Should I just give him the pinball back or keep it?

[SpartyMAC]

I would give it back to him but tell him that if he ever sells it in the future you would like to re-coup some of the money you put into it. That way the ball is in his court and he gets it back for free and knows that you put money into it. You could even give him a list of parts you bought.

 

[Umortal377]

I hate to bring up an old post, but wanted to say I gave the pin back to him about 2 weeks ago. It never got played and it gave me some more room. I did keep the new master display I had bought for it since I bought it semi-recently.

 

[toolguy]

Cool! I would have done the same and told him is he ever gets rid of it, to call me.

A friend gave me my EM. It barely worked and needed a resto. I put $60 into it and restored it from mostly extra parts I already had. If he asks for it back one day, I'd let him take it. I did get him a job when he was laid off so the score is really even and I doubt he'll ask for it back one day.

 

[gjinc]

I hate to bring up an old post, ...............

Thanks for the update, I really hate threads that end without the ending.

 

[R3LL1K]

I hate to bring up an old post, but wanted to say I gave the pin back to him about 2 weeks ago. It never got played and it gave me some more room. I did keep the new master display I had bought for it since I bought it semi-recently.

That's cool, at least you got to enjoy it or a long time and you got back the parts you put into it. He got free storage for 10 years and you got to play and get tired of a pin.

 

[Ghostnuke]

If you had it for 10 years then you are the owner in the eyes of the law. There is definitely a time limit on that kind of thing, legally.

 

[gsrogers]

After 10 years I would keep the machine and get rid of him.....seriously....I think a heart to heart right now would save a bunch of "what ifs". Tell him what you did and see what he thinks is fair. If he does not come to some kind of cash reimbursement he is not playing fair so neither should you.

EDIT - I just saw where you gave it back....

 

[pacman71]

Well, it would be hard to tell him to pay for the repairs. Not like he told me to fix it up.

Now if I felt like it, I still have the old displays and master display I could throw back into it. Not sure if that would be an a hole move though.

And I don't know if he thought I would hold onto it this long. Plus he sees I have other pinballs now. Like I said, he is just hinting right now.

Your time is worth something and the money you spent is also important. If he really wants it so be it ... tell him to hand over 600.00 for the parts and repair and he may change his mind.

When someone give you something and says if you fix it they want back... They aren't really a friend they are a customer.

Here's what I'd do:

Option 1: What was the pinball worth when you got it broken. What was a good wholesale value. Tell him the pin was worth x amount of dollars when you "gave" it to me. Just pay him. Then you have no guilt and he has no reason to shit on you.

Option 2: Give him the damn machine after he pays you the fair market value of the machine minus what it was worth when you got it. So you could sell the machine for 2000 reasonably and it was worth 1200 when you got it.... so he owes you the difference.

Again your time and efforts aren't cheap nor should they be considered a freebee. Don't let anyone crap on you. Regardless of what he said its a ass move to expect you to do anything without some kind of payback. If this guy helped you build a deck, or gave blood to your dying mother ... you owe him. Otherwise the you deserve compensation.

If nothing like this seems cool...have him buy another broken machine and you fix it up for free. Since he gave you a game, maybe you could give him labor if he finds another?

Put it to him straight if he wants it back .... he has to make it right.

Well

 

[irobot]

WOW are you guys friggin cheapskates.

The OP is describing one of those weird, annoying, awkward situations that comes up from time to time.

The guy has no business asking for the game back after a decade but he'll be all butt hurt over it if he doesnt get it back.

The only thing to do is give the game back. The OP will have to see the guy from time to time, it's not worth the annoyance to keep the pin.

I think it would be acceptable to swap the old parts back in, there is no need to make a present of the new parts to the indian-giver guy.

The difference between being a cheap prick and being generous is maybe $10K spread over your entire lifetime.

 

[LyonsArcade]

If you really like the guy, give it back to him.

Not so much, keep it.

LOL

 

[jcasetnl]

I think you did the right thing, OP. Personally, if I did something like that and ten years went by I don't think I would ask for it back, but the guy left that door open when he offered it so fair is fair.

I think if you had put a ton of work into the game, far in excess of normal maintenance or replacement of wear and tear, such as customizing the game or making it "better than factory", then maybe things might be different, but I don't think that's the case based on what you said.

 

[HHaase]

I also think that you did the right thing. I would just suggest to him in the future that if he ever wants to get rid of it again, that you shoud get first shot at it..... then never bring it up again unless he does.

-Hans

 

[stevenp61]

WOW are you guys friggin cheapskates.

The OP is describing one of those weird, annoying, awkward situations that comes up from time to time.

The guy has no business asking for the game back after a decade but he'll be all butt hurt over it if he doesnt get it back.

The only thing to do is give the game back. The OP will have to see the guy from time to time, it's not worth the annoyance to keep the pin.

I think it would be acceptable to swap the old parts back in, there is no need to make a present of the new parts to the indian-giver guy.

The difference between being a cheap prick and being generous is maybe $10K spread over your entire lifetime.

I think the OP did right. And, irobot, I think you're being the "friggin cheapskate" here! "Swap the old parts back in"? Classic example of a cheapskate! The friend loaned him the pin, not asking for it to be repaired, just a FREE loaner for 10 years, with the only condition that it be eventually returned rather than sold by the OP. That's a free loaner that has VALUE, and no repairs were requested. It's pretty clear to me (and to the OP, who did the right thing) that the OP did the repairs voluntarily, and received the benefit of playing the machine for 10 years with no request for "rental" money.

I have a pin in a similar situation. Family moved from another city, and I had no room, so the EM I had at my parents' house was loaned to my local friend. If I move and have more room someday, I may ask for the pin back. He knows this. But he gets to play it in the meantime. And I may let him keep it as well. Dunno. But I would be pretty pissed if he sold it, and he wouldn't sell it because he would either hold onto it or return it.

It's not a totally uncommon situation with pins and arcade games. They take up a lot of room, and I know many people who "lend" them to friends for an extended period of time. The person doing any repairs does so for their own benefit as they can play the repaired game. In the OP's case, the game worked sometimes, a little rough, but wasn't a busted-up project that needed major repairs to be used at all.

Kudos to the OP for returning it. I'm sure he was happy to be able to play it for 10 years. And I'm glad I don't have friends like the cheapskate commenters here who suggested demanding money for the repairs! (At least no friends that I would lend anything to!) Heck, the family friend could've demanded rental fees for use of the pin all those years! The benefits pretty clearly balance out here.

 

[andykmv]

If you had it for 10 years then you are the owner in the eyes of the law. There is definitely a time limit on that kind of thing, legally.

that may be so but if it was lent with an expectation of return upon asking, ya gotta do the right thing which he did. Also something borrowed that is returned in better nick than when it was received is good karma! otherwise, return in no working or worse is bad Karma and would sour relationship.