a lump on it's leg between me seeing it and pickinging it up (there was quite a gap). My view on the matter was that it was my own fault for assuming the horse would be the same when I went to pick it up as it was when I saw it and that the owner therefore had no obligation to do do anything..... I decided to ring the owner anyway just to see what he said and luckily he was very genuine and said I could take it back and have a full refund. Had he not said this, I would have guessed that I'd have no legal standing as it is upto the person buying the horse whether they want what they see or not. This maybe different if you got it through a dealer or if you can prove that they knew about this and advertised it as a gelding anyway (ie. false advertising).
I was only thinking last week how lucky I was that the lesson to always check and double and triple check everything when buying a horse was re-inforced to me while dealing with someone genuine. I really feel for you the people you bought this horse off are not quite so decent.
 
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i have threatened her with this, iv been fair up to now asking for an exchange for a different horse as she had 15 or 16 others but in the one text reply so far she reckons within 2 weeks she has sold all her other horses, spent my money and is moving house as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

This may be of interest: http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/bglitem.cgi?file=BADV088-1011.txt

If you sell lots of the same thing and make a profit you are considered to be a trader, therefore I would guess it would fall under regs governing a dealer not regs governing a private sale, so you would have more comeback.

This may also \be of use:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/guidance/selling/income.htm
 
From what you say this woman will be classed as a dealer so I would get in touch with Trading Standards as well as your solicitor asap.
 
thanks for everyones comments, she reckons she sold all of her horses so by her own admission she would be classed as a dealer. i am contacting the british horse society who have been really helpfull and together are pursuing the false advertising line.this apparently is an increasing problem for them.
 
an operation would cost between £1000 and£1500 with no garauntee of sucess as even a tiny piece left would cause testosterone to be produced. its about £300 just to transport to bristol for them to check him under anesthetic.
 
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