[Judge Levy] You bought a used backhoe.
- The backhoe stopped working? - Yes, sir.
I told him I'll help him get it going.
When we get down to things like this, I'm the bulldog.
[Christopher] When I got the phone call from them
and they cussed me out, what am I gonna help you for?
You're a liar.
- You just heard her call me a... - Stop.
[announcer] Now, on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
Today's case was filed in Goose Creek, South Carolina.
[Cassandra] Your Honor, this is case number 2075,
Jones versus Gordon.
All parties have been sworn in.
- You may be seated. - [Judge Levy] Thank you, Cassandra.
All right. Mr. Jones, according to your complaint,
you bought a used backhoe from the defendant
- for $7,500? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] The day it was delivered, the backhoe stopped working.
You claim that the defendant ripped you off and you're suing him
- for the return of your $7,500? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] And, uh, Mr. Gordon, it was a used 1969 backhoe?
- Yes, sir. - [Judge Levy] You allowed the plaintiff
to inspect it prior to his purchase?
Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] It was sold as is, and you don't owe him anything.
- Correct. - [Judge Levy] All right.
Mr. Jones, why don't you tell us when it was
that you first saw the advertisement?
I went on Facebook Marketplace and I was looking
in search of a backhoe front end loader, and it's called a roller.
I think we have a copy of that video that was placed by the defendant
on Facebook Marketplace.
Let's take a look and make sure it's the same one.
[Nathaniel] Yes, sir.
[Christopher] Yeah, that's, uh, that's my video.
- [Judge Levy] That's your video? - [Christopher] Yes, sir.
And that's me on the machine, operating the machine.
I mean, right then and there
- it's a good running machine, so. - [Judge Levy] I got it.
Mr. Jones, you knew, based upon the description,
- that this was a 1969 piece of equipment? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] So you saw the video, you saw the photographs,
you read the description online.
You wanted to purchase this piece of equipment for what purpose?
[Nathaniel] Oh, by me being the person from the state of New York City...
- [Judge Levy] Uh-hmm. - ... Um,
I didn't venture in that type of life as growing up, so I have to save
for my grandchildren to get them, to bring them down here,
to teach them how this goes, and what have you.
I was interested in buying the equipment and he said,
"Well, if you don't hurry up because I got a sale for it also."
[Judge Levy] So, June 20th you met with the defendant at his home.
Did he make any representations to you
- about the backhoe at that time? - No, he didn't.
[Judge Levy] And did you observe anything about the backhoe
that caused you any concerns?
[Nathaniel] I didn't see anything wrong with it at that point in time
but I--mind you, I never drove it.
Did you arrange for a price at that time with the defendant?
Well, he had it for $8,500
and he marked it down to $7,500
- or offer. - Okay.
- [Nathaniel] At that point in time. - So what did you offer him?
I gave him the $7,500.
[Judge Levy] So you offered him $7,500...
All the $7,500. Yes.
[Judge Levy] ... on the 20th of June and he accepted that?
- Yes. - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] And I read your complaint, so I know that there was also a truck
- that was also purchased by you... - [Nathaniel] Exactly. Exactly.
... at the time you saw the truck when you got there, you're happy with it,
- it's not part of the lawsuit. - Yes.
[Judge Levy] Let's get back to the backhoe.
When was it that you gave him the $7,500?
[Nathaniel] I gave it to him the 21st.
[Judge Levy] You gave him that on June 21st in cash?
- [Nathaniel] Yes, sir. - [Judge Levy] That's correct?
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] All right.
And the defendant delivers the backhoe to your home?
- Yes, sir. - Did he start it?
[Nathaniel] Yeah, he had to start it and so I had him
to push up some dirt that I had in the back of my driveway
and when he pushed up the dirt,
the motor shut off and would not start back up again.
[Judge Levy] Okay. Does that sound about right?
[Christopher] Um, almost, something. Yeah.
