Shortsighted seller

Yesterday i travelled 200km to buy a 2001 Peugeot selling for 600euro. A great deal since it was about half the normal selling price.

Before taking the long bus ride down to Tartu, i talked with the seller named Marko, who kindly advised me of all the defects on the vehicle (a sensor not working and rear suspension issues). He also told me that the vehicle comes with extra snow tires, the inspection is good for three months, and that the balance of the insurance will be transferred to the new owner (all were also noted in the online ad).

Since it seemed like a good buy, i committed to buying the vehicle and asked him to hold it for me until i arrive. He still needed to get authorization to sell the vehicle since it was in the name of his employer.

I arrived at 11:40am, but he was running late expecting to arrive at 12:30 (actually arrived at 13:00). I looked at the car, it was a bit rougher than he had described, although it had no rust the driver’s seat was sacked out, the radio and fan didn’t work and the rear door didn’t open from outside. He also now wanted an extra 100euro for the winter tires, which i declined. Somewhat disappointed that he wasn’t completely upfront with me, but considering the great price i still agreed to buy it.

We arrived at the registration office, where he advised me that the price was plus 20% tax since a business was selling it. Well i argued the advertised price was 600 total, but he rebutted that he told me plus VAT by phone (i understood it was VAT included). He said if i’m not interested he already has many others waiting to buy it (which at the price i can believe). Well, for the extra 120 he pointed out that it still had about half year insurance, more than half a tank of fuel, and valid inspection for 3 months, so i still (somewhat reluctantly) agreed..

We filled out the forms only to discover that the permission given by the company’s director wasn’t formulated correctly. While waiting for the correct permission to arrive, we had a good talk about Estonians and business,  and i shared some of the not so pleasant experiences i’ve had. He agreed that Estonians and business people should become more honest, and not be so shortsighted in their business dealings. He then gave me his business card for future business reference, which i received with a thank-you and smile (thinking this business contact may still be good)

After waiting for what seemed like forever (2-3 hours) he finally had the correct permission to sell it. Upon registration, it became apparent that the inspection was not expiring in October as he stated, but this month! My fault of course for not double checking... I then asked the registration clerk to check the insurance status which she confirmed was valid until April 2013, but i would need to go to the insurance office to transfer it after the vehicle transfer goes through the system..

Well in the 5 minutes it took for me to get to the insurance rep, Hansa Maaler had cancelled the insurance policy leaving me with only valid insurance for the current day! Another deception of the seller, who looked at me and said ‘I hope you’re not disappointed, you still got a good deal!’

‘Typical Estonian behavior’ i responded, thinking this is exactly the shortsightedness i described which causes people to lose trust in Estonians. Apparently feeling uncomfortable about the situation, Marko kept reminding me how good a deal i still got, blaming the transaction indiscrepancies on his employer’s decision.

I still followed through on my agreement to buy the vehicle and drive him close to 30km home afterwards (though for a short moment i felt like leaving him stranded at the registration office). During the drive, he started telling me about his hobby farm venture and gave a sales pitch for his organic products, to which i replied 'i’ll think about it' (though after this vehicle transaction experience, his credibility had dropped quite a few points).

So, would i buy anything from Marko again? I really wouldn’t be inclined to. Would i recommend his company Hansa Maaler to anyone?  Probably not. They may be a great company and offer great products, but they are shortsighted: Regardless how good the deal was, failing to deliver what they promised on this simple transaction, may end up costing them many times more in the long run..

Sadly, i’ve found this behavior to be quite typical in Estonia and in many other places in Eastern Europe. Shortsighted individuals who focus only on short term gain. Be it with business partners, sales people or just simple person to person transactions, these shortsighted sellers don’t seem to realize that in the long run, they only end up shortchanging themselves...