Consumer Law, Warranties Accidental Damge to an Appliance

[rlv31352]

We bought a washer and dryer on CraigsList.. all communications were cordial. My husband arrived with a truck and he had to remove the washer and dryer himself from a very tight bathroom and through a kitchen. In doing so, the dryer bumped the refridgerator and two 3/4 inch scratches and a minor dent occurred. We paid cash for the W&D and took them away. When he got home there was an email from the seller telling us they were very upset that there were 2 scratches and a dent on their refridgerator and that it was going to be a "significant amount of money to have it fixed" and that they would be in touch with us so we could pay to fix it. Can you please tell me what are our rights with something like this? It was a very difficult situation to removed them (actually we thought they would have been disconnected and removed before we picked them up). You help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

We bought a washer and dryer on CraigsList.. all communications were cordial. My husband arrived with a truck and he had to remove the washer and dryer himself from a very tight bathroom and through a kitchen. In doing so, the dryer bumped the refridgerator and two 3/4 inch scratches and a minor dent occurred. We paid cash for the W&D and took them away. When he got home there was an email from the seller telling us they were very upset that there were 2 scratches and a dent on their refridgerator and that it was going to be a "significant amount of money to have it fixed" and that they would be in touch with us so we could pay to fix it. Can you please tell me what are our rights with something like this? It was a very difficult situation to removed them (actually we thought they would have been disconnected and removed before we picked them up). You help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

This is a difficult problem. Your husband probably would have been best off having them move it to the door - did he get help from the owner? Yes, in retrospect your idea was what you should have done. My guess is that this is best worked out with them and providing some amount of payment would be appropriate. Once your husband started trying to move it he took responsibility for moving the item safely, IMHO. I can't say whether another person might have a different opinion but it seemed that, at that point, he owned the item and risks transferred to him. Best of luck with this and hopefully you can keep this out of small claims court...