[Judge Levy] Okay. What happens when it shuts off and he can't start it again?
- [Nathaniel] Well... - [Judge Levy] Did you tell him,
"Take it back, I don't want it"?
[Nathaniel] No, I didn't do that.
It starts, all it does was whine [makes sounds]
just kept turning, turning, turning,
turning, turning, turning, did that for a while.
It started raining.
He says, "Man, I can come back tomorrow and we can get this thing running again."
[Judge Levy] Is that your recollection?
[Christopher] I honestly, I can't--I don't recollect.
[Judge Levy] Okay. So he leaves it with you
- and he takes off? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] What exactly was it that you claim he wasn't upfront with?
[Nathaniel] The advertisement, Judge, if I can remember it, uh, it runs good...
- [Judge Levy] Yup. - ... and it's a 69-year-old,
uh, backhoe front end loader going for $7,500.
[Judge Levy] Those are the three things that you remember?
[Nathaniel] That I--that I remember.
And there was nothing else that you remember about any problems that the...
- No. - [Judge Levy] Nothing?
Nothing discussing any problems.
Because you know that used vehicles
- are sold as is? - Yes.
[Judge Levy] Consistent with what the defendant says in his answer,
he says, "Listen, I gave you an opportunity to come to my house,
you looked at it, you kicked the tires, so to speak,
you could've brought a mechanic,
you did what you did and you can't be upset."
- That's pretty much your position? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] And so you prepared a video because you can't bring
- the backhoe into... - [Christopher] No.
[Judge Levy] ... to this courtroom, right?
So, let's take a look at clip one.
[Nathaniel] One of the three tires that's flat.
Three days after he brought this tractor here,
air went out of all three of them.
Dry rotted.
Three days after he brought it here.
[Judge Levy] So you're saying that you did not see that dry rot
when you went to inspect the vehicle at his property?
No, not at all because I was enthused with the machine.
[Judge Levy] I get that, but shame on him is what you're saying
- for not telling me about that? - Yeah.
[Judge Levy] All right. Let's go to the next one.
[Nathaniel] Here is another situation with the backhoe,
he brought it, it was in it when he took the picture at his home
when I seen it on Marketplace, it was running free.
When he brought it here, he had this chain to hold it
close to the body so it wouldn't swing loose,
that's because the hydraulic pump
that is the cylinders are shot in, in both of them.
These cylinders, these cylinders are expensive.
[Judge Levy] So there was never any mention
made by him that there was a problem
- with the rear cylinder? - No.
[Judge Levy] The chain that we just saw on that video
was placed on the machine by him when he delivered it into your home...
[Nathaniel] When he went--yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] ... but it was not on when he had it on...
- [Nathaniel] On the exhibit. - ... Marketplace?
On the exhibit, it wasn't on there.
[Judge Levy] Because you would agree,
if in fact he told you about all that stuff,
your lawsuit should probably be dismissed. You would agree with that?
- [Christopher] Yes. If you... - [Judge Levy] Right? Judge Acker.
[Judge Acker] You said something, Mr. Jones,
that I think reflects your entire approach to this transaction
and it may be why you ended up here today.
You said, "I was enthused by the machine."
And I think not only were you enthused by the machine,
you were excited about this whole new lifestyle,
- right? - Yes.
[Judge Acker] New York to South Carolina...
- [Nathaniel] Yes. - ... you're creating a new lifestyle...
- [Nathaniel] Yes. - ... a legacy...
- [Nathaniel] Yes. - ... for your children
- and your grandchildren. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] You know, my great grandfather
was one of the few Black landowners in Mississippi in the Delta.
We still have that property in our family.
- [Nathaniel] Yes, ma'am. - And to have something like that
is a really glorious thing
- and you wanted to build that... - Yes, it is.
- [Judge Acker] ... for your own family. - Yes. Yes, ma'am.
