Selling and deposits - what can I do????

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Opalfruit

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Hello firstly!

Last week I sold my cob mare and took a deposit for her. At the time I explained to the buyer that they could have one of two options:

1) Refundable deposit.
If I was allowed to keep having viewings on my mare, if she didn't pass th vetting, they could have their refund back

2) Non refundable deposit.
I would stop all viewings and hold my mare for them until the vet could come to do a vetting.

They chose option 2. So I put off 3 viewings and various other calls.

The long and short is she failed the vetting for them. They rang me up last night to say they had stopped the cheque for the deposit.

I am so peeved, I missed out on potential buyers and have had to pay livery bills etc and they haven'tr even had the good grace to honour their deposit. Im so annoyed.

Whos in the right here??
 
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If horse fails the vet then they should get their deposit back.

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I agree with this
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But the three other potential buyers would have been put off by her failing the vet too. If I had given a deposit and the horse had failed the vet I would want my money back..
 
Depends what she failed on .If the vet pointed out something minor then she is still fit for the purpose . We sold onee once and the vet said it was a year younger than we said and they decided not to buy.[We said he was 6 and vet said 5]
 
I think if they agreed to a non refundable deposit why should they get it back? Thats the agreement they made!
I take it they wont consider her again then?
 
I just sold my horse I took no deposit as they had confirmed they wanted her vetted quickly (they did 2 days later) Then when I took her they paid me in full. If they are going to the expense of a vetting then they are serious. I had sold her twice before and although she passed the vetting they both pulled out (due to a query over her age) So when the last buyers came I told them everything that was on previous vet and they were then prepared. Typically though they last vetting the vet confirmed her age as on her passport so it shows.
I could have kept the deposit if they had paid as she did pass but I didnt ask for one as both were quick to get her vetted. My fault but I had so many people who wanted her I just kept there numbers
 
Obviously I don't know the conversation you had with them, but I would have thought if the horse failed the vetting, the vendor should be entitled to his/her deposit back either way.

In my opinion, deposits just show the buyer is serious and not stringing you along. Most sellers would still sell the horse to someone else if they came along with the cash there and then.

One in the hand is worth 2 in the bush and all that!
 
Well, they wanted the mare for hacking and general riding.
The vet then came and vetted her for prenovice eventing?
I could have told them she wasn't suitable for that.

The thing is i refused offers on her from people who saw her earlier in the week (before the people who gave deposit) and I made it clear that the deposit was non refundable.

The deposit covers the inconvenience of having to keep the horse, re adveretise her and taking a day of work to do her vetting.

I think its bad form to expect it back. I never expect deposits back - if for some reason I don't want the item/horse then thats my fault not the sellers.
 
I agree that if the horse fails the vetting the buyer should get their deposit back. Regardless of what was said previously. If the horse had passed the vetting and they had just changed their minds that would be a different matter, but in this situation they were entitled to their money back.
 
This from a 'law' website:

Whenever you put down a deposit for something, you are entering into a legally binding agreement to purchase the item. If you change your mind, the seller has the right to retain the deposit and possibly sue for loss of earnings
 
The next time I wont be holding my horse for anyone.
I kept the horse for them, paid its livery and now Im back to square one. They should have at least covered my costs for holding the mare.

And no the other three people wouldn't not want her because she failed, because they dont want to pre novice event her!!!
 
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Why if they wanted it for general riding did they have it vetted for eventing? Have you asked them this question?

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They told me because they 'might' want to do it in the future....balls I say they just thought they could get a cheap hacking horse to go eventing. Idiots.
 
Oh yes, the next poor soul who tries it is going to geta piece of my mind, cash in full or nothing Im afriad.
What a monumental waste of time!!
 
Actually, thinking about it again, I think you are in the right.

If you agreed that the deposit was non-refunable then how did it get refunded? Surely they should have checked the status of the depoit before putting one down??
 
This is the thing. If we hadn't agreed it - it would be different but for her to agree then go back on her word, is terribly bad form.
Oh well very bad kudos on here I guess.
 
i would want my deposit back if it failed the vetting, and I would expect to give it back if i was selling and if failed. What did it fail on? if it was something minor that wont effect it then maybe not
 
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i would want my deposit back if it failed the vetting, and I would expect to give it back if i was selling and if failed. What did it fail on? if it was something minor that wont effect it then maybe not

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What even if you agreed something different beforehand?
I must be one of the only sellers who stick to their word in that case. It wasn't something minor considering they wanted to event my 10YO cob happy hack...lol
 
What did the horse fail on?

A fail is a fail- PN eventing (which incidentally is very low and not exactly hard work) or not.

It is the 'done thing' when selling horses to accept a deposit subject to vet. Now my understanding is that your style of deposit merely prevented you from selling her to other people whilst they were waiting for vet. If your horse failed the vetting then the potential purchasers have wasted a lot of money on a vetting and arent getting a horse at the end of the deal- why should they be out of pocket two times over?!
 
well your horse failed the vet and thats that - and if they wanted the vet to vet it for eventing then thats how it goes - if I was them I would too be cancelling my cheque - infact I would not have put deposit down - would have just got an appt for the vet asap and give that to prove im a serious buyer.

sorry its not worked out but you should have cashed the cheque asap or accepted cash - never mind
 
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