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A serious real life situation where i need advice

#22
PastorofMuppets said:
he wouldnt bargain
with me at all.

he said if i want them i could pay 230 (full retail price)
i have never paid full retail price for anything at that store or any other.

I said he could come to my house and get them himself
I will not deliver them
and there are plenty of other stores

i offered 100 for the pair which was very fair
these mics are used and well used
we gigged 40 weeks in a row
Click to expand...


you know.... it's not the store that have used them for 40 gigs, when the mics left the store they where new, why shouldn't they get new price?

also,
A bit late now, but if it where me, I would've said that the mics are gone, or something else, like "I thought they belonged to the other guy, but they got broken and I threw them in the trash, they are long gone"
then let's see what they'd do about it...
 
#24
gaunten said:
you know.... it's not the store that have used them for 40 gigs, when the mics left the store they where new, why shouldn't they get new price?
Click to expand...
Because they're rental mics, there is probably an assumption that Easy made at least a few of the rental payments. This is just how stores operate with rental gear. It doesn't matter that the product is a few years old and has been rented for awhile and that the store as probably made money on renting them already, they'll still demand the new price for the product.

My wife's parents have been dealing with a similar situation with a digital piano they've been renting for years. When they talked to the store about buying the piano outright the price they were quoted was the new (or very close to new) price of the piano and didn't take into account the years of rental payments already made on the piano.
 
#25
PastorofMuppets said:
Hello,

Here is the situation which I will explain accurately without changing anything into my favor. I need your opinions here, according to the law.

A year and a half ago a band that I was a part of broke up. We were working musicians playing covers. The band ended and parted ways in March of 2007.

The lead singer in the band furnished the PA system with all the mics stands speakers etc. The rehearsals always took place in my garage, and when the band broke up two microphones were left there. The lead singer who I believed owned all the equipment pretty much left the state and had gotten divorced and was quite difficult to contact.

I tried multiple time to contact him and tell him that I have his microphones at my house. I tried phone,email, voicemail, texting, myspace, all to know avail. I know other people who talked to him. I know his numbers didnt change. He just didnt return my calls or seem interested at all. So I gave up trying to contact him.

Fast forward today. A music store, where I know every employee, contacted me and tells me that they heard that I was planning on returning the mics to them because they were not paid for and they needed to close his account.

I do not feel like I should have to return these mics to this store. I know these people quite well and IMO they will just write off the price of the mics anyway and throw them in a box somewhere. They can not be sold as new and they can not be returned to the manufacturer. In the end they will never benefit anyone if they are returned. Plus its been a year and a half and I feel like whats been in my possession for that long should become mine. My garage is not a storage facility for deadbeats gear.

I on the other hand actually use them for myself. If they would have asked me a year and a half ago for them, I would have returned them no questions asked. I have a good moral compass and would not want to be labeled a thief.

I replied to the email by saying that, the mics have been mine for 1.5 years and no one ever tried to get them. I said possession is 9/10ths of the law and I would be keeping them.

here is his reply after I said that:



Wes-

Here's the deal... the mics have NOT been paid for. We made a deal with Easy to make payments on the mics until they were paid off. He didn't hold up his end of the deal so we need the microphones back as soon as possible. This is a big deal to the store- that is why I'm contacting you now about it. We've tried to get the money from Easy countless times to no avail. Our last resort is to get the goods back in our possession where they belong. You can either cooperate with us and return them to the rightful owner, or you can explain the situation to the authorities when they arrive at your door.

Thank you
Bryan



I would like to know if there is any chance that I could get into any legal trouble over this. As far as I am concerned, they have no arrangement with me, nor do I have any contract for repayment. If they want to recoup their money they need to pursue legal action against the former singer "easy".

Please share your opinions
I appreciate it

sorry for the length of this letter but it was important to get all the facts straight here.

others have suggested that they could report the mics as stolen by easy and that they know where they are and i will in a sense be in possession of stolen property.

I content that the first action should be to sue Easy for the money he owes them, and to go about recouping their loss that way.


please give me your thoughts
Click to expand...

What have you signed with the store?

Nothing I guess?

end of story.

Tell them you dont have them and that you have no idea what they are talking about.

;)

D.Don
 
#26
You're being a prick, dude. I don't care HOW long you've had them. If the rightful owners of the microphones (ie: the store) request to have them returned, you return them. They don't belong to you. They belonged to Easy under a contract, but he defaulted on it, so they revert to the dealer, not whoever is currently in possession of them. Think of it like this: your friend has a lease-to-own contract on a car, but he skips town with the car only half paid off and leaves it in your garage. Is it your car now, or should it go back to the dealership? The only difference there is the dollar value of the items in question.

Of course, that's not to say that the owner / manager / whatever isn't being a prick, either. He really shouldn't have any qualms about selling them to you for standard used prices, as if they came in used or from the rental section (which, basically, they did.)
 
#27
Give the mics back. You got free rental use for 40 weeks so you should have saved some gig money and bought your own. Stop nickel and diming people.

What you really should do is return the microphones along with $130 ($230-$100) as a rental fee, especially since you did so many gigs with them. The weekly rental rate would be calculated as follows: $130/40 weeks=$3.25 per week=$1.62 per microphone per week). If you did two gigs a week, thats $.81 per week per microphone.

If you change the microphones to a car, you would obviously have to give the car back even though you were using it.

You can also kiss your relationship with the music store good-bye. They will never give you a good deal again and you will be lucky if they ever speak to you again.

"Fast forward today. A music store, where I know every employee... "
Not any more.