But there are some problems with your lawsuit.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
I yelled at him so many times, calling this guy, asking him,
"Please, man, come, can you help me get this started?"
He totally ignored my husband.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Nathaniel Jones is suing Christopher Gordon
for the return of $7,500 he paid for a used backhoe
that he says never worked.
Christopher says Nathaniel knew it needed work
but was too eager to listen.
Tell me why you didn't have a mechanic check it out with you in the beginning?
Well, I assumed that I had a bit of knowledge
because I'm not really a diesel mechanic
but I got the simple basics of being a mechanic,
you know, I'm working on my own cars and stuff like that.
It's a four-cylinder, I mean, it really wouldn't be all that hard.
But to get back into where I can defend where I'm coming from has been overlooked
on why these material, these particular items here
was not placed on that machine when I got it
until the day that I went to visit him, and then he passed it off to me.
- He passed... - [Judge Acker] Let me--let me point
a couple of things out to you,
because you have to remember that with respect to a used vehicle sale,
the burden is on you
- to do the due diligence. - Yes.
[Judge Acker] Before you give him the money.
- But let me ask you, Mr. Gordon. - [Christopher] Yes.
[Judge Acker] How did you come into possession of this equipment?
Um, I bought it off from Facebook Marketplace.
- [Judge Acker] Why? - Um, I buy and sell stuff.
Um, I have a five-star seller rating on Marketplace.
I sell stuff all the time.
- [Judge Acker] So, did you ever use this? - Other than you seeing it in the video
driving it out of the backyard, no, ma'am, I didn't.
[Judge Acker] How much did you pay for it?
Hmm, um, $1,500.
[Judge Acker] I actually believe people are entitled to make a profit
but you really bought it for a steal,
you made $6,000 on it, and he's never been able to use it for one day.
[Christopher] Um, I have a five-star review.
I try to do right by the people that I sell stuff to,
so I told him, "I'll help him get it going."
I mean, it can't be that hard.
So what happened when you went there to try to help him get it going?
[Christopher] I went there, um, his words, I don't have it in text,
his words was his crack-head mechanic tore this machine apart
and when I got there, if I had known we were coming to court,
I'd have took pictures of everything but I didn't.
The injection pump was off the machine, the water pump pulley was off,
he said he took it to get it straightened at a machine shop
because it had been--it needed a belt, the shaft that hooks the hydraulic, uh...
[Judge Acker] It was disassembled and there were...
- ... it was disassembled. - [Judge Acker] ... a bunch of problems.
Let me ask you this, did it not occur to you
that after having made such a splendid profit on this...
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Acker] ... equipment
which wasn't working that perhaps there could've been
some compromise, some negotiations, some--you know what,
I should give you some of your money back because you did not get what you paid for?
Well, we never really got to that point, Judge.
When things went bad, it just went bad.
He never asked for anything, he never--and I always--like I said,
I went to his house on multiple occasions and work on this machine.
- No, not true. - [Debbie] That's a lie.
[Judge Acker] Multiple occasions meaning how many?
- [Debbie] One. - [Christopher] Um, at least three.
One time.
Judge DiMango?
- [Judge DiMango] Mr. Jones. - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] I have a feeling that Mrs. Jones
was not too happy with this purchase, so Mrs. Jones...
- [Nathaniel] No. - ... why don't you step up.
Should I keep you two at a distance? You're gonna be mad at him?
May--no.
[Judge DiMango] So, how mad are you
that he didn't bring somebody in to look at it?
- Extremely. - [Judge DiMango] Yeah.
Um, because as he has said on numerous occasions,
- "I'm from New York." - [Judge DiMango] Oh.
We're from New York. We think fast.
What I think about Mr. Gordon, supposedly his five-star whatever,
he doesn't stand up to his word. He promised my husband--
I yelled at him so many times
because of being on the phone calling this guy,
texting this guy, asking him, "Please, man, come.
Can you help me get this started?
I wanna get my business started."
