Monday, March 25, 2013

If I hear dueling banjos, we're outta here!

This is not a love story...


See this dresser?
It's been on Craigslist, along with three nightstands,
for months and month.

This is what the posting said:

THIS WAS MY GRANDMOTHERS FURNITURE. OVER 30 YRS. OLD. FRENCH ANTIQUE WHITE DRESSER, WITH TWO MIRRORS. IN GREAT CONDITION. THERE ARE 3 NIGHTSTANDS THAT GO WITH IT. ALL ARE OF SAME GOLD LEAF PATTERN. I WANT TO SELL THIS AS A SET.
PLEASE MAKE A REASONABLE OFFER. all offers will seriously be considered..
PLEASE REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR NAME, AND NUMBER AND YOUR OFFERING PRICE. PLEASE CALL xxx-xxx-xxxx.
ALT. # xxx-xxx-xxxx NO TEXTS. CANNOT RECIEVE TEXTS, AT THIS NUMBER.
THANK YOU.
I'm taking all offers. If interested, leave me an email, with your offering prices. please be close to asking price. no unreasonable offers. thank you. 

I don't think 30yrs makes it an antique,
but I'm not an antique dealer so what do I care, right?

I contacted the seller when they first listed it

How many times in this posting does it say they will consider all offers?
I think five. Five times they mention making an offer.
So I made an offer. A reasonable offer
$50 less than the asking price

They declined stating they were FIRM ON PRICE
 Huh? 
I guess I don't fully understand the concept of 
MAKE AN OFFER
ALL OFFERS CONSIDERED
LEAVE YOUR OFFER
 
It is located over an hour from home, so I decided to pass on it...
(partially due to the drive, partially on principle)
they couldn't tell me the maker or if it was all wood
and I didn't want to make the drive without having more info

Then, a few months later, the price dropped
what did it drop to, you ask?

My initial offer price

And of course, the listing still says the same as above...
All reasonable offers considered

so I contact them again, asking what's their best price
They are FIRM, they state again.
At this point, it's sort of a running joke...
Kenny: "Anything good on CL?
Me: "No, just the Make-an-Offer-Must-Sell-But-Price-is-Firm people"

I let it sit a few more weeks, 
actually wondering why on earth it's still around...
maybe it's a disaster, or smells bad

Soon, it's relisted yet again...this time without a price
(makes it hard to make an offer close to asking price, you know?)

So I decide to bite the bullet and just pay the asking price,
whatever it happened to be this month...
(truth be told, it was the drive, not the price, that was the issue)

I have Kenny call them, 
and the husband talks to him for awhile...
and agrees to a price (only $15 less than their second asking price)
Kenny explains we are FAR away
and seller assures us he's
"got nowhere to go"

Up until now, they've only spoken to me, via email...
so they have no idea it's the same people that made an offer 
LAST YEAR

Kenny tells him we'll be there in two hours
and leaves our phone numbers, just in case

We arrive, nearly two hours later...
down at the end of a dirt road in a rural area...
and guess who is 
NOT HOME!!

We call both contact numbers, with no response...
so we leave, after waiting about 20 minutes
(it was a little too "Deliverance" to hang out, if you know what I mean...)

 so yeah, that's pretty annoying :0(  

The reason I'm not totally pissed off?

Because on the way there, an hour from home, I eye-spied
what I thought was a French dresser sitting out front, amongst the junk

In fact, it WAS a French dresser!
And not just A French dresser...It's a WHITE FINE FURNITURE dresser
circa 1930's....you know, the era of two inch thick drawer faces and solid brass hardware...
and there, right behind it, the ornately hand carved mirror, in PERFECT condition

I can't tell you what I paid for it...but it was less than I pay for a haircut!



Oh, and if you are local and have this CL ad saved, 
thinking you might make the drive
don't waste your time!

Has this happened to you?
Have you ever made concrete plans to buy something
and have the seller TOTALLY flake on you?

13 comments:

  1. Are some people ridiculous or what? Yes similar things have happened to me.............
    I just bought the complete bedroom set ( which is a slightly fancier version of the one you show - this weekend actually lol
    The dresser - Tall boy - 2 endtables and a headboard ( the one I bought has iron grid work on 2 center cupboard doors - but very very similar.
    Once John went to pick up a dresser and told me I sent him right into the gates of hell LMAO..............gangs hanging around outside - the whole shebang......I would have kept driving personally lol
    Can't wait to see what you got!
    XOX

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    1. I've sent Kenny into the ghetto more than once...he's been approached to buy drugs, sex, guns...and he still goes right in and gets the goods...(furniture, of course!)

