I organize sprees, and there's this buyer who has paid RM800ish as deposit for her items that totals to about RM1100 including postage.

the thing is, all her items have already arrived ages ago.

Before items arrived (when spree still open): Buyer reply emails within 24 hours, sometimes within 12 hours.
Day 0: I email Buyer to tell her that her items arrive and i need the final payment before delivering. That time I was giving her free postage.
Day 6: Now only Buyer replied, and she said internet connection got problem, but will pay soon. Fine la, I mean, normal la right internet problem? Buyer asked for my hp no so she can contact me (since her Net connection not good) and I emailed + SMSed it to her. No reply.
Day 14: Still no money, no reply, nothing. Emailed and SMSed her to remind her so many times but no reply. All my calls either no1 answer or busy tone sent to me (I know she sent me busy tone coz ring first few times then busy tone).
Day 32: Buyer sent me SMS, said she "forgot" and will bank in to me within a week coz now no money. I said fine.
Day 44: Still no money received. I've sent her so many SMSes to remind her before, but this day only the Buyer SMS me and said she needs more time. I got impatient and told her to set a deadline for herself, and she said 1 week. So I have her 2 weeks just in case. I told her if I didn't get the money by then then her deposit forfeit d.

I gave up, took it as Buyer dowan her stuff d, and took photos and everything, preparing to sell it.

Day 82: Buyer SMS me at 3AM, saying she forgot AGAIN, that she remembered only when she checked her email (as if I didn't send her 598237954862385623 SMSes). So I gave her until 10PM of Day 84 to pay me the balance + postage fee + couple of RM for my SMS cost (just to round everything up)

Today is Day 82 d, and at 10.40PM I SMS her telling her that I am going to check my account at 11PM, if no money then she really burn her deposit d.

At 11:03PM she SMS me saying she needs a few more days. I replied scolding her how come she never told me BEFORE the deadlines that she need more time? (She always after deadline only she contact me), and how come she never contact me or reply my SMSes. Buyer reply that she FORGOT. Then she said she won't do it again, coz she dowan to burn her deposit. She said she will pay me by this week.

I ended up giving her a final final deadline, and told her that that SMS is the last I am going to send her. If she don't pay then too bad.


So the thing is, I want to know. If I really burn her deposit, can she take legal action against me?

I've kept the last SMSes, the one where she request for extension and all that.


P/S: This is outside LYN one, but I really need people's opinion (preferably those who know the Law well). Will remove this thread if I am not allowed to have this here. Thanks.

This post has been edited by electronicfly: Jul 25 2010, 11:41 PM

I had this issue before with my own customers.. What I did was, refund them their deposit since I'm confident that I can sell it to other buyer.. Just want to make them happy even though I'm not happy with it..

ok.. from legal point of view..(still studying law, not lawyer) my 2 cent

RM800 deposit for an RM1100 item is considered a lot. 72.3% to be exact while the industry practice (normal spree) the most 50% i think.

although it might seems like the delay is very long (82days), but the buyer did contact u from time to time, so it cannot be considered excessive time delayed. The longest delay which i think from day 44 to day 82.

Unless you can proof that your total daily handling fees can cost up to RM800 till date, then you can forfeit the deposit. In reality, which i think storage for small item for 82 days won't cost that much.

If the buyer doesn't reply further, the industry practice is this..

sell the items away, get some cash, minus your effort in selling the thing (hourly charges), minus the money he/she owes and return the rest to your customer, don't anyhow forfeit the deposit if the amount is much greater than normal practice.

that's my 2 cent. thanks..

I have no plans to deal with her EVER again, unless she pays 100% and gives me her details right at the start.

Thing is, though I might be able to sell part of her items, the bulk of it are personalized so I most probably can't sell it to cover my cost.

Erm, is that the legal POV, or the industry practice? And according to which industry?

IMO the delay IS very long, since from the first deadline until this newest deadline, it's about 46 days d. For blogshops the usual reservation period without payment is 3 days, and for LYN sellers who accept deposits first their waiting time also usually 10-14 days only. So for MY industry, 46 days is quite long d lo, and that is excluding the times where I didn't set a deadline and just tell her to pay ASAP.

Storage for small items won't cost much, that is true (I mean it's sitting around my room, so free? lol) but how about all that I have to go through? SMS and calls fine, can monetize, but what about all the time I spend handling her order, waiting around, getting frantic etc? Because of some damage during delivery, I actually had to pay for the damage and the reshipping cost as well, so my profit is practically gone d.

And as I've written in reply to smiley.kambing, the bulk of the Buyer's items are personalized so selling even for 50% off the cost price probably won't work. Then how?