If you want to save your relationship with the music store, have all the band members chip in (the whole band benefited)and pay the $130 as a rental fee and ask the music store owner to accept your apology, otherwise what you are saying is that your relationship with the store is only worth $130. If they ever sell you anything again, you can be sure that they will recoup their money, one way or the other.

As far you being "right", guess your moral compass is 180 degrees off axis.
Btw, where did you get your moral compass, anyway? Now there's something you might ask for a refund on.
 
#30
The mics are not yours. The buyer defaulted. The store wants to repossess.

They're not interested in selling them to you at a lower price. Doing so might hurt their ability to go after Easy for payment. In any event, that's not your business.

The mics should go back to the store. They can pick them up or send you a prepaid UPS label. You are under no obligation to deliver them, since you never entered any agreement with them.

The term "Possession is 9/10 of the law" has nothing to do with law. It just makes you sound dumb.

You're starting to sound like the guys at the store. The best way to deal with an a-hole is to NOT be one yourself. Try it.

Disclaimer: IANAL
 
#31
PastorofMuppets said:
they werent from a rental section
they were part of a pa package that was brand new and sold not rented
not withstanding that he didnt pay

i just know i messed up by saying I had them in my possession in the first place

i am so tempted to say that I cant find them now
and sorry that i cant help you any more
Click to expand...

Karma is a bitch, dude... I can't believe that all of this is over 2 lousy microphones. You have already told them you have the mics...you're setting yourself up for a lot of negative crap.
 
#32
Unfortunately, even if you do give the mics back, your relationship with them has turned sour. Will you actually be gaining anything by cooperating now? With that said, the right thing to do is give the mics back. But I know, it just doesn't feel right when the store is acting like pricks and they wont cut you a deal. They should be grateful to get them back and acknowledge that they wouldnt even have a chance at being compensated if it wasnt for you trying to track down the owner, hence them learning that you had the mics. $100 bucks for the mics is more than they ever could have gotten had they not learned you had them.
 
#33
PastorofMuppets said:
they werent from a rental section
they were part of a pa package that was brand new and sold not rented
not withstanding that he didnt pay

i just know i messed up by saying I had them in my possession in the first place

i am so tempted to say that I cant find them now
and sorry that i cant help you any more
Click to expand...

Go for it, tell them that they really should get hold of the dude who made the deal with them, and then he can contact you if he needs to.

I don't really see why you should be involved in something that is not your deal, no matter if the mics are in your closet or not, it's stlll not your problem...

D.Don
 
#34
update the store owner just sent this


Wes,

This is Russ, not Bryan. It is my understanding that you have at least three mics and a mic stand, I have read your emails to Bryan. Let me make it clear; this property belongs to R&R Music, and you were aware of this. If you do not bring it back by Monday, I will call the police and report this stolen property and show them the emails. What surprises me is the lack of common decency. I am not coming to your house to get them, you are to bring them to the store Monday between 11:00 A.M and 8:00 P.M.

Thanks,
Russ B***


my reply is as follows. BTW i could care less about my rep with the store

Either the police or an R&R employee may come get them at my home Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon between 12 noon and 3 PM.
I will NOT under any circumstances deliver the mics to the store. I only am aware of two mics anyway, I have no other mics or stands in my possession. I will supply my address once you have agreed to my terms. You can take it or leave it. I will not inconvenience myself in this situation.

Wes
 
#35
PastorofMuppets said:
they werent from a rental section they were part of a pa package that was brand new and sold not rented not withstanding that he didnt pay

i just know i messed up by saying I had them in my possession in the first place

i am so tempted to say that I cant find them now
and sorry that i cant help you any more
Click to expand...

There's that moral compass thing again. Or lack of it. Why don't you come out and just say 'I WANT STUFF FOR FREE' and 'I'M ENTITLED TO IT BECAUSE I'M SPECIAL'.

Just buy your own and stop feeling bad that you have to give back something that doesn't (never) belonged to you.

How do you run your non-band life if you can't deal with something this simple? IT'S NOT YOUR STUFF. The more you continue on and on like your the victim will get you on Jerry Springer someday.

And then you act the fool, telling them to come and pick them up, like you're getting back at them. Woo-hoo. Big deal.
Better write off the music store for sure.

Man, how old are you? Emotionally, that is.
 
#37
Come on, how many times have you had rehearsal places where peeps put their stuff?

I have at least 10 times in my life, and if a store would have called me to get some stuff out of the room that some old band member did put there, I'd never let them in, they'd have to contact the person who owed them for the stuff, why get yourself involved and spend energy on some other dudes problem?

D.Don
 
#38
Suppose you loan your bass to Alice, and Alice loans it to Bob. Now Alice vanishes, and you ask Bob to give you back the bass. Bob says: "I have had the bass for years. Your problem is with Alice. I am keeping the bass."

It's like that.

In my view, you are holding something that belongs to someone else. How you got it, how long you had it, why they want it, or how you think they are going to dispose of it, are immaterial.
 
#39
D.Don said:
Come on, how many times have you had rehearsal places where peeps put their stuff?

I have at least 10 times in my life, and if a store would have called me to get some stuff out of the room that some old band member did put there, I'd never let them in, they'd have to contact the person who owed them for the stuff, why get yourself involved and spend energy on some other dudes problem?

D.Don
Click to expand...

You seem to be as morally bankrupt as the OP...
 
#40
fdeck said:
Suppose you loan your bass to Alice, and Alice loans it to Bob. Now Alice vanishes, and you ask Bob to give you back the bass. Bob says: "I have had the bass for years. Your problem is with Alice. I am keeping the bass."

It's like that.

In my view, you are holding something that belongs to someone else. How you got it, how long you had it, why they want it, or how you think they are going to dispose of it, are immaterial.
Click to expand...

Alice is dead meat imho.

D.Don
 

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