Am I solely to blame? FB sale gone wrong

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I posted a like new (between myself and my mom it had only been turned on maybe a dozen times in a couple of years) laptop on a FB buy/sell page.
Gave all the specs, also had box, charger, wireless mouse, mouse pad, and carry case.
Posted it for $150.
Someone messages me and says they want to purchase it for their 9yr old daughter.
She asked if she could turn it on when we met up for the sale.
I said that was fine.
When we did meet up she said it was too cold to bother turning it on and she said she was sure it was fine and only for her 9 year old to be able to have a device to go on.
Transaction over.
I gave her a week to contact me and then blocked her as I generally do because I've had people have buyer's remorse over something like a top they bought from me that they didn't like how it looked on them.
To me its like you are taking a chance at if you're going to end up liking it or not and because you're not purchasing from a store but second hand from an individual you can't just return it.
Suddenly last night I'm flooded with several of her family members calling me out on the buy/sell page and messaging me saying I sold her a "broken" laptop.
They called me such things as a POS, scum of the earth....
I know that the laptop was not "broken". I would not stoop so low as to sell something that does not work.
Then come to find out what they deem as "broken" is they can't "download games" onto it.
They then all blocked me so I could not even figure out what they meant by that.
I've never downloaded anything onto it and its really mostly meant for surfing the net and my friend said it probably wouldn't download games because its just not a powerful enough laptop to support games but rather just for typing up documents and going on the internet.
The person never said gaming was their intention for it and I never said that you could download games.
The laptop works just not for what they apparently wanted it for.
One of the family members even said they were going to contact a family member that was a police officer.
Meanwhile they never did even ask for the money back just said how I was a horrible person and karma will get me.
I feel bad but I also feel like harassing me was inappropriate.
Am I at fault? Should I be trying to contact someone and give them the money back and receive a possibly now totally busted laptop back because they could have done something to it to make it nonoperational?
I am asking for honest but kind feedback here. Thanks.

 

[Mizzoufan]

Id refund them just to get rid of them.

 

[ronandannette]

Don’t engage in any back-and-forth on Facebook. Contact the actual buyer only and try to get clarity on the situation. You may then decide if you want to refund the money and take the laptop back. You’ve done nothing wrong.

 

[Hikergirl]

If you listed all the specs then no you are not at fault, sounds like the buyer just doesn't understand that kind of stuff.
I do agree with the pp though. If they are going to harass you about it I'd offer a refund.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

If you are 100% sure you sold them a good working computer, I would let it go. They'd have to sue you in small claims court to get their money back. It seems strange that they waitied so long to say anything, but it also seems strange that you would completey block them from contacting you.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I posted a like new (between myself and my mom it had only been turned on maybe a dozen times in a couple of years) laptop on a FB buy/sell page.
Gave all the specs, also had box, charger, wireless mouse, mouse pad, and carry case.
Posted it for $150.
Someone messages me and says they want to purchase it for their 9yr old daughter.
She asked if she could turn it on when we met up for the sale.
I said that was fine.
When we did meet up she said it was too cold to bother turning it on and she said she was sure it was fine and only for her 9 year old to be able to have a device to go on.
Transaction over.
I gave her a week to contact me and then blocked her as I generally do because I've had people have buyer's remorse over something like a top they bought from me that they didn't like how it looked on them.
To me its like you are taking a chance at if you're going to end up liking it or not and because you're not purchasing from a store but second hand from an individual you can't just return it.
Suddenly last night I'm flooded with several of her family members calling me out on the buy/sell page and messaging me saying I sold her a "broken" laptop.
They called me such things as a POS, scum of the earth....
I know that the laptop was not "broken". I would not stoop so low as to sell something that does not work.
Then come to find out what they deem as "broken" is they can't "download games" onto it.
They then all blocked me so I could not even figure out what they meant by that.
I've never downloaded anything onto it and its really mostly meant for surfing the net and my friend said it probably wouldn't download games because its just not a powerful enough laptop to support games but rather just for typing up documents and going on the internet.
The person never said gaming was their intention for it and I never said that you could download games.
The laptop works just not for what they apparently wanted it for.
One of the family members even said they were going to contact a family member that was a police officer.
Meanwhile they never did even ask for the money back just said how I was a horrible person and karma will get me.
I feel bad but I also feel like harassing me was inappropriate.
Am I at fault? Should I be trying to contact someone and give them the money back and receive a possibly now totally busted laptop back because they could have done something to it to make it nonoperational?
I am asking for honest but kind feedback here. Thanks.

From what you've posted, I'd say you don't have to refund any money. The criteria for buying the lap top was up to the buyer (wanted to turn it on to see that it works). When the time came for the transactions, the buyer opted not to do the one thing they had set up as a proviso. And bought it anyway. It's on them, if it doesn't "do what they wanted it for". Did they ask any questions along that line when they contacted you originally? Or did they just ask "does it work?"

I'd probably just suggest to the ones who say they're going to contact the police that it sounds like a good idea, and thank them for it. You would just as much right to contact the police about their harassment as they seem to think they do. And they weren't even party to the original transaction.

