As much as I love Craigslist, it does have its risks.

When we purchased our long trailor, we found out the seller also had a gate, an electric gate! Package deal? Yes! We couldn’t take all of it at once so we left a deposit and decided that my dad would pick up the gate and a truck part that was part of the deal at a later time.

A few days later the Craigslist seller phoned us and asked us to drop off the rest of the money to hold the items. I had a gut feeling that maybe it wasn’t a wise thing to do, but my dad puts his faith in people and that people are good. So my dad went to pick up the truck part and pay the guy the rest of the money. Unfortunately, the guy did not have the truck part out yet, but still needed the money to hold the items. So my dad paid him…

Weeks went by and we could NOT get a hold of the Craigslist seller.

Strangely, we received some text messages saying the items were gone. We figured we had been had and I regretted not trusting my gut instinct. Then, out of the blue, the seller called and told me that his ex-girlfriend stole his phone and sent me false messages. He gave us a time to come pick up the gate.

When my dad and Jay got to the seller’s house it was loaded with firetrucks and police vehicles.

His house was literally on fire! My dad and Jay stuck around and waited for the fire to be put out. (I’m not joking this Craigslist deal was like a soap opera.) Once the fireman said it was safe to go in, they were finally able to take the gate! The owner was obviously distraught as the side of his house just burnt down, but he was also apologetic about what happened with items he sold us. As the side of his house was smoking, he was sorry he was unable to get the seats out of the truck, but he would soon. At least we got the gate this time.

Since the fire, I’ve messaged the seller a few more times about the seats.

He keeps saying they should be out soon! He is a wonderful man but down on his luck with a major health problem and, of course, the fire. We’ve cut the seats down to a loss at this point.

Lesson learned? Not entirely.

My dad will always trust that people are good and crappy things happen. I’m just happy we got the gate! I love it. We got the items for a great deal, so it wasn’t a wash just a good life lesson. Who knows, we might get a call later on down the road to come and grab the seats.

Becky

Becky is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Landscape & Production Horticulturist, Arborist and budding Herbalist, who recognizes and specializes in the link between healthy soil, the gut and the brain. She also loves being the mom to her two wild and crazy kids Brooke & Connor whom keep her and her ever loving, creative husband Jay on their toes.