It is definitely second hand, no manual, scratched and I think they stopped making it 5 years ago!

No receipt.

RATS!! I knew there was something I forgot to ask! I'm just trying to get through now I think he's on the phone to my parents.

The way I see it, right from the start as mentioned in the OP it's a big time long shot, I have the sense to know that but he (tv **** bag) may not if it's the nearest thing to plausible. There are various issues he may be encouraged to feel nervous about: *Avoiding tax - he is self employed as a repair man. * Coercion - my brother stated clearly he didn't want the telly but the guy still left with the money. * Having his name raised re any potential safeguarding issue when a couple of years from now he's likely to be chasing ISA registration. (not that I think one complaint would effect that - but who says there's just the one?). Of course he may not be in the least concerned about any of the above - in which case it will just have to be a learning experience. On the other hand £300 (he could resell telly for max £100) may not be worth the risk. I want my brothers money back for him, and if I can muster a healthy shot across his bows, at least make it an uncomfortable con I sure as hell will.

he does have people who watch out for him just not by force - what can I say except he has seen the guy as a friend for a long time and he wanted to give him the 'trade'. He knows we'd sort him out a telly but he earns his own money and it's ultimately up to him. I know it's a longshot and I'm definitely going to try to embarrass it out of him - I'm as mad as a bag of cats! Mr.Shed, he used to be a dealer of tellies and I believe he's still self employed for repairs. My brother won't still be up but I'll ask him tomorrow about a receipt. Prior to this my brother had invited him to his 40th BD next week - the creep rang him and said he wouldn't be seen dead there now (not that he was still invited - muppet!). On the upside it meant my brother has been happy for me to have a go at getting his money, and he knows I won't play nice with toss pot.

Duplicate OP

This is a bit of a longshot but just in case there's something I don't know about out there I figured it worth asking. I have a brother with LD who's been ripped off to the tune of a few hundred quid. He's a very kind, extremely dutiful person and that got used. Basically, he wanted a new telly so approached a TV repairman who has kind of been a family friend to get him one. This guy always had me on edge, he wasn't a close friend but my brother has (until recently) never had any friends so the bar was set kind of low and to my brother he was seen as a friend - my parents are a little odd to say the least and sort of half included him (especially after he said his wife died). Anyway the last few bits and bobs he's got for my brother I've thought were a bit overpriced, but hey ho, each to their own - one thing once certain and that's my brother has always been thrilled and wouldn't hear a word against him. So - brother asked him to find a TV for a maximum of £400, for my brother this is 2 weeks wages and a major thing, his TV is just about the most important thing in day to day life. The guy agrees but for cash and returns 2 weeks later with this: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/aud...ice-comparison A 5 yr old telly with no handbook and not 'truly' HD ready - the price of £289 new (years ago) was the only price I could find as these tellies seem to have disappeared completely over the last half decade. He tells my brother it's £500+ and that's what he paid for it at trade price (evidently highly unlikely). My brother only has his £400 in cash so the guy pressures him till brother parts with a cheque for the rest. My brother did say he thought it was wrong and wasn't what he wanted but the guy said he would be unable to sell it and that my brother had given his word to pay - I think this was done knowingly, because he knew my brother and because he knew he'd never break his word, or even risk doing so knowingly. In the end he left with the full money but brother has now cancelled the cheque so he's just lost £400 for a tv he doesn't want. My brother was so upset last night but only stayed to talk for a short while because he had to be up for work at 5am. I'm going to ask him to give me this gits number and at the very least I'm going to have a go at letting him know that I and my brother know the real price of the telly and know what he did was totally wrong. I'm also considering going on tradesmen's review sites and being clear that we are going to check the bloody thing isn't stolen. It's a real longshot - I doubt there's any law on our side because so much was verbally arranged and my brother did give in under pressure. I'm fairly sure he's taken hundreds off my brother over the years but nothing as clear and blatant as this. The swine of it is that my brother has only ever asked him to get these things to give him trade as a friend, he knows we would look for him and he knows his BIL is an electronics engineer who can fix almost anything! Is there any law regarding reasonable pricing? (don't laugh I'm not holding my breath) Any law about lying regarding how much was paid for an object? My brother is definitely small fry in terms of wealth - part of me wonders how many other 'friends' this toss pot has in the wings and how much of his income is made that way. Another issue that makes it a little more complicated is that my brother isn't registered disabled, no formal diagnosis. He spent his childhood in special schools but in the 70's things were very different and on school leaving age pretty much every input stopped. He is independent and while it's very clear and obvious he's vulnerable I don't think he sees himself that way (a good thing!), over the years he's just been mystified why he has no friends and can't do things he knows full well others can. He believes he's dyslexic hence reading and writing are hard but again nothing formal.