Ever had any bad experiences selling private.

[fontana]

I've only had one, in 35 years.
It was about 5 years ago,
I sold a beautiful Moto Guzzi Sport 1100.
He turned up in a van, and right from the word go he seemed to be on the offensive, trying to find fault with the smallest details.
I'd already told him that I was not budging on the price, and that he should understand that before making the journey, but that didn't stop him having a bloody good go.
I was so pissed off with this guy's attitude that I very nearly told him to forget it and go home, but he did eventually hand over the money, and left, without so much as a cheerio.
Then from that evening, (Friday), right through the weekend, the emails started.
He'd found this and that wrong, discrepancy's with the service history, and then had the nerve to say he reckoned the mileage had been fiddled.
There was nothing wrong with that bike.
It was a superb example in pristine condition with an amazing service history.
Anyway, on Monday morning, having received the 8th annoying email from this guy, I replied and said "look, you're clearly not happy with the bike and I haven't sent the V5 off yet, so I'll come to you, collect the bike and refund your money in full, or you can bring it back to me and I'll pay your fuel costs"
I never heard from him again.
It wasn't a bluff.
I really would have taken the bike back.
I couldn't sleep at night thinking that I'd sold a bike to someone who thought he'd been ripped off.
To this day I believe that he thought he was going to get some money back off me by bullying me into submission.
Anyone had anything worse happen to them ?

[Grip Fast]

Not really a problem selling, but...
Sold my first bike, a BSA C15
Many months later, police at the door (still living at home - must have been 20 at the time). "Do you own a motorcycle, registration bla bla?". "No, I don't own a motorbike." "Well, it's been dumped at such-and-such address (in someone's garden), and if you don't move it we'll charge you with dumping it." "What can I do with it?" "Anything you like, it's your bike, just get it out of there quickly."
So I collected the non-runner wreck, brought it home and stuck it in the back of my dad's garage. After another 3 or 4 months, my dad insisted I got rid of it, so gave it away to someone who wanted it for spares - friend of a friend. Oh, and in true criminal style, I had put a letter through the letterbox of the garden owner saying who I was and that I had taken the bike, and where I lived.
A few days after the bike had gone, a knock at the door. Two police officers, my letter in hand. "Do you have a motorcycle, registration bla bla?". "No I don't." "Do you know where it is?" "No, a friend of a friend has it for spares, but I don't know where he lives." "We would like you to come down to the station with us..."
So, I had a trip to the local police station to explain why I had stolen my own bike, which didn't belong to me because they now had the rightful owner claiming his bike has been nicked, after the dealer who had been repairing it (unsuccessfully it seemed to me), had delivered it to the right house, in the wrong street.

I was let off with a caution, on condition that the bike was returned to its owner with all the parts which had been scavenged, replaced back on the bike.

PS a couple of months after that, I advertised a car radio for sale in the local newspaper (I had won it in a competition). Knock at the door. Two police officers. "We'd like you to explain where you got the car radio you're advertising for sale." I let them see the receipt and explained the circumstances and all was fine. "Good day sir".

Fortunately, my boss thought the whole story was very funny. My dad didn't find it at all funny.

[slparry]

I've only had one, in 35 years.
It was about 5 years ago,
I sold a beautiful Moto Guzzi Sport 1100.
He turned up in a van, and right from the word go he seemed to be on the offensive, trying to find fault with the smallest details.
I'd already told him that I was not budging on the price, and that he should understand that before making the journey, but that didn't stop him having a bloody good go.
I was so pissed off with this guy's attitude that I very nearly told him to forget it and go home, but he did eventually hand over the money, and left, without so much as a cheerio.
Then from that evening, (Friday), right through the weekend, the emails started.
He'd found this and that wrong, discrepancy's with the service history, and then had the nerve to say he reckoned the mileage had been fiddled.
There was nothing wrong with that bike.
It was a superb example in pristine condition with an amazing service history.
Anyway, on Monday morning, having received the 8th annoying email from this guy, I replied and said "look, you're clearly not happy with the bike and I haven't sent the V5 off yet, so I'll come to you, collect the bike and refund your money in full, or you can bring it back to me and I'll pay your fuel costs"
I never heard from him again.
It wasn't a bluff.
I really would have taken the bike back.
I couldn't sleep at night thinking that I'd sold a bike to someone who thought he'd been ripped off.
To this day I believe that he thought he was going to get some money back off me by bullying me into submission.
Anyone had anything worse happen to them ?

