Can I Get Back My Traded Laptop

**hellobyebye** · 12-22-2008, 05:35 PM

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

I need some legal advice...I bought a Macbook Air 9 months ago and I was unhappy with it. It doesn't have a lot of power and I want to start getting into web design. So I posted an ad on Craigslist. I got one guy who e-mailed me about trading. My plan was to sell the Air and get money and then buy a new one but I reconsidered because the guy had a great Macbook Pro and he sent me photos and they looked great. It seemed to be very legitimate and we spoke several times. Finally I decided to go for it. I wasn't available to meet him when he wanted to meet so my boyfriend went to meet up with the guy. Well, he must have Photoshopped the photos because the computer was all scratched up and whatnot and the trackpad button doesn't work, you have to hold it down to get it to do anything. He made no mention of anything like that. He also lied about the RAM and the specs and basically glorified everything. So now we can't get a hold of him. He could be busy or whatever but I am completely unsure. I don't know what to do. I can't believe I fell for this. I need my computer for school which starts up in a few weeks. This computer we traded has no resale value! I am freaking out! Any advice? I have all of the e-mails and everything. Any advice?!? This happened just 45 minutes ago!!

**Mr. Knowitall** · 12-24-2008, 07:49 PM

I suspect you're going to have a hard time tracking this person down, and a near impossible time convincing him to "trade back". If you succeed, great. But I suspect he's quite happy with the trade.

If you can prove misrepresentations about the features or condition of the computer you received in trade, consider small claims court. As for things you could see (or, I guess more accurately, your boyfriend could see) at the time of the trade, you're not likely to have any luck arguing that you should be able to get out of the deal due to obvious scratches or cosmetic damage.