What would you do with this situation?

[shadroch]

Demand proof of payments.

 

[gadzukes]

I'd want to know what happened. You said you tried many times to get ahold of him. Maybe he was in a coma? Maybe he was deployed overseas? Maybe he was teleported into another galaxy? But for someone to come up 4 years later asking for the book or a refund? Ridiculous. Totally past the best before due date.

 

I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but he said he had huge personal issues and is just getting his life back together right now.

 

I remember thinking he might have been in an accident (or possibly dead?). Horrible stuff to think about but at the time that was what I thought. I sent him 1 email for about 3 months in a row and then stopped sending. And never heard back.... until last night.

 

Weird.

[Wall-Crawler]

Were there ANY terms laid out in your initial agreement with this buyer?

 

Even if there were not, do you have documented evidence that you tried to contact the buyer? 4 years is ridiculous. Did he give a reason for not replying back to you and not paying?

 

What book is it? Is he trying to score a book whose value from 4 years ago until now has risen sharply for the same price?

 

In these situations, there is always room for "coulda, shoulda, woulda" and maybe I am being a "bad guy" here, but if this guy did not make any effort to contact you, I don't think that you "owe" this guy anything, and would, at best refund this guy maybe 70% of his first and only payment.

 

Unless maybe the buyer was in a coma or was a POW or something I wouldn't go "above and beyond" for this buyer.

 

My

 

[darkstar]

Tell him he doesn't get a dime until he shows proof of payment.

[budsbundy]

I don't think this guy has a leg to stand on.

You could keep all his money, and what can he do about it?

Nothing.

 

That being said, doing something for him is the right thing to do Karma wise.

Tell him to provide proof of the amount he paid you, otherwise you will just go with roughly what you remember him paying you.

 

You could give him a credit of X amount of dollars, and then let him pick something out from the books you currently have for sale.

[DR.X]

This is why the first payment should be non-refundable in any time-payment transaction. If you didn't state that the initial down payment was not refundable, it's on you.

 

 

 

-slym

 

+1

 

On time payments do the terms up front, even if only a part of the initial deposit was non-refundable, but make everything clear. After four years, I'd probably not even bother with the kook. I mean, are you supposed to hold a book to infinity? It could have been sold elsewhere I'm sure.

[Erndog]

I'd want to know what happened. You said you tried many times to get ahold of him. Maybe he was in a coma? Maybe he was deployed overseas? Maybe he was teleported into another galaxy? But for someone to come up 4 years later asking for the book or a refund? Ridiculous. Totally past the best before due date.

 

I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but he said he had huge personal issues and is just getting his life back together right now.

 

I remember thinking he might have been in an accident (or possibly dead?). Horrible stuff to think about but at the time that was what I thought. I sent him 1 email for about 3 months in a row and then stopped sending. And never heard back.... until last night.

 

Weird.

 

Something significant must have happened. Theres just no way this guy (or anyone) hands over $500 or $1000 (as he claims) to someone and then vanishes.

 

Maybe he went to jail? Maybe he was very, very sick? I'm just throwing things out there, it could be any number of things... hopefully he's okay though.

 

I think karma wise I would certainly do something to help him out. Not sure what. If he has proof of payment then I would suck it up and bite the unexpected bill.

[mrc]

I don't think this guy has a leg to stand on.

You could keep all his money, and what can he do about it?

Nothing.

 

That being said, doing something for him is the right thing to do Karma wise.

Tell him to provide proof of the amount he paid you, otherwise you will just go with roughly what you remember him paying you.

 

You could give him a credit of X amount of dollars, and then let him pick something out from the books you currently have for sale.

 

+1

[gadzukes]

Karma wise I'm going to do something for the guy, but because this happened years ago and I moved on ...... it's going to "feel" like I'm losing money/merchadise and that sucks.

[vaillant]

Karma wise I'm going to do something for the guy, but because this happened years ago and I moved on ...... it's going to "feel" like I'm losing money/merchadise and that sucks.

 

You are right, but you should have at least kept some record of the payment: you don’t know what happened to him, but basically he did nothing dishonest and in my opinion he deserves the refund (in money or comics, whatever).

[loadstone]

I commend you on your effort and desire as a good person to try and do the right thing here but stop and think it through. How do you know this is even the same person? Did you ever discuss anything other than through email? Accounts can be compromise, computers stolen, etc. Even if it is him, the burden of proof is on him at this point. After 4 years I think that money is considered lost. What other entity will hold a refundable deposit that long that isn't a government agency? If you do still want to send him something, ANYTHING you send him at this point is charity and unnecessary and don't expect it to satisfy them. Remember, no good deed goes unpunished. You're a better person than most for entertaining sending them something.

[Dr. Balls]

I would kindly tell him that you're sorry, but there is nothing that can be done. He will be pissed and angry and probably threaten legal action, but I'd carefully draft one single response that contained all the proper wording and then move on from it, never to speak to them again (because why would you want to do business with someone like that in the future?)

 

Wishin' ya good luck!

[roulette44]

nutty story

[ChrisInBaltimore]

I would kindly tell him that you're sorry, but there is nothing that can be done. He will be pissed and angry and probably threaten legal action, but I'd carefully draft one single response that contained all the proper wording and then move on from it, never to speak to them again (because why would you want to do business with someone like that in the future?)

 

Wishin' ya good luck!

 

+1

 

I think the guy is SOL. This is coming from someone who has done his share of time payments as a buyer.

[rodan57]

Demand proof of payments.

 

This.

[Speedy-D]

This is why the first payment should be non-refundable in any time-payment transaction. If you didn't state that the initial down payment was not refundable, it's on you.

 

 

 

-slym

agreed

[thehumantorch]

I'd want to know what happened. You said you tried many times to get ahold of him. Maybe he was in a coma? Maybe he was deployed overseas? Maybe he was teleported into another galaxy? But for someone to come up 4 years later asking for the book or a refund? Ridiculous. Totally past the best before due date.

 

I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but he said he had huge personal issues and is just getting his life back together right now.

 

I remember thinking he might have been in an accident (or possibly dead?). Horrible stuff to think about but at the time that was what I thought. I sent him 1 email for about 3 months in a row and then stopped sending. And never heard back.... until last night.

 

Weird.

 

You don't owe this guy a thing but I commend you for thinking about returning his money. karma wise it's the right thing to do. He's trying to get his life back together and some compassion and kindness could go a long, long way.

 

If you sold the book for less than he offered I'd factor that into whatever amount you consider sending.

[oakman29]

I would kindly tell him that you're sorry, but there is nothing that can be done. He will be pissed and angry and probably threaten legal action, but I'd carefully draft one single response that contained all the proper wording and then move on from it, never to speak to them again (because why would you want to do business with someone like that in the future?)

 

Wishin' ya good luck!

I'd tell him to pound sand,4 years really?