Welcome to my world ..... whilst there are laws in place to protect the public from unscrupulous dealers there's no real protection for dealers from the general public. Over the years I've heard right old dogs described as mint, tyres and parts swapped between the bike being valued and collecting the new bike etc. Sadly as in all of life a few lying scumbags taint the whole process and mean honest customers get treated with the same suspicion.

I've always prided myself on being honest with my customers (to the point that if I felt a used bike wasn't for them or perhaps in my opinion has had a hard life I would say so quietly).

My first responsibility (in my mind) is to my customers and to the business next.

[Herb]

I've never had a problem selling, I have mostly moved past bikes on through forums or given them away. On a forum people largely treat each other with a little bit of respect and people have a bit more knowledge too, so bikes tend to be sold honestly, warts and all.

I have bought privately from a dodgy seller, many years back. I was young, skint and inexperienced. It was a hard lesson.

Bike was a Kwak GT550. I bought it when I finished university and it was a dog. Quite possible an ex despatch bike, patched up just enough to last for the test ride. By the time I got home I knew I had been had and felt sick to my stomach. I should have known better. Bike had to have new primary chain and full top end rebuild, which if I recall cost £400. I Managed to get 6 months out of it, but it was never right.

[fontana]

Welcome to my world ..... whilst there are laws in place to protect the public from unscrupulous dealers there's no real protection for dealers from the general public. Over the years I've heard right old dogs described as mint,

I don't doubt it, but to balance that argument slightly, I wish I had 20p for every mile I've travelled over the last three decades to view bikes that were described by dealers as mint, but were quite the opposite.
The last was several years ago, I travelled 250 miles to collect a bike I'd put a deposit on, which in the metal looked like a despatch bike that had had a hard life.
The salesman described it as "mint"
They were called Midlands Superbikes.
I can name them now because they went bust.
I learned a valuable lesson there.
Photo's can lie, so be very careful of buying blind.
Having said that, I have since found out that if you do buy a bike from a dealer a long way away, and it doesn't live up to the description, you can reject because distance selling regulations apply (although I think it's called something else now)

[fontana]

Bike was a Kwak GT550. I bought it when I finished university and it was a dog. Quite possible an ex despatch bike, patched up just enough to last for the test ride. By the time I got home I knew I had been had and felt sick to my stomach. I should have known better. Bike had to have new primary chain and full top end rebuild, which if I recall cost £400. I Managed to get 6 months out of it, but it was never right.

I bought an NTV650 off a bloke many years ago,
He was completely up front and honest, and told me there was a whine in second gear.
It was in great cosmetic condition though.
Unfortunately that whine got worse and spread into 1st and 3rd as well.
It was so loud it turned heads in the street.
Not blaming the seller.
He was an honest bloke, but I did quite well.
I stuck it on ebay as a non runner with knackered gearbox thinking I'd get a couple of hundred quid, and it sold for £600, £100 more than I paid.
The buyer came from quite far away and was over the moon with his purchase.
Funny old world

[Britisherspy]

Welcome to my world ..... whilst there are laws in place to protect the public from unscrupulous dealers there's no real protection for dealers from the general public. Over the years I've heard right old dogs described as mint,

I don't doubt it, but to balance that argument slightly, I wish I had 20p for every mile I've travelled over the last three decades to view bikes that were described by dealers as mint, but were quite the opposite.
The last was several years ago, I travelled 250 miles to collect a bike I'd put a deposit on, which in the metal looked like a despatch bike that had had a hard life.
The salesman described it as "mint"
They were called Midlands Superbikes.
I can name them now because they went bust.
I learned a valuable lesson there.
Photo's can lie, so be very careful of buying blind.
Having said that, I have since found out that if you do buy a bike from a dealer a long way away, and it doesn't live up to the description, you can reject because distance selling regulations apply (although I think it's called something else now)

Midland Superbikes thats the guy who threw himself off Beachy Head I think I remember, was selling bikes for private owners and shifting the cash around to keep going. No-one should be pressured so badly into taking their own life, even a 'crook'.

