I feel sorry for anyone who is done over in this way. If new to anything it can be easy to miss what other experienced people might see in the blink of an eye. Especially difficult if the budget is tight and you are keen to get a caravan for a nice family holiday. Also, when you are a decent person who would not think of doing anything like that, you expect to be treated as you would treat. Unfortunately there are those who have no conscious. Hope you can bag a bargain next time.
I think everyone gets caught out at some time by some thing, but then it makes you double careful next time, hope you sort it out or sell it on and get something you are happy with in time for the summer!
Have to agree tho with the van being 20 yrs old it wont be perfect
theres nothing wrong with 20yr old vans i got 1 ok i know about the river running down the walls but i have rip all wet out dried out and replaced and replaced arwning rail all for a sake of a few screws.
------------- life on the open road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6GXV0FNEeI
Stephysue seems to be caught out more than most though - she's bought more than one van this year, and sold more than one! She's trying to sell the one with all the faults mentioned by Snowy747 (above), so she certainly knows what she should be looking at when buying a van and yet also seems to be continually being scammed by sellers.
Quote: Originally posted by Val A on 02/12/2009
seems to be continually being scammed by sellers.
I do feel sorry for the OP but is it being 'scammed'? If you go and view a van (or car or anything), miss all those items listed earlier and then still buy it, I can't see how that is a 'scam'. I can understand if you haven't been to see it first but surely you can't complain if you find such obvious problems later?
Yes, you'd hope the seller would point out these faults but maybe the seller had priced the van accordingly and, if it was me selling, I wouldn't have thought that I needed to point out that there were no curtains, for example - I would assume it is obvious...
This is why it is cheaper to buy privately - you take a risk and have minimal comeback. If you find you are regularily doing it wrong (OP ), go to a dealer, pay more but have some peace of mind.
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
OK, what's with the OP being edited? Did he scam you or not?
TBH, and I really, really don't mean this as an insult, it seems to me that you should make up your mind never to buy a caravan off ebay again. Ask advice from here, go to a reputable dealer, and maybe ask if someone who knows their onions here can come with you (obviously taking a friend with you just in case!) and help you look.
If you've bought two crocks in a row, are you one of those impulsive people who do things 'cos they seem a great idea at the time? It would be a real shame to lose that impulsive streak, but maybe an older hand (I mean in experience, not in years!) would help in caravan buying?
I think perhaps the webmaster has edited the post, not the original poster as you have only a very limited amount of time to be able to edit your own posts. He's probably read the whole thread, and has seen that Stephysue actually went to see the van before handing over her money, and the trade was not done via ebay bidding, so really there was no ebay scam involved at all.
Hi Bruno i stupidly trusted him because he seemed so genuine on the phone. I didn't bid, i went over to see it and offered him the cash for it. The van did look nice inside and i searched every nook & cranny for damp and didn't find any. It wasn't till days later we started noticing things weren't right. I did try contacting him but he ignored my message and because it wasn't a deal through ebay i didn't have a leg to stand on.
I think, sadly, she just has made some bad misjudgements about either the state of the vans she's looking at, or about people's natural honesty (or dishonesty). Whichever, it is sad that she has made a mistake in buying a lemon, but she's now (in a separate posting) asking advice about how much she can get for selling the same lemon, in the same condition.
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Topic: ebay seller warning!
), go to a dealer, pay more but have some peace of mind.
