re: Got screwed out of $800 from a POS

No. No you didn't. This is a life lesson in PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY that we all need to learn. YOU chose to purchase a mower that you knew wasn't running that is also out of warranty. YOU chose to trust and believe someone that you didn't know. YOU chose to not obtain the mower yourself and YOU sent someone else that didn't have the knowledge base to understand what they were purchasing. That is the game you signed up to play without going purchase from a vendor or local big box store direct. YOU understood that the game was you may get a bargain on an expensive zero turn for only $800 that was inoperable with the potential to be operable but you possible outcome was that it would never work again. If the mower was in perfect working condition then it wouldn't have been available at that discounted price.

You made the decisions and had the power to back out at every step of the way. This is no one's fault but YOURS.