[dave the german]

I've always prided myself on being honest with my customers (to the point that if I felt a used bike wasn't for them or perhaps in my opinion has had a hard life I would say so quietly).

My first responsibility (in my mind) is to my customers and to the business next.[/quote]

You've been there a while now Steve. How have you managed that?

[fontana]

Midland Superbikes thats the guy who threw himself off Beachy Head I think.

I wasn't going to mention that, but yes you are correct.
He was the MD.
I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[slparry]

In my experience, I've rarely found a bike in a franchised BMW dealership that's "scruffy", ok there's often a premium for AUB's but considering they come with 2 years warranty, 12 months tax and 12 months MoT I think the peace of mind factor justifies it over buying an identical bike from a non BMW dealer for a few hundred less

[fontana]

In my experience, I've rarely found a bike in a franchised BMW dealership that's "scruffy", ok there's often a premium for AUB's but considering they come with 2 years warranty, 12 months tax and 12 months MoT I think the peace of mind factor justifies it over buying an identical bike from a non BMW dealer for a few hundred less

I think the BMW "approved used" warranty is 12 months.
That said, not every used BMW in a BMW dealers get's one.
It depends on it's age.
If it's too old, then you get a 3 month warranty.
For example, my local BMW dealer once had an absolutely stunning, mint K1100LT.
This thing was like a brand new bike, but to old for approved used status.

[slparry]

In my experience, I've rarely found a bike in a franchised BMW dealership that's "scruffy", ok there's often a premium for AUB's but considering they come with 2 years warranty, 12 months tax and 12 months MoT I think the peace of mind factor justifies it over buying an identical bike from a non BMW dealer for a few hundred less

I think the BMW "approved used" warranty is 12 months.
That said, not every used BMW in a BMW dealers get's one.
It depends on it's age.
If it's too old, then you get a 3 month warranty.
For example, my local BMW dealer once had an absolutely stunning, mint K1100LT.
This thing was like a brand new bike, but to old for approved used status.

Nope BMW approved used warranty is 2 years, as of April 2016. We tend not to get into the older bikes as there's enough of a market for the new ones, and realistically they're usually worth more to the owners than the book values and the profit that's in them is often not worth the potential remedial work that may need to be done to them

http://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/uk/en/ind ... &notrack=1

[Herb]

Welcome to my world ..... whilst there are laws in place to protect the public from unscrupulous dealers there's no real protection for dealers from the general public. Over the years I've heard right old dogs described as mint,

I don't doubt it, but to balance that argument slightly, I wish I had 20p for every mile I've travelled over the last three decades to view bikes that were described by dealers as mint, but were quite the opposite.
The last was several years ago, I travelled 250 miles to collect a bike I'd put a deposit on, which in the metal looked like a despatch bike that had had a hard life.
The salesman described it as "mint"
They were called Midlands Superbikes.
I can name them now because they went bust.
I learned a valuable lesson there.
Photo's can lie, so be very careful of buying blind.
Having said that, I have since found out that if you do buy a bike from a dealer a long way away, and it doesn't live up to the description, you can reject because distance selling regulations apply (although I think it's called something else now)

Midland Superbikes thats the guy who threw himself off Beachy Head I think I remember, was selling bikes for private owners and shifting the cash around to keep going. No-one should be pressured so badly into taking their own life, even a 'crook'.

I used to go to Midlands Superbikes a lot, they were on one of my favourite routes, so would stop for a bacon sarnie on the way home. The butty wagon used to do good business.

I bought quite a lot of my gear from them over the years too.

The bikes were often poorly presented, and they had way too much low quality stock that never seemed to move. Properly managed it could have been a very good business, certainly it was in a good location, not well served by other dealers and on one of the prime biking routes in the Midlands.

A lot of people lost money when they went under, and a lot more were inconvenienced trying to get their property back. I don't think the guy was a crook (not in the deliberate sense at least) but he was clearly an idiot doing anything he could to keep the business afloat, robbing Peter to pay Paul, etc.

[fontana]

Nope BMW approved used warranty is 2 years, as of April 2016.

I see.
The last approved used BMW I bought was a few years ago.
I do remember seeing a really nice R1200S in there as well at the time, but it was just over the age where it would come with an approved warranty.