sold a boat and it busted!

[cougar1985]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

heres some sound advise ,next time mom calls direct her to your lawyer,dont talk to her any more ,do not offer them one red cent,period.above all else do not discuss anything with them again ,their trying to set you up.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

People "threaten" lawsuites all the time in the hopes that people will freak out, think they ARE guilty and cave in. In this case, you appear to not be guilty of anything (a say "appear" because we are going on what you are saying, none of us were there). I got sued a while back, the plaintiff didn't show up for two court appearances, the judge threw it out. Now the plaintiff's insurance company is involved. They sent me a letter, I called their "bluff" and said, "talk to my lawyer, this was thrown out of court and we think you have a fraudulant claim on your hands". So what may end up happening with mine is the "plaintiff" may actually be charged with insurance fraud. Now, for you, if some digging was done, they may find that he DID so something wrong and toss it out, but again, I DOUBT he/they have a lawyer; call their bluff. Don't let them push you around. If you have a mechanic friend, have him look it over and give his input and have it documented. Send them a copy and, again, call their bluff.

 

[cmcpherson]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

If I was you, I would not do one other thing!!! Don't take any calls, don't worry about it and most of all don't make any offers of consession. In the event that you somehow do talk to one of them you need to be blunt and tell them that you are abosolutely positively done talking about the situation with them. I thought they were filing a lawsuit earlier in the week? Have you heard from their attorney, no I am sure you have not. These people are hoping to pray on some unexpecting uninformed panty waist, don't be that person. BTW, they never took it to a mechanic and if they did, the only thing he would be able to tell them is what it would take to fix their problem. There is a term for all of this... Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware. They have a responsibility in this transaction as well as you and if they don't do their due dilligence they are at fault, not you!!!!

 

[Cptkid570]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

I'd call their bluff. Ask the name and phone # of their mechanic and tell them that you'd like to personally speak to the mechanic. IF they did take the boat to a mechanic, you will get a completely different explanation from the mechanic. Especially once the mechanic learns that he may have 2 lawyers taking his deposition.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

.....ask for the mechanics full test report showing material failure analysis w/ procedure description, lifecycle data, etc. Remind him that it is something that the judge will need to look at.
That will end the discussion and that particular 'angle'.

 

[salty87]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

who buys an old, used boat and heads straight to the lake to run it? i did but i was nervous as he!!. had my eyes on the gauges the whole time.

sounds like evil knievel thought his boat was invincible to me. i can imagine him laying into the throttle when it starts bogging down from heat/death.

i wouldn't budge either. it ran good when he accepted it. what he does with it from there is his business.

 

[rndn]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Tell the Mom that you have consulted an atty and will file harrassment claims if she continues to call you. You feel sorry for her son but there is nothing more you can do.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

.....its over. We are 99.9% behind you on this. Let us know the outcome.

 

[kg5388]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

wish you would sell me a boat. I just bought a 88 160 freedom fourwinns did all the checks for rotten floor and transom and pulled the plugs and even drained the lower unit and refiled with oil before running on muffs then rechecked. Compression was 132,134,132,130 and the oil looked good. Even after running on muffs and then gently at the lake the starter locked up on our second trip then next trip the alternator died. Quess what on the fourth trip the lower unit went because of an out of adjustment shift cable on an omc.
I didn't call and complain i just shelled out the cash and fixed the boat and haven't had a problem in 5 trips so far. Tell them to get bent the guy i bought my boat from is a friend of mine and i had been out in the boat many times before i bought it and i didn't expect he to pay for any repairs.

 

[GatorTom]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Don't call them back. When the mom calls you back, the only thing that you should say to her is that you will not speak to her and you will only speak to the son and then hang up. If she calls you back, file a police report for harassing calls. The "sales contract" is between you and the over 18 son. You have no obligation to talk to her or be nice to her. If the son finally calls you back, tell him that you've consulted your attorney and he has advised you that they do not have a case and that you owe them nothing. Tell the son that this is the last time that you will talk to them by phone and that any other communication from them will only be accepted by certified letter. Tell him that if you continue to receive phone calls from them, that you will file another police report against him for harassing calls. I bet that is the last you will here from them. I doubt they will shell out the money for a lawyer or small claims court (probably not even for certified letters). Most likely it will end there. Regardless, it's time to stop being a nice guy and take the gloves off and be a rude SOB. That's all these type of people understand.