He totally ignored my husband
and when he did answer, it was always an excuse.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. I could see you're a little agitated over this
and I completely understand that's why I brought you up.
What are you looking at your watch for? You think she's talking too long?
[Judge Acker] Look, he's looking at his watch.
[Judge DiMango] Stop looking at your watch.
- You wanna sit? - Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] Okay, you'll be calmer down there.
You're much calmer there.
So, back to you. Did you by any chance get a receipt at least for this?
No, he did--he did not want to give a receipt nor for the truck,
nor for the backhoe.
We--I have a recording...
- We have a recording here. - ... um, Judge DiMango.
Him refusing my wife.
[Judge DiMango] I'll hear it. Do we have it?
Yes.
[Christopher] Hello?
[Debbie] Hi, is this Christopher?
[Christopher] This is Chris.
[Debbie] Hey, how are you?
[Christopher] Fine.
[Debbie] Good, this is Nate's wife, Debbie.
I texted you but I didn't get a response.
And I'm calling only to ask you
for the receipt for the, um,
the tractor and the truck.
[Christopher] Um, we don't--well,
I didn't do business with you to start with
but, um, I don't have any receipts for the truck or the tractor.
[Debbie] Why wouldn't you have receipts for it?
[Christopher] Because it's a private sale.
[Debbie] That doesn't mean anything.
[Christopher] Ma'am, but I didn't-- I didn't do business with you,
so we really don't have anything to talk about, okay?
[Debbie] Okay. It doesn't matter if you did business with me,
you did business with my husband.
[Christopher] Like I said, we don't have anything to talk about, okay?
[Debbie] Okay. Well, I want the [bleep] receipts.
Excuse me.
- No apology necessary. - I like it.
You know what? Um, let me see if I could paint a picture for you.
First of all, is the law on your side?
I kind of think it might be.
But I think people feel that you should almost have, like,
a moral obligation about rectifying something in some way for someone.
And goodwill in any business that you're in is worth a fortune.
Now, did you write anything about him on Marketplace?
- Did you go and... - No, I haven't.
- ... give him a review? - Not yet.
Did you?
[Debbie] Can I say something?
[Judge DiMango] Um, okay. Yeah.
Okay. See, my husband, he's the nice guy.
He's the calm and collected person.
When we get down to things like this, I'm the bulldog.
- I'm the one that... - [Judge DiMango] I get it.
- My parents would... - [Judge Levy] We heard the audio.
[Judge DiMango] ... my parents will like that too.
My father was the easygoing, my mother was the tough one.
- [Christopher] That's what stopped it. - [Judge DiMango] I get that.
- When I got the phone call... - You're full of...
- ... from... - Stop. Stop.
When I got the phone call from them and they cussed me out,
what am I gonna help you for?
- [Judge DiMango] Well, she was annoyed. - I don't--and...
[Judge DiMango] I mean, she shouldn't have cussed you out.
But I probably would've done the same thing...
- [Debbie] I didn't cuss him out. - ... if it was me on the phone.
[Amanda] How long after you were--that you sold that...
- [Debbie] I didn't curse him out. - ... they asked for a receipt?
- Yeah, it was four months. - [Debbie] Excuse me.
- Because you wouldn't show up. - [Judge DiMango] Stop.
So, I'm asking you one more time before I end this.
Is there anything you feel in just good conscience
that you would be interested in doing here
to rectify this a little bit?
You don't have to. I'm just asking.
I'd buy the machine back for a thousand bucks.
[Judge DiMango] All right, then. That's what we are.
Does anybody have anything else they wanna say?
I do. Um, when I was 19
living in the Bronx in New York,
I bought myself a used car.
It cost me $3,000.
All the money I had in the world.
I believed everything that the car salesman told me about the car,
never been in accident, worked all good.
I didn't have anybody come look at it.
And he ended up being a bald-faced liar.
It had been totaled.
But as far as Mr. Gordon goes, he's a business guy.
