DJ haggles young female car seller with ‘sob story’ before listing motor for three times the price just one hour later
Mark McCallum told Sarah Hutchinson he needed the vehicle to spend time at the weekends with his daughter
A YOUNG woman driver claims a DJ haggled her down to less than half her Audi's asking price by spinning a ‘sob story’ - only to list it for three times the price an hour later.
Sarah Hutchinson, 24, listed her Audi TT Quattro 3.2 for sale for £2,500 two weeks ago and was contacted by Mark McCallum, from Glasgow, who offered to buy it.
She informed the nightclub DJ that she needed the cash to buy a more practical car and pay off some debt.
But Mark bombarded her with messages pointing out issues with the vehicle - claiming that it would cost £1,600 to get it up to scratch.
Case worker Sarah, from Strathaven, Scotland, says he ‘spun’ a story that he only wanted a 'wee runner' and that he needed the car for weekends with his daughter.
He even told her he would have to ‘save up’ for the repairs and that his dad would have to buy him a spare key for it.
Sarah claims Mark, who appears to have sold numerous cars on Facebook in recent months, made her so worried that she wouldn’t be able to flog the vehicle that she agreed to slash the price to a mere £1,100.
However she was devastated to spot Mark appearing to list the car for sale online just an hour later - for a whopping £3,850.
When contacted for comment, Mark originally claimed the advert was a prank by his pal.
But the dad subsequently admitted that he would be selling the car after doing repairs on it and was entitled to sell it for as much as he wishes.
Sarah said: "If anyone else is approached by this guy, I’d advise them to be very wary.
"He spun a sob story and didn't make it clear. I'd had no issue with what he was going to do with it afterwards - it's the fact he was so untruthful.
"He said 'I need a car for the weekend - I've got a daughter, we've moved house, we really need a car'.
"I think part of it was that I'm a young girl. The fact is he was condescending, when I'd already done my research and checked it.
"But when you're dealing with things that are more geared towards men, you start to question yourself.”
After deciding to buy a new car for her short commute, Sarah listed her Audi for sale for £2,500 as a bodywork expert said she would only need £400 to touch up.
Mark got in touch with her and offered £1,800 at first, but Sarah showed him a screenshot of an online estimate of more than £3,400.
Telling her to ‘be real’, Mark bemoaned the car’s age, miles to the gallon, lack of service history, number of owners and mileage.
Despite pointing out the ‘bumps and scrapes’ in the original listing, Mark acted surprised when Sarah mentioned these in their exchange and so comes round to view the vehicle.
Mark even tried to flog or trade other vehicles he was selling on Facebook during the process - which she turned down.
Sarah repeatedly tried to walk away from the sale during the ensuing message exchange but was bombarded with further issues by Mark, until she claims she became worried the car would never sell.
Feeling sorry for Mark, worried about her car’s condition and desperate to buy her new pink Nissan Micra convertible, Sarah gave in and settled on just £1,100.
However when Sarah and her mum went on Mark’s Facebook page to see if he was showing off his new purchase, they were devastated to see it listed for sale for £3,850.
Sarah said: "Me and my mum thought we'd have a look to see if he was showing it off.
"We were dead shocked and thought 'that's just an hour after we sold him that'.
"He'd put up the photos of the car in my driveway and he'd put the car was 'immaculate' and he was selling it for £3,850.
“My mum was in contact with him saying 'look, I know you've ripped my daughter off'.”
However she claims Mark complained that the car was ‘gubbed’ and that they had ripped him off.
When contacted for comment, Mark originally claimed he was 'fraped' by a friend who listed it for sale on his personal Facebook page.
Despite the advert still being live more than a week later, he remained adamant that it was 'not for sale'.
While he appears to have listed numerous cars for sale on Facebook over the last year, Mark claims he does not have a side business and just ‘helps friends’ when they ask him to go to car auctions.
However he has since admitted that the vehicle will be sold and says if Sarah is not happy then she should not have looked at his Facebook as ‘it’s not for public viewing’.
Mark said: "I bought the car in good faith and do not need to explain myself.
“If I bought a car through Facebook for £1,100 spent £1,500 on repairs and sold it on, that’s my business.
“If I choose to sell it for £1,000,000, the owner cannot have any comeback.
“She was desperate to sell as she knew the amount it would cost to fix and if I can do this and take on the responsibility then there’s nothing wrong with that.
“They [Sarah] have looked at an advert and decided they are not happy that’s there [sic] problem, it’s my personal Facebook, it’s not for public viewing.
"Ms Hutchinson being in debt is not my responsibility. I also have bills to pay and am a single parent.
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"I paid good money for the car in the condition the car was in. I am being made out to be some kind of bad guy which is not the case at all.
"From my point of view having to spend money repairing the vehicle as no one would consider paying the £2,500 market value unless it was in excellent condition with a new mot, service and the body work repaired.
“No one would consider buying a car at market value in that condition. She just has the hump because she has seen an advert that she did not like.”
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