Ballsy requests people ask of you

[fcgamer | 4,719]

I just received one yesterday. A reseller I know, with whom I haven't spoken for maybe a year, messaged me asking if I could purