Sold a PC Through Craigslist, and Buyer is Threatening to Sue Me

[armyguydan123]

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Idaho

I sold a lady a 17" HP laptop. I listed the specs of the computer, said it was fast and had an amazing battery life. Nothing else in the listing. She met me, i was selling for $350 and she offered me $270. i accepted. We met at a local fast food place where for about 10-20 mins, she played around with it. She also had her grandson(think) there to ask me questions. She accepted it and handed over the $270 but wanted a receipt. On the receipt i listed that i sold her a 17" hp XXXXXX model with certain specs for $270. thats it. She used it for 2 days and right around 48 hours later she called and was having problems. She hadnt plugged in the charger and the laptop shut down and after trying to charge it, it wouldnt turn back on. From all the research i did it looks like the bios is corrupted. She called prob 30 times in 3 days and finally is threatening to sue me. I told her to go ahead as it was sold as is with no warranty. Does she have a case? I am also a pc tech and i do testing on all computers i sell(hardware diagnostics) and do not sell any that fail unless it is a part i can replace(which this computer has a brand new hard drive). there is no way to prove i have done this but can bringing this up help me in court? also, she mentioned idaho has a 3 day return any sale if you are not happy law but i cannot for the life of me find anything about that anywhere. any help would be appreceiated.

[LawResearcherMissy]

Does she have a case?

From where I sit, no. If you want a computer with a warranty and technical support for when you mess something up with it, you buy a new one from a dealer that offers such things, not a used one from a stranger on Craigslist.

also, she mentioned idaho has a 3 day return any sale if you are not happy law but i cannot for the life of me find anything about that anywhere.

That's because there isn't one that applies to all purchases, only to automobiles.

Let her threaten. For that matter, let her sue. Keep a copy of your listing, just in case, and tell her to stop calling you or you'll have her brought up on harassment charges. Thirty calls in three days is an obscene number of calls.

[armyguydan123]

TY. I have kept 7 of her messages. i have all 36 calls saved on my phone showing how many times she called. she tried to get me to refund $200 and i told her no. it was a working computer till she screwed it up. i had it for 30 days and it ran fine.

[Mr. Knowitall]

That's because there isn't one that applies to all purchases, only to automobiles.

Oops - that should be "only to items purchased in the home following an unsolicited sales visit."

[LawResearcherMissy]

I sit corrected! This is what happens when you have too many tabs open!

[osgo]

[QUOTE=armyguydan123;629915]My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Idaho
I sold a lady a 17" HP laptop. I listed the specs of the computer, said it was fast and had an amazing battery life. Nothing else in the listing.

I realize that computers can be a bit of a crapshoot...and for all we know, her grandson may have been trying to boost the processor, try the system in their pool or attempt to see if dog hair could be substituted for a hard-drive platter.

But BIOS corruption? That's pretty rare. Unless it's a Toshiba...or Apple...but Toshiba's are known for this because their architecture is a bit different. Apple's load-as-they-go. Both types are highly reliable and good systems...I'm not familiar with what HP uses (AMIBIOS, etc...) The main thing? How would you know unless you looked at it?

Have you thought about meeting the lady in a public place, getting her some hot chocolate...and simply checking it out? Would that cost you too much? $270 may be a lot to her...her grandson was probably looking forward to it...would it really hurt to attempt to help rather than go immediately to 'Caveat emptor'?

Old ladies talk a lot. Gossip. And wouldn't it be just the right thing to do?

[LawResearcherMissy]

Osgo, you realize this deals with legal information, and not scolding the guy for not doing something he isn't legally obligated to do?

If Grammy screwed up her computer, it's incumbent upon her to take it to a REPAIR SHOP. It's no longer Armyguydan's responsibility, and hasn't been since she took the computer.

I repair computers for family and friends, and you know, just because I know how to do it doesn't mean I'm obligated to do it for free because "it's the right thing to do". Skills cost time and time costs money, bub.