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  2. Oh the adventures we go through looking for our treasures! I can't say that I've ever been stood up by a seller such as your experience. I did recently have a stalker while attending an auction in a small town. Our car had broken down just as we got into town. He directed us to a mechanic, which was greatly appreciated. I went on to the auction with my daughters and he proceeded to show up there. Would leave and then come back. He began to get a little too friendly, like we we'd been familiar before...He wanted to drive our items back home for us (50 miles) and even helped load our van. This was all greatly appreciated but his advancing hand on my back was not. Not sure what he thought was owed, but he got the wrong girl! We booked out of town and didn't even return a couple days later for our last load!

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  3. Bummer, but glad it all worked out! I think I would have to post an ad "RE: said ad name " and just cut and paste this post warning others. That's just ridiculous. Can't wait to see your find though! :)

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  4. Wow, you are right what we won't go through! I have had all kinds of quick exit strategies like having my husband on the cell phone and talking to him all the way though the encounter saying things like "I don't know honey, I don't think this will work. I'll be home in about 5 minutes from xxxx Street." I never go inside alone and never turn my car off. LOL. But, nonetheless, I do listen to my instincts and keep on drivin' sometimes!

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    1. You're braver than I...I won't go alone. Strange people out there!

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  5. I can not believe the gall of some people, making you drive 2 hours for nothing. I have been stood up at my own house a few times. Had a lady email me a couple of times for a set of tea cups. Sent her individual pics as she asked,all 30 of them. spread them out on my kitchen table. And twice she never bothered showing up. When I emailed her, she said I am sorry I work 3 jobs and I am sorry you have nothing better to do than sit around and wait for me. I was so mad. then a few months later she responds to another add I had online and emails me about a craft fair she is organizing. The lady has some nerve. Have had numerous no shows for furniture, people can be so rude. I would never do that to someone. Glad you found something and your drive wasn't for nothing. Gorgeous dresser, love it. curious did you ever hear from the other people? hugs Tobey

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    Replies
    1. the wife called Kenny back and asked if he was calling to rent a room. HUH? Um, no.

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  6. I have two stories for ya~
    1st--Once, shopping at HomeGoods, I was deliberating on a pair of really cool lions. I carried them over to an empty table top where I could see them better--the left and right, the details, and if it would be worth the $$ and trouble of changing the finish. I probably was a bit over the top spinning them around~inspecting them.
    A woman suddenly walked up and took one, put it in her cart, and walked off. HuH?? I went right after her to cry foul~she wouldn't give it back and started cussing at me--again, HuH?? The store mngr wouldn't do anything, and getting more pissed off--I slammed the other in her cart and yelled some stuff at her I didn't know I had in me.
    When I walked around the corner~there was a pair of inCREDible -AND- inCREDibly well priced large faux alabaster urns THAT I WOULD HAVE MUCH RATHER HAD ANYWAY!

    2nd--I made an inquiry from a CL ad last summer--the guy called me, and called me, and called me~like a stalker. Many times a day for about two weeks. I DiD go check out the barn boards and buy some--but not without taking some big guys with me to run interference, one pretending to be the husband--I never said he was MinE. The calls stopped.

    I'm sO glad you found a BiG, drool-worthy reward after all thAt!
    Ever hear the saying, "Karma's only a B*@#$ when you are" --?!? It helps me let go~
    Catherine

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    1. people are NUTS, aren't they? And girl, I just posted on FB last week with that same title...Karma's only a bitch if you are :0)

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  7. O.M.G.
    I just looked up the ad.
    They have it listed for $1~
    should I make an offer--?? ; D
    Catherine

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    1. I think EVERYONE should call and make them an offer...then keep them waiting around all day for you to show up! JERKS!

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  8. I've had numerous occasions where I contact a seller on CL, get confirmation from them that the item is available, then we proceed to make plans for pickup. I try to be very flexible and say I'm available at their earliest convenience, so it's not like I'm being difficult with a pickup time. I arrange a sitter for my son, go to the bank to withdraw cash, borrow a vehicle (if need be), and half an hour before I'm supposed to be there I get an email from the seller saying someone just came and picked it up. This has happened multiple times.

    I understand that no-shows are a big problem, and as a seller it's a good idea to talk to all offers/inquiries, but I ALWAYS let EVERYONE I'm talking to know if there are other people interested who are in line ahead of them. And I certainly never confirm plans to meet up with them if someone else is due 30 min before hand.

    To help avoid this situation as a buyer, I've started 'confirming' with a seller via email (or whatever contact method they've been using) that we're still on for the pickup, or I ask some other random question (about directions or something). If a seller has been very responsive and then all of a sudden goes MIA, it's a good sign he's stalling because he has another buyer coming by before me and doesn't want to scare me off in case the other buyer no-shows or changes their mind once they've seen the item. But it sure would be nice if the seller would be honest and tell me that's what's going on so I can make the decision to run thru my pre-buy routine mentioned above.

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