Good question, I'd be curious to see responses from someone who really knows the law. 

If you have legal insurance then you should ask them as well. 

Apropos something a little different : what rights if any does anyone have after having sent an item by post BEFORE it is paid? OK naive or what? But generally speaking, the Swiss are trustworthy. In retrospect we shouldn't have done this, but wanted to do the recipient a favour. Now, after repeated requests and even putting an invoice into his letterbox, still nothing. NB this has been done by a friend of ours who also lives in W'thur. Presumably this is a lost cause? Oh well, you win some, you lose some - at least Rich you received quite a lot of money! Your remarks regarding the lawyer rings true here too, as it is more than the dictionary is worth.

Actually responses from someone with knowledge of Swiss law would be good Nir. Especially  giving the exact Swiss Law code of obligations to which this situation relates in order to finally put this matter to bed.

I've seen on returns policies for good bought in shops it's dependant on the shop itself and can range from 7 days to one month so am hoping for goods bought second hand it might be less complicated.

I would imagine you've had a few complaints - rightly or wrongly - reported to you for items sold in Glocals classified. What was the course of action recommended then?

Thanks.

We havn't had such complaints on glocals (that doesn't mean they don't happen, of course). If we get such complaints, and since we're not legal experts, I'd suggest to anyone to seek legal advice before taking any further action. If you have legal insurance then legal advice is simple and nearly free, otherwise I'd go to this permanance thing where expert lawyers give their time for CHF 60 an hour. 

From a common sense personal point of view, I would think that if you sell a closet to someone, then the buyer takes it as is, without any guarantee, even if that's not mentioned anywhere in any contract. But the law ain't always aliged with common sense...

Hi Rich.

Well, first of all, if someone wants to get further with such an affair, he will have, indeed, to spend a lot of money! That's why, my first opinion, is that he's saying this just as a "warning", trying to be scary and make you accept the refund. Then, if this person is actually crazy and has nothing better to do in his life, and if he tries to keep on, in this stupid thing, you were right about what compared with the UK. You did not provide any guarantee, it was a transaction between two private persons, so the responsability is in both of you. He's responsible about the second hand good he bought. If you did mentionned what was broken, so you're safe of any charges against you ( if you still have the add or if you have something remaining about your transaction, where you can find that you mentionned that 1 or 2 things were broken or not working correctly, it's a plus for you) And then, what I can advise you to do is :

- If you have a Legal Insurance (called: Protection Juridique), ask them what to do, or even better, ask them to write a (scary)letter to this person. It's easy, you just have to call and ask for it.

- If you DON'T have a legal insurance, tell him that you have one, and tell him that if he wants to go further, you'll let him talk with your lawyer. (it should make him calm down...) AND then, ask for a Legal Insurance contract, because, for the price it costs it really worth it!!!

I always thought that any problem can be solved by discussion and by human contact, but unfortunately some people think different ... :-)