Naiada

Can anyone help / offer advice, please? I just sold a fairly rare and quite valuable vintage knitting machine and accessories to a business as a private sale to a business. It's run a couple who specialise in repairing and reselling secondhand knitting machine parts. I tested the machine and accessory prior to selling and both were working. The business has just texted me with a fairly aggressive message to say 'it can't be working as part of it is missing' and that the pattern reading accessory does not work. I know that both parts were working when I handed them over, so it is just their word against mine. (I haven't replied to ask what part is missing yet) When they arrived to pick up, the owner said he needed to do 'due diligence' ie to open the case of the machine and check it was all there. He did all that and did not mention anything was missing at that point. They paid by bank transfer on pickup. Unfortunately for me, I got them to pay into my business ac (even though I no longer run a business and am retired, I still have the account) and now they say because they paid to a business ac they can dispute the payment. I did get them to sign a delivery note with a list of items that they were buying but I did not specify 'bought as seen' on the note. How does it work when it's one person's word against another? I originally found the business online and emailed them with the details and photos. They had good reviews for selling items (but no reviews re: buying items) The owner always replied by phone rather than email so although I have notes of our conversations I do not have anything in writing from him. I'm feeling angry at having trusted them and also upset - textile design was my career before I retired and I wish I'd just given the machine to a charity now1 Any helpful advice much appreciated!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, and for taking the time to reply.

I need to get quite a lot of braid similar to the example in the photo but in orange and also a greeny/mustard shade to go round the edges of two pieces of furniture that we're getting re-upholstered but most of the ones I've found online are too twiddly/fancy. Needs to be about 1cm - 1.5cm wide. Can anyone suggest actual shops / stockists who may have a large range of trims? thanks

Recommendation for Tom. I saw the above post on the East Dulwich forum and contacted him to mend a few leaks on some radiators, which he has now done. He is reasonably priced and very easy to have around - friendly and efficient and knows his stuff. He carried out our job on a Sunday (no extra cost to a weekday) which is useful if you are out at work during the week as it saves taking time off. We will certainly use his services again if we need more plumbing work.

Are there any cat owners in East Dulwich interested in swapping occasional catsitting visits? The friend I used to swap with no longer has a cat so I'm looking for someone else with a cat who may need a catsitter who is happy to stay a while with the cat (I'm happy to do that). Our indoor cat is 20 (!) but still lively with a lot of personality and she loves company. I can send more details to anyone who may be interested. We live near Northcross Road SE22 so it would be great to find other cat owners very near by if possible. I can give you more details about me as well as our cat if anyone is interested, just send me a PM ...

Are there any cat owners in East Dulwich interested in swapping occasional catsitting visits? The friend I used to swap with no longer has a cat so I'm looking for someone else with a cat who may need a catsitter who is happy to stay a while with the cat (I'm happy to do that). Our indoor cat is 20 (!) but still lively with a lot of personality and she loves company. I can send more details to anyone who may be interested. We live near Northcross Road SE22 so it would be great to find other cat owners very near by if possible. I can give you more details about me as well as our cat if anyone is interested, just send me a PM ...

Recommended! I visited last weekend and was really impressed by the standard and variety of work. Maria and John are the curators and also artists themselves and made us feel very welcome. The gallery is close to the Ivy House pub in Nunhead. I hope they have more of these sort of exhibitions as it's great to see lots of local art under one (interesting) roof.

thanks for the link Sephiroth. I tried that on other sites but the one you found does look similar...