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How to handle this - saddle sent out on trial, person won't pay

Looking for collective wisdom here. :slightly_smiling_face:

My former trainer sent one of my saddles out on trial many months ago to another trainer named “Sally” (not her real name). Sally told me two months ago she wanted it and asked about Venmo payment. I didn’t have a Venmo account at the time but set one up just for this transaction. Sally then dickered about the price - said the trainer had told her $200 less than what trainer told me. I offered to compromise and take a $100 cut.

I have given her ample opportunity to pay, have extended deadlines multiple times, have had multiple text conversations with her where she has offered multiple excuses (horse got injured, child got injured, etc., etc.). I have been very patient and given her additional time but am now really pressing her. Last text from her said she understood my situation and was going to move funds around so she could get it taken care of. I gave her ANOTHER deadline for at least part of the payment with balance due in the next two weeks. Deadline has come and gone and I have received nothing.

I’m not sure how to proceed at this point. I have been advised by others to report the saddle to my insurance company as stolen. That will probably mean a police report and I don’t want to have to go there but I absolutely intend to get this resolved.

Any advice?

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Print out and archive all the texts, emails, etc., file a police report and take her to (small claims?) court.

Your former trainer may be a jerk too.

I don’t see why you can’t state her name. She has yanked you around for months. I bet she sold your saddle for more than your original asking price too.

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And just like that - she has just paid the amount she was supposed to pay by the last deadline.

Guess my text to her this morning that I was moving to the next step lit a fire under her. Or maybe she is reading this thread. :grinning:

Now I will see if she makes the next payment on time.

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I don’t want to publicly out her. She is a young mother with (I think) several kids. And a young professional with her own barn and clientele. I understand the struggles of someone trying to make it in the horse industry. Additionally, we have multiple acquaintances in common (the trainer who sent the saddle to her on trial is aware I have been having problems collecting the funds).

My thoughts are that if this lady can afford to go horse showing, she can afford to pay for the saddle. Hopefully things are on the right track now.

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I hope so too! But it sounds to me as though you were chasing her down for the money, rather than her reaching out to you, explaining AND coughing up even $50 in good faith money. Which makes me leery of her and her business practices & business accumen. May her clients be reliable, sane, and pay her on or before the due dates.

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Sounds like she is struggling to be professional, to me. I hope she appreciates your kindness, and pays ontime for now on. If you are in the same circles, she’s in danger of burning her reputation right out of the gate.

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@DownYonder - I had a similar experience selling a saddle (out “on trial” for months; person not answering my texts, etc.), so I finally texted that I was going to have to report it as stolen. I immediately got a four-word text, “Been in the hospital.” Oh god, I felt like SUCH an a-hole; immediately texted back “I’m so sorry; I had no idea; take your time; I hope you are well”. I asked a mutual acquaintance to pass on my best wishes for her health — she looked puzzled and said, “No, she’s totally fine - she’s just been saving up for a boob job and finally got it a few weeks ago.” I texted back “payment or saddle returned within 48h or I go to the police” and lo and behold, the money is in my account.

Hope you get full payment soon!

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Contact her tell her you’re coming to pick saddle up.

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Tell your former trainer that her friend owes you money and that you are seriously considering legal action against her friend. Moreover, though you hesitate to blacken her friends name, an action in the small claims court will go public.

I fail to see why being a young professional, having a tough time with her children, it being in the horse world, etc etc makes the slightest difference to the fact that she owes you money for goods sold.

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This. I’m a single parent living in a HCOL area & went through a rough patch financially due to a health crisis 3 years ago. My grandmother used to say that she didn’t like for the sun toset on her debts. I’m the same way. It gets paid immediately, or I pull up my big girl undies & talk to the other party & work out a mutually agreeable schedule.

If she can’t pay for the saddle, she sends it back immediately.

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Please do make sure your communications with her include something like - I received your payment of $100 towards the X Brand Saddle that you are buying from me. The next payment of $100 is due no later than Y date. Currently the owed balance on this saddle is $zzzz.

Then there is no doubt of all the details and this person can not claim that they paid it all off or that they did not know the date it was due, etc.

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Thank you all for your comments. As I mentioned, within only a few minutes of me texting her and posting here about moving to the next step in the collection process, she sent the first payment. It was 12 hours past my latest deadline, but at least she is getting the idea that I won’t go away until this debt is settled.

I have made it clear to her in several texts what my expectations are for the remaining payments (due dates and amounts). She used five different excuses before making the first payment, so it will be interesting to see if she makes good on the settlement now or comes up with yet more excuses.

I will consider outing her if she fails to make the remaining payments. I don’t want to have to go there, nor do I want to have to go to small claims court or file a police report but I will do what I need to do to get this issue resolved.

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If this were me after being yanked around like that I would’ve told her pay up in full or it’s going down legal road. I hope you do not run into an issue where she makes partial payments and then stops close to the end.

Also there is no excuse for people not paying for services/goods. Especially in a luxury sport. That is their own financial mismanagement. No compassion for that kind of bullshit, if she cannot afford the saddle she does not get the saddle.

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I doubt you’re going to get all of your money without fighting tooth and nail for months and months. I’d request payment in full or the saddle returned the second another payment is an hour late.

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Last word from DownYonder was about a month ago. Down Yonder, how did it go? Did you get the rest of the money?

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Has payment #2 or the balance on the saddle been paid @DownYonder ?

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Alas, I am still waiting for the final payment. She made the first two payments late and only after I hounded her and mentioned reporting the saddle as stolen, filing a police report, going to small claims court. Then wonder of wonders, she made the third payment mostly on time without me goading her. The final payment was due Monday and I haven’t seen it yet. I have continually extended terms and clearly laid out the payment plan to her but apparently deadlines don’t mean much to this lady. I wonder if she conducts the rest of her life this way and is constantly delinquent with mortgage/rent/barn lease, payments to vets, farriers, feed stores, truck payment, etc. I don’t really know this lady but now know enough to not have much respect for her as a professional.

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Narrator: she does.

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If she’s in NJ and it’s the same person, I had to go to their house and threaten to sue to get merchandise some students ordered from her husband.

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As an individual sometimes selling stuff, expensive items don’t go on trial unless paid in full up front. If they don’t want the item and it comes back undamaged, they get the money back. If they want it, they just keep it at the end of the trial. I also won’t do payments after a bad experience with that. The person did not have the item (I will not turn it over until all payments are received) but they kept stretching out the timeline and having excuses. I would send a Paypal invoice on the agreed upon dates and then have to badger for weeks to get it paid. It was a popular item that cost under $200 and I could have probably sold ten times over in the meantime, but they were a friend of a friend so I let them make three payments. To get the final payment I had to threaten to cancel the sale and send the rest of their money back. Then they were supposed to pick it up as part of a deal where I had already lowered the price to remove shipping costs, but they were never available except during my work hours and I ended up having to ship it on my dime just to get it out of my house.

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