 

[djarrett]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Unfortunately most people mistake kindness for weakness. Sounds like you are a very kind person and now momma thinks she can push around a very weak person. It's up to you to decide when you'll HAVE to show them these two adjectives don't always walk hand in hand. Good luck, sounds like it could be a headache before its all over.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Don't call them back. When the mom calls you back, the only thing that you should say to her is that you will not speak to her and you will only speak to the son and then hang up. If she calls you back, file a police report for harassing calls. The "sales contract" is between you and the over 18 son. You have no obligation to talk to her or be nice to her. If the son finally calls you back, tell him that you've consulted your attorney and he has advised you that they do not have a case and that you owe them nothing. Tell the son that this is the last time that you will talk to them by phone and that any other communication from them will only be accepted by certified letter. Tell him that if you continue to receive phone calls from them, that you will file another police report against him for harassing calls. I bet that is the last you will here from them. I doubt they will shell out the money for a lawyer or small claims court (probably not even for certified letters). Most likely it will end there. Regardless, it's time to stop being a nice guy and take the gloves off and be a rude SOB. That's all these type of people understand.

Excellent advice. You had no dealing with the mother. No need to talk to her. 18 y/o is a legal age to make a contract. End of subject. If you have an opportunity, tell the kid next time to pony up and buy used from a dealer who offiers a warranty or buy new.

 

[jddenham]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

If she harrases your lawyer he might just pass a bill onto you for every correspondence.

There are lots of opinions here . . . follow that of your attorney.

heres some sound advise ,next time mom calls direct her to your lawyer,dont talk to her any more ,

 

[aerwin]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Screw them!!! they had the chance to check it out. don't talk to them, keep your answering machine on and let them hange them selves with harrasing calls. if a message is left voluntarily, then it is usually allowable in court but recording a phone call without there knowledge isn't legal. just make sure you have all of your paperwork together, maybe snoop around the mech shop. take a friends boat in for a "service quote" and say "hey thats a cool boat" and maybe get a little info out of the mechanic

 

[sea wolf]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Tell the kid to go pizz up a rope. Here's what you have. An 18 yr. old acting stupid, running at all out full throttle, not watching the gauges, & acting like an idiot until he blew the engine. Who knows what he's telling his mother, probably whining to her "gee mom, I didn't do anything wrong, I was being careful when the motor just quit, sniff, sniff,............." In any case, don't offer him squat. If you do a judge might say by doing so u accepted some responsibility. This is the society we live in. No one wants to accept any responsibility for their actions. It's always someone else's fault. Good luck & keep us posted.

 

[AguaSki]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Excellent advice. You had no dealing with the mother. No need to talk to her. 18 y/o is a legal age to make a contract. End of subject. If you have an opportunity, tell the kid next time to pony up and buy used from a dealer who offiers a warranty or buy new.

This seems reasonable, but I am afraid the decision to avoid the Mom should have been made when this issues first started. Your multiple conversations with the Mom have set a precedent that you are willing to discuss the transaction with her. It will be kind of hard to ignore her now. I think you are on safe enough ground to let them (Mom & Son) know that you cannot do anything else for them. Good luck and enjoy the sail boat.

 

[country_bumpkin]

Update!

Update!

Any lawyers out there!!!????

I just got served with a Civil Summons which requires me to travel 180 miles to Knox County next month.

WTF?

The sale took place in Nashville, Davidson Co. The Bill of Sale I had signed says Willimason Co., which is were I thought the transaction would take place, but I actually hauled the boat out to the lake so he could try it out (lake is in Davidson Co.)

What recourse do I have?

Can I appeal this? Do I have to take a day, maybe two off to appear?

This sound screwy.

Thanks

(I am awaiting a return phone call from MY lawyer actually)

 

[Linc33]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

SON OF A ...!

That really stinks Country, I feel for you. Hopefully you'll get some good legal advice here or from your lawyer that will get you out of this mess.

I have followed your story and think you did absolutely nothing wrong. I sold a boat to a fellow recently and the exact same thing COULD have happened to me, and all I did was run it on the muffs for him.

I haven't heard from my buyer at all, so I am hoping he is enjoying the boat as much as we did.

-Linc

 

[craig240DA]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

If you buy a new boat and take it out and it breaks, the dealer will never just take it back. So why do they think they can just return it? They buy a used boat with no waranty, break it and want you to just take it back? No way.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: sold a boat and it busted!

Well now in your defense, you should now have the right to hire your own mechanic to inspect the engine damage.

If there is any.

I see it as a mommy wiped boy who bought a boat and now mommy wants him to take it back.
If there is damage, I would suspect sabotage on their part in an attempt to strengthen their case.

They are now most likely hoping you call them and offer to take the boat back.