Moral Dilema.

[southside_mag]

Ok so heres what happend, About 6 or 7 months ago I moved to missouri from florida with full intentions of returning but after I got up here i decided to stay.Before i left i borrowed some money from my mom and step dad under the conditions that i would leave all my paintball equipment down there with them for collateral, I had no problem with this becuase i had planned on returning.
So after i decided i was going to stay in missouri i called them up and told them that i would be sending the money back wich i did the following day, i told them that i would pay to have all of my equipment sent back up to me and all they had to do would be drop it off at ups and tell me how much it was going to cost and i would send the money, well if you knew my parents then you would know that asking them to do anything for someone else was asking to much. So they tell me it would be a while before they could go and do it (ups store was on there way home from work and in the same plaza as the supermarket they go shopping for groceries at) so I waited and waited for close to a month and finally on one of my chats with them i ask what was going on with my paintball markers and she tells me that about a week prior she tried to send them but the post office, ups, and fed ex would not ship them because they were considered guns and the tanks could explode, now having bought many paintball oreinted thigs off ebay i knew this was bull so i called ups for my self and they told me it was no problem at all as long as the tanks were empty, so i call her back up and tell her what they said and she said she would try again.
two months went by with me calling and asking about it and finally she tells that they can do it but it will cost 100.00 to 150.00 to ship it so once again i call ups and with an approximate size and weight they tell me it will be around 30.00 to 40.00 dollars so i western union the money down to her and ask if she needs a box too, she tells me no just send the money, well after two weeks of waiting she finnally answers my call and tells me that she will ship the stuff as soon as she gets a box, man i was mad!! anyway she completly stops talking to me for about a month, and when she finally does answer the phone she tells me that she didn't want to here my **** about the guns and she would send them when she sends them. so i'll admit it i went off on her , how can somone tell you they don't want to here **** about some thing they owe you.
by now i'm starting to think that my step dad may have sold them and there trying to stall telling me (YES HE IS THAT TYPE OF PERSON AND IS CAPABLE OF DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT) So fast forward to yesterday she calls and tells my grandmother that my stepdad dosn't want her talking to me anymore so if i call she's not going to answer but she will send the $40.00 back just to be done with it and to forget about the guns they caused to many problems and she dosn't want to deal with them anymore .
so heres my dilema i've tried sending friends by the house to get my stuff but they don't answer the door and i've tried to resolve this problem every way i can think of. so i'm thinking of contacting an attorney, i really didn't want it to come to this but i have over $1500.00 worth of stuff down there. so is it wrong to sue your parents and am i a bad guy?
also I apologize for the length of this but i just wanted to explain the whole situation so you guys would understand, and yes i know it was stupid to leave the stuff with them knowing how they are but i thought for sure i would be back.And work prevents me from going down there and personally getting my stuff back. So tell me what you think?

[lamingo]

Ouch that sucks as far as suing them i dont know but what about driving down there.

[JRingold]

What about heading back home for a visit and get the stuff while you are there?

Maybe, that's too easy??

[personman]

Give them a last warning, and if they ignore it, take legal action.

Seems kind of harsh but that's what I would do if I was in your situation.

[Alley]

While I'm sorry to hear that any family would be torn apart for such reasons. It seems that it goes deeper than that. While paintball equipment and such is expensive to replace ...family is impossible. I'd try and patch things up between you and your mother and then see if a calmer attitude will get to the bottom of things.

[Snyiper]

It would be cheaper and much better for relations for you to plan a weekend and go get your stuff. I know it is a inconvience but to get the deal done right this is what I would do unannounced so they can not leave. Face em face to face and thank them for all their help.
Glenn

[Aslan]

Sue Em

I listened to a radio show once talking about this type of issue. The lawyers started out with a warning...and that is that sueing family members often makes them not like you for a very long time...maybe forever.

If you can live with that and/or the relationship with them is already pretty bad...then you have to treat them like you would anyone else. Someone has something of yours and is refusing to give it to you. At a minimum, they owe you the items or compensation for the item's value. They also may owe you additional compensation. They also may be committing a crime, grand larceny and possibly the resale of stolen goods.

If I were you, I would find an honorable attorney and have them draft a letter on your behalf. In that letter, the attorney will state that if your items are not returned to you, you have the intention to sue. This lawyer probably should be based in Florida and you may very well have to go back there to get this resolved. Maybe the letter does the trick and they ship the items to you out of fear that you are serious. If it doesn't do the trick, then you'll have a rough road ahead...but a good lawyer will probably help you through it.

The sad thing is that you might end up deciding that it's cheaper to lose $1500 in paintball supplies rather than spend the money you probably don't have on plane tickets, court costs, and lawyer fees. It might be worthwhile to call the authorites in the town they live in...the authorities may be willing to accompany a friend of your's to retrieve the items.

[BD_Paintball]

i would take a trip down there and get all your stuff(if it is still there) and then ship it to your house. i bet you would save money to just go back home and see for your self if it's still there.

[southside_mag]

truthfully sueing them wasn't what i wanted to do, but i see no other way. I would definetly go and get the stuff myself but thats just not possible, I saved up for a long time to get all of these things and it's hard to just let them go. Unfotunatlly this is not the first instance that this type of thing has happend, this is more of a last straw type of thing. I think getting a lawyer to send them a letter requesting the items or compensation first might be a good way to go.

[buzzboy]

Yeah. That is the most sensible way to go about things. I hope you can get your stuff back. Good luck.

[Captain Canuck]

Basically, your only real choice is to go to your 'rents house(which you should have done in the first place) and get your stuff. At the very least you would be able to see firsthand whether or not they have sold your gear. If your gear is gone then I would reccommend asking them for the replacement value for the geaqr, and if thaqt fails tell them that you will take it to the next level if neccesary.

[Fred]

Where in FL?

I'm sorry you have such worthless parents, that's a real drag.

[southside_mag]

[QUOTE=Fred]Where in FL?

I'm sorry you have such worthless parents, that's a real drag.[/QUO

in bonita springs.

[hobbesTZ]

It pisses me off just reading about your situation...That's and I wouldn't put up with it. I don't know your history with your family, but I'd want nothing to do with people that like.

[Lenny]

Wow, I'm sorry man. I have a friend who's mom is like that. He also lives in FL (just outside of Orlando, not sure where though). He went on vacation with his friend and his family to Cali. It was only a week long trip, and might I add, think kid is a grade genuine geek (and he'll admit it!). He had a video game collection and some really rare consoles and all that. He said he collection was valued at something like 4 grand (i told you he's a geek!). So, while on vacation, his mom sells it ALL on ebay. He comes home, hands him $300 and says "It was all just a big distraction! Video games are evil!"

Sounds fair, eh? $300 for stuff you invested $4,000 in and your mom just sells it. He can't do anything, he's only 16, so technically she did have the ownership rights. He ended up moving out and in with his old man.

So I don't personally know how that is, but I've seen it first had. I'm sorry about your troubles. If things don't go over well, I'd be more than happy to ship you some of my gear that I don't use much (all in amazing shape) just to get you back in.