 

[lorimay]

I made the mistake she did in purchasing a refurbished laptop for my grandson, I had no idea it couldn't download games.
That was my problem, not the sellers. I did not harass and demand a refund!
You did nothing wrong.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I block people because I've had people contact me a month later saying "this shirt clings to me the wrong way. I want my $8 back".
I feel like 7 days is a good amount of time for someone to contact me with an issue.
After a month that money has been used towards something else.

The buyer asked me if it works. I said yes I just never use it because I prefer my desktop.
She asked if she could turn it on and I said sure but there's just not much to look at unless we meet somewhere with Wi-Fi.

I'd much rather give the $150 back then be sued although they have not said anything about getting the money back or suing me.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

As long as you didn't misrepresent the laptop in any way, then the onus is on the buyer to do the necessary research and purchase a product that suits their needs.

What I find extremely odd is that you automatically block people who have purchased from you. If I were a buyer, I would see that as some major red flag raising, shady, suspicious behavior on your part. Your explanation for it doesn't really make sense either -- you could simply tell people they have X days to request a refund or that you don't take returns at all, but to automatically block all previous buyers with whom you had a positive experience and potentially lose out on future sales yourself -- it's weird, very weird.

 

[starry_solo]

Agreed re blocking automatically but then if I ever sold via FB, id create a separate account for that.

 

[luvsJack]

When did she buy it and maybe this was a Christmas gift? If she bought it for a gift, blocking her would look suspicious.

 

[Skywalker]

Automatically blocking your buyers seems shady to me too. I would think, if you have had THAT many issues then what kind of crap do you sell lol? And if you haven't had that many issues blocking everyone seems like an overreaction. I don't think you did anything wrong in this scenario, but I am saying I find this practice weird and shady.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

She purchased it on 12/9.
It was a Christmas gift for her 9yr old.
I'm not sure if anyone else sells on buy/sell pages but if you were to for a couple of years like I have you may feel more like I do with giving people a week and then blocking.
I've been selling mostly clothing and some people want to "try before they buy". To that I say I'm not a store.
I have sold a camera and a cell phone in the past and had no issue with those people.
I started the blocking process in September when I had this crazy person show up at my house unannounced several times wanting to purchase something.
I started feeling uncomfortable with having people come to my house to purchase things so I started meeting places and decided I'd give it a week and then block.
I've only blocked 4 people at this point.

 

[luvsJack]

I have sold on FB. Two prom dresses, prom shoes, cell phone, video camera, blue ray player, lap tops. I don't block anyone and no one has given me reason to. I do make sure they know everything possible about the electronics and what they will and won't be able to do with it.

I would have never allowed a stranger to come to my house in the first place. Always met them at a local place of business.

If you knew it was a Christmas gift for a child and she bought it in December, I would say you should have at least waited until after Christmas to block the buyer. I can't say that I don't think you were wrong for blocking her as quick as you did. It just looks like you were trying to avoid her (not saying you were).

If it was me, I would unblock the woman and offer her money back. If for no other reason than to make sure the little girl got some money to buy herself some Christmas gifts.

 

[robinb]

It seems to me that part of the frenzy from the relatives is because you blocked the buyer and she could not get ahold of you to let you know that the laptop didn't work out for her daughter like she thought it would. THAT is on you and your reputation is now damaged on the buy/sell FB group because of it. I understand why you blocked her, but it doesn't seem to me to be the best policy especially for an item you knew would be a Christmas present. You caused more trouble for yourself.

I would also unblock the buyer and reach out to her to refund her money.

 

[MrsDuck]

As long as you didn't misrepresent the laptop in any way, then the onus is on the buyer to do the necessary research and purchase a product that suits their needs.

I agree. OP, you've done nothing wrong. That said, I think blocking makes you look suspicious. I totally get not wanting to deal with people trying to return something but why not just ignore their messages?

 

[kenthanson]

I'll go against the grain and say you are well within your rights to block whomever you want for whatever reason and that's fine. Also what do they mean cannot download games, what kind of laptop cannot download games?

 

[robinb]

Sorry, I had to run off right after I posted. One thing that occurred to me, is this ‘laptop’ a Chromebook without a CD/DVD drive? That might make a difference. If it was advertised as a ‘laptop’ I would expect a CD/DVD drive to be able to download old software like games.

ETA: a Chromebook also runs a different operating system from Windows and Apple so she would have to download specific games that run on that platform.

 

[wgeo]

Yeah, my first thought given the price is that it was a Chromebook and not really a true laptop. However, the buyer should have known to ask that question especially given how cheap the price was. And as a buyer, it would be your responsiblity to look up the specs and model number you were given to make sure you liked what the product was.

But like everyone else - the blocking thing makes the seller come off looking more like the bad guy. Probably not the bad guy at all - but it just doesn't look good.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

The box says Asus laptop.
The specs that I posted said it does not have a CD/DVD drive.
I believe I represented it in the exact way it was represented on the box.