I was conned

[harmy99]

Conned by small business-need advice- Ohio

What is the name of your state?
-Ohio

I recently purchased a violin from a fellow who had his own small business. He told me the violin was hand-crafted and made in Germany. I only had about 300 dollars to spend and told him that I didn't want to go much higher. He told me he was giving me a deal on the instrument, that it was worth about $800, and because it is Christmas and he feels generous he'd give it to me for the price I wanted. I normally don't trust people all that well so I wasn't sure whether to deal with this fellow or not. I looked him up online and saw that he donated a violin to charity at one time and also saw that he was not listed for fraud at the better business bureau website. I decided I'd go out on a limb and trust him. After I brought the violin home I felt uneasy about the purchase and so I inquired about it to an expert on violins on the West Coast. He informed that I had in fact been jipped, the violin was Chinese made and the whole outfit was only worth 200, at most. I ended up paying around 325 for the whole outfit before I knew this. I paid with check. He said nothing about his return policy. The only thing he ever mentioned was that there was no warranty. My question is... Can I cancel the check before he cashes it and just give him back the violin? If he did cash the check should I go down to his place of business and ask for a refund and then if he says "no" get a lawyer? I guess I am just curious what would be my best move in the situation and if I did something wrong besides trusting this man. It's more about the principal of the situation than the money, and I don't want this happening to other people. Thanks a million.

 

[shortbus]

Your first step is to call the guy who sold it and ask him what the story is.

How is it remotely possible that it would be worth the money to hire a lawyer?

 

[harmy99]

His business is not open until Monday, so I am going to call him then-but I was wondering, before I talk to him, if should I cancel the check Monday morning so he can't cash it. I wanted to know if that was a legit move. I figure if he lied to me about so much already he's probably not going to give me a refund. I don't know why I'd need a lawyer, personally- but if he's practicing business by lying don't you think that should be stopped?

 

[racer72]

Cancelling the check will do nothing but get you in trouble. That is called fraud. Legally you are on very shaky ground, much like we preach when it comes to used motor vehicles, you should have had the violin checked before, not after the sale. The correct procedure is to attempt to negotiate a price with the seller and if that does not work, consider small claims court. But all the seller has to claim is that he thought the violin was worth what he sold it to you for and you accepted it at that price. Case dismissed, you lose.

 

[dallas702]

After paying for years of lessons (and a heckuva lot for the instrument) for my daughter who is (was) a symphony violist, I can tell you that it is almost impossible to get a decent violin for under $800-1000. A good bow is $200 and up.

The Chinese stuff is being peddled everywhere, and is generally low quality but not bad for the price. If you are looking for a beginner instrument you should just keep what you have for now. If you (or your child?) are an accomplished player and want a quality instrument you'll have to search the classifieds for a used instrument and take your chances. Anything in this price range online will be Chinese.

You can certainly talk to the shop owner about his deception. Maybe he will offer a few bucks off...especially if you tell him you will spread the word that he is selling Chinese stuff as otherwise. You could stop payment on the check and return the violin, probably without much argument from him. No one is going to arrest and prosecute you for doing that, but if he were completely nuts he might try to take you to small claims court. He would likely lose based on his dishonsty, and then have to also cover the court costs.

But...you still wouldn't have a violin, and for $300 you're not going to do much better.

Go tell him you want $50 off/back for his lying act of deception or you'll tell all the schools and violin teachers in the area that he is a fraud.

 

[shortbus]

Go tell him you want $50 off/back for his lying act of deception or you'll tell all the schools and violin teachers in the area that he is a fraud.

= extortion. Not legal

 

[harmy99]

Thanks for all the advice. His business actually opens on Tuesday so I'm going to call first thing in the morning and see if I can get a refund. If not I'm going to put a stop payment on the check if it hasn't already been cashed. I'm hoping it hasn't. If it has I'm not sure what my next plan of action is going to be, but I don't want this injustice to go unpunished. If I was Buddhist I wouldn't worry about this whole situation because of Karma.

And Dallas, what type of violin would you recommend. The other ones I have been looking at are Hans Kroger violins. I found a whole outfit for around $600, what do you think of those?

Thanks a lot.