Caveat Emptor............

[wooslehunter]

= Buyer Beware......

I read in the paper yesterday the sorry story of a vicar who bought a boat on a local river. There was no detail of how the purchse was made since the point of the article was about how bad the guy had been served by his bank. I think we can assume it wasn't checked out too well.

However, he handed over 2 cheques on the Friday afternoon totalling £5k. On Saturday morning he paid a visit to his new pride and joy only to find it had sunk. A marine surveyor later found a hole in the bottom.

As soon as he discovered the boat had sunk he tried to stop the cheques with phone calls to the help desk in India with no success. The bank was very efficient in clearing the cheques & he's now 5k down. It seems his only chance now is to sue the seller for selling something that was "unfit for purpose".

Any ideas on the chances o fthe guy getting his money back?

 

[Thistle]

What caused the sinking? When, exactly, did it sink (before or after the time of sale)? Was it insured?

 

[jfm]

How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

These stories always seem to get a bit muddled up by the time they're 5th or 6th hand, and there are never enough facts reported to see the true picture.

This "unfit for purpose" phrase is bandied about a lot. It has no general relevance except in transactions covered by the Sale of Goods Act. When you buy a used boat directly or thru a broker there is no implied "fit for purpose" condition, so you generally cannot sue even if it is not fit for purpose.

If you buy a boat 2nd hand not from a dealer and it sinks 2 hours later, then tough. That's what caveat emptor means. It seems vicar was behaving wrongly and dishonestly. He had no business (at least, none apparent from the details given) even trying to stop the cheques. It's the vicar's problem that his boat has sunk, nothin to do with the guy who used to own the boat. No doubt the vicar can sort himself out in the confessional box

 

[Stemar]

Re: How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

[ QUOTE ]
nothin to do with the guy who used to own the boat

[/ QUOTE ]
Unless he'd assured the Vic that the boat was in good condition, when there would be a case - as long as there are witnesses!

 

[Cobra25]

The last word is "Caveat Emptor"

 

[Thistle]

Re: How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

But we don't know who owned the boat when it sank. We don't know how if the seller hid faults from the buyer and if so whether this was by accident or intent. Nor do we know what caused the sinking (vandalism / defect in the boat / act of God (??) / etc). And the insurance situation is relevant because either the vicar or the seller may be able to claim and thus recover the money.

Until we get some more info we can't possibly suggest how the vicar can get his money back.

(But I'll bet we're glad we're not in the vicar's situation ourselves!)

 

[Joe_Cole]

Re: How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

It would be interesting to hear if the vicar believes that it could have been an Act of God! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Swagman]

Re: How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

It would be more interesting to hear it's a true story.........

 

[Joe_Cole]

Re: How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

Good point! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[philip_stevens]

Re: How dare that vicar stop the cheque!

The full story was in Tuesday's Daily Mail financial section.

He got the majority of his money back from one bank, but not his own bank - via India.