It's very easy to throw stones at him and to say, "Hey, you know,
you bought the thing for $1,500,
who the hell are you to sell it for $7,500?"
He didn't put a gun to your head.
You made that decision yourself. You're a grown man.
If you look at the 48 reviews
on his Facebook Marketplace,
each and every one says the same thing:
seller's strengths, item description.
His ad could not have been any more clear.
Here it is.
So we have two tires.
So you knew it was gonna need tires.
And here "I have two tires to go with the front."
You told us that the rear tire he never told you about it had rot on it.
Well, here it is.
"Rear passenger side will need to be replaced."
That's the one that you said had rot on it.
When you said that that bucket wasn't working properly
because it had the busted cylinder for $2,000,
once again, "Will need one cylinder on rear packed
and the two that roll the bucket in the front."
Just like every one of his ratings said,
the description was spot-on.
I understand what you're saying, but the whole concept of this
is that I bought something that was running.
When he brought it to me and it shut off, it never ran again.
[Judge Levy] It was at that point that you should've said to him...
- Give me my money. - [Judge Levy] ... give me my money back.
- Ding, ding, ding. - [Judge DiMango laughs]
- [Judge Levy] Judge Acker. - [Judge Acker] Thank you, Judge.
What's fascinating to me is that somebody
who considers himself an ethical business person...
- [Judge Levy] Uh-hmm. - ... would in 2024
tell a woman that she has no right to an accounting of transactions
that were made with community property,
because some jurisdictions actually require you to provide a receipt
to prove for instance that you paid
the appropriate taxes on the $6,000 profit.
So I am incredibly curious as to why it is you would tell this woman
that you didn't do business with her when in fact you did.
But the minute she's cusses you out...
[Judge Acker] I'm not talking to you, ma'am.
The minute she cusses you out you stop talking to her.
[Judge Acker] I'm not talking to you, ma'am.
Keep talking and I will have Byrd escort you out.
- It's fine. - Byrd, escort her out, please.
[Byrd] Ma'am, this way please.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
[Judge Acker] The patronizing "I'm not talking to you, lady" tone--
that's why you got the F bomb.
- Either way, I... - [Judge Acker] No, not either way.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Nathaniel Jones wants Christopher Gordon
to return money he paid for a used backhoe.
Nathaniel says the backhoe is a complete lemon, but Christopher says,
Nathaniel was blinded by his eagerness
to get the backhoe, so he owes him nothing.
So knowing who she was, knowing that you sold this property
to her husband, why wouldn't you provide a receipt?
Because I'm actually looking for a reason to unwind this transaction.
You knew he wanted to do this as a business.
The receipt that you refused to provide them
makes it harder for them to claim this as a tax loss.
- I can't... - [Judge Acker] So explain to me
- why you wouldn't do it? - I can't provide.
First of all, when we sold machine in June or whatever date,
when we sold the machine, they never asked for a receipt.
[Judge Acker] Is that true? You never asked for anything at the time?
- Yeah, I asked for a receipt. - You did not.
- I did too. - And then here's the--
here's the thing though. I never dealt...
[Judge Acker] I'm not inclined to believe you, so go on.
[Nathaniel] I never dealt with his wife anyway.
The first time I ever talked to his wife is when...
[Judge Acker] Did you hear anything I just said?
It's her money. It's 50% her money.
- [Nathaniel] Okay. - [Christopher] And I told him that too.
So the patronizing "I'm not talking to you, lady" tone--
that's why you got the F bomb.
- Either way, I... - [Judge Acker] No, not either way.
Did you ask him for a receipt at the time?
- Yes, Judge. - [Judge Acker] Thank you.
I don't have anything further.
[Judge DiMango] We're gonna retire to deliberate at this time.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Judge.
This case is now in recess.
Parties will be recalled.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Judge Levy] This was a 54-year-old vehicle.
