Stolen cue!!! Barry Stewart has my cue.

Have you tried contacting the local law enforcement either in your area, his area, or postal inspectors?

They may not be able to prove much, but sometimes a knock on the door will scare someone to straighten things out.

SterlingArcher said:

Have you tried contacting the local law enforcement either in your area, his area, or postal inspectors?

They may not be able to prove much, but sometimes a knock on the door will scare someone to straighten things out.

Click to expand...

What if this person shows the cops or anyone else the box that was addressed to him as proof of ownership?
I'm not saying it would be right to keep the cue but........................

measureman said:

What if this person shows the cops or anyone else the box that was addressed to him as proof of ownership?
I'm not saying it would be right to keep the cue but........................

Click to expand...

Pretty sure I just covered that in the "may not prove anything, but a knock on the door could help." Most people aren't going to want to deal with the hassle over a cue, regardless if it can be proven or not.

Also, the seller can show he billed someone and was paid for the cue. The person who has the cue now would have to show he paid for the cue. Of course this would be a civil matter at that point, nothing the authorities can do.

Realistically, unless there is signature/delivery confirmation, it would be hard to prove this person even has the cue.

measureman said:

What if this person shows the cops or anyone else the box that was addressed to him as proof of ownership?
I'm not saying it would be right to keep the cue but........................

Click to expand...

I wouldn't think that a box is proof of ownership, especially when Scott can show who the Titlist came from. And I'm betting there are before and after pics. I would be contacting Barry's local PD, and the pawn shops in his area...along with the pool halls. Get the word out.

sucks....sorry to hear

Crazy....what the hell is wrong with people.

That sucks...I hope he steps up and does the honorable thing and makes it right. I've sold stuff on eBay for over 14 years now, and this has happened to me more than once, both on the shipping and receiving end, but luckily it has always worked out.

I remember seeing a TV commercial back in the 80s I believe, they would advertise that if you received something in the mail it was yours if you ordered it or not. I think it had something to do about the USPS claiming they always delivered to the correct address though, which of course is not the case in this situation. For some reason I always remembered that commercial though, it showed an Eskimo in Alaska or something opening a box that had a fan in it

ridewiththewind said:

I wouldn't think that a box is proof of ownership, especially when Scott can show who the Titlist came from. And I'm betting there are before and after pics. I would be contacting Barry's local PD, and the pawn shops in his area...along with the pool halls. Get the word out.

Click to expand...

As far as the actual authorities, just him having possesion of the cue is proof for the time being that he "owns" it. The shipping box with label would be enough to not raise any reasonable suspicion or reasonable cause of wrong doing.

My suggestion was just to make some calls and see if someone would knock on the door just to inquire about it. Nothing illegal with a police officer asking questions. Also, any information given voluntarily to the police is evidence. (you'd be surprised how many confessions are given to police when people are just asked) Sometimes they will do it, sometimes not. Depends on how busy they are or gracious they feel at the time.

This is pretty much a civil matter legally, and the shipper(possibly the actual person who paid for the cue, depending on local law) of the cue would have to file suit, prove the defendent in fact has the cue, then prove the shipping error, then prove someone else paid for the cue to further show the error. Basically, the person in possesion of the cue is considered the owner until proven otherwise. The big deciding factor is showing someone else paid for this cue and not the person you sent it to. That makes the sender NOT the owner, therefore he didn't "give" the cue away. He merely mistakenly sent a cue owned by someone else to another person. This is the only thing that would possibly save you legally, and possibly wouldn't then. Items you recieve unsolicited through the mail are legally yours according to postal inspectors. However, since the shipper was paid for the cue, it was not actually his to send to this person.

Like I stated earlier though, if there is no delivery confirmation with signature......no chance of proving this person even has it, unless they admitted it.

Allow me to interject...that's a very fine cue!

if thats his cell # then everyone who reads this thread should start wearin it out.

LGSM3 said:

if thats his cell # then everyone who reads this thread should start wearin it out.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't. You'd be harassing someone based on internet hearsay.

Graciocues said:

He buys and sells in the cue world. This cue is not worth what I'll do to his reputation. Legally nothing can be done.
People in the area have contacted me. I'm not the only one that hates thief's. I helped get a stolen cue back once. It felt good knowing the cue was returned to it's owner.

Don't blow up his phone. Only his friends can contact him about this cue. He's on this forum and knows I posted this.

Click to expand...

Good luck and sorry you're having to go about it this way. Should have called you up as soon as he received the cue by accident.

It sounds to me like you messed up, and may have to just suck it up and take the loss. He is wrong for keeping it, but YOU are the one who gave it to him. Be mad at him all you want, but it's ultimately your fault.

JAlan said:

That sucks...I hope he steps up and does the honorable thing and makes it right. I've sold stuff on eBay for over 14 years now, and this has happened to me more than once, both on the shipping and receiving end, but luckily it has always worked out.

I remember seeing a TV commercial back in the 80s I believe, they would advertise that if you received something in the mail it was yours if you ordered it or not. I think it had something to do about the USPS claiming they always delivered to the correct address though, which of course is not the case in this situation. For some reason I always remembered that commercial though, it showed an Eskimo in Alaska or something opening a box that had a fan in it

Click to expand...

Actually the commercial refered to a law around receipt of unsolicited goods. There was/is a scam where people would send office supplies, books, etc. to people under one pretense or another and then send them ridiculous invoices that would either be paid or sent to collections (like $50 per light bulb for a case of them or something). Essentially, the idea is that if a company sends you a product that you did not order then you can not only keep it but it is illegal for them to pursue you for payment.

Here is what the FTC says about this type of situation:

Q. What should I do if the unordered merchandise I received was the result of an honest shipping error?
A. Write the seller and offer to return the merchandise, provided the seller pays for postage and handling. Give the seller a specific and reasonable amount of time (say 30 days) to pick up the merchandise or arrange to have it returned at no expense to you. Tell the seller that you reserve the right to keep the merchandise or dispose of it after the specified time has passed.

Where it gets sticky is that this is not technically merchandise, it belongs to someone else and is not produced by you. That being the case, I would think that there is a possibility that keeping the item would constitute theft. I would find proof of ownership by your customer, and file a police report alleging that the recipient knowingly kept the item after you provided them with proof that it was not merchandise but rather the personal property of one of your customers.

If it was addressed to another person by name then it stands to reason that the recipient would know that the package belonged to someone else. I would look at that angle too with regards to opening someone else's mail.

Who cares about legal semantics. It's not his, he received it by mistake, and should give it back. Pretty simple folks.

I am guessing that you have done some kind of business with him before being that you have his address and shipped something else to him???