Consumer Law, Warranties Do I have to Refund deposits money after 60 days past promised payment and pick up

[azmendedhearts]

My jurisdiction is: Arizona

I am a new business owner. I opened a small thrift shop about 4 months ago. 7 weeks ago a woman came in as we were just bringing in a sectional couch that we had purchased at an estate sale, and going to re-sell at our thrift shop. The woman put down $200 and said she would be back in a week to pay the remaining balance of $450 and pick- up. After 3 weeks we went to the bank to get a copy of her check so we could go and try to contact her. In the mean time we had to get a storage shed to store the sectional. And lost out on selling the sectional several times. After going to her house on 4 different occasions to try to make contact we gave up. Six weeks later after she was suppose to pick up sectional we put it back up for sale. We sold it but for $75 less than what we were originally asking. A week later she finally came back into our shop and now wants a full refund. Is she entitled to the full $200 even after having to pay for two months storage and all the head ache. Obviously we won't make that mistake again. But we are trying to make it in this rough economy and extra expenses like this hurt. Please help if you have an answer.

 

[dee_dub]

Generally (AZ law may differ and I am not an expert in it) when someone gives a deposit they enter into an agreement to purchase the thing, usually within a specified period of time. You're risking losing a sale to other prospective purchasers; the deposit is your surety that they will complete their end of the transaction.

What the exact terms of the deposit arrangement were are unclear, but if she said she would pick up within a week, let's go with that. A week passed and she didn't complete the deal. Three weeks, six weeks... I imagine that if she tried to pursue this in court, she might have a difficult time persuading the judge that she was entitled to rescind the contract six weeks after she was supposed to have completed it.

If you wanted to avoid further mess, you might offer to return $200 less your $75 loss on the sale, further less your costs in storing it. If you want to stick to your guns, tell her she is too late and her deposit is forfeit.