The defendant posted an ad
and there was nothing that was inaccurate about his ad.
If he would have said something that was a material misrepresentation,
I was right there looking to unwind this deal,
before I even knew what the profit margin was.
Ooh.
Things don't work out for me here,
I'm gonna start buying and selling used farm equipment on Marketplace.
[Judge DiMango] Well, I'm not buying any.
[Judge Levy] So the plaintiff tells us what he thinks
he has to in order to unwind this deal.
And, you know, it wasn't honest.
Now, if I was standing where he was, three feet from my wife like he was,
knowing how upset she was that he knew that, I would've lied too.
But he's stuck.
[Judge Acker] I don't know that I'd say he lied,
I think he really saw what he wanted to see.
I think he wanted this transaction.
And in fact, I wasn't bluffing out there.
There are indeed some jurisdictions
that require merchants to provide receipts.
I don't know that this transaction, given that, was completely consummated,
so I might dissent from the verdict in favor of Mr. Good Guy.
[laughter]
[Judge DiMango] Well, it's very hard to say
that he didn't have buyer's remorse.
And he wanted to buy this so badly, he didn't see any of the things
that indicated that he told him and he was aware of it.
And then he waited months.
I think he was determined that he was gonna try to fix it himself
or do something to it, and then he just couldn't do it.
And the truth is, yeah, he made a bad deal.
[Judge Acker] But would you both agree that if you execute a transaction
in such a way that allows you to avoid payment of taxes
that that's an invalid transaction?
Well, we don't know that they've done that, we don't know...
Well, we know he didn't give them a receipt.
And there are certain inferences that can be drawn from that.
That's why some jurisdictions require the provision of a receipt.
True. But he could also go and say he paid $10,000 for it,
you know, or make a, you know-- I mean, I...
Not troubled by the refusal to provide one?
- No. - [Judge Levy] How troubled,
to the extent that he's looking, probably--
the inference is he's looking to avoid paying taxes--
but that in my opinion legally
doesn't serve as a basis to unwind the deal.
That may serve as a basis for someone in his jurisdiction
to come knocking on his door saying,
"You owe taxes on $6,000 in profit that you earned."
That's a different story.
[Judge Acker] It's not fraud against the plaintiff, unfortunately.
I very begrudgingly am going along with this verdict.
- I know you don't want to. - I'm so unhappy with this verdict.
[Judge DiMango] I know you don't want to.
I mean, nobody in here felt good about what happened to him.
None of us want to ever see anybody taken advantage of.
It'll be the last time he ever does this.
[Judge DiMango] Or without her coming with him, that's for sure.
Right.
All right. I think we're reluctantly unanimous.
You got it.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Cassandra] Court is back in session.
All parties are reminded that they're still under oath.
[Judge Levy] Well, Mr. Jones,
you got buyer's remorse, unfortunately, but the law is clear.
Absent there being some material misrepresentations,
some hidden defect that you could not have known about based upon your inspection,
a used piece of machinery is sold as is.
Judge Acker was looking every which way to try to unwind the deal
and quite frankly, so did I, so did Judge DiMango.
But there's no legal basis with which to unwind that deal.
So, chalk it up as something
that you're never gonna let happen to you again.
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Levy] And something tells me
your wife is gonna make sure that you remember that.
- Yeah. - [Judge Levy] But at the end of the day,
we are unanimous,
and that is that your suit
against the defendant for $7,500 is gonna be dismissed.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Judge.
- [Debbie] Thank you. - [Cassandra] This case has concluded.
All parties are dismissed.
[theme music plays]
[Debbie] I don't see anywhere on his website
that he's a five-star anything except a crook.
I honestly believe it was his wife's money.
Sucker wouldn't answer my husband.
- That's just business. - That's business.
Nothing else to talk about.
Never do business with Christopher Gordon ever.
Nothing else to talk about.
You're a crook.
[announcer] Have you been scammed?
Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
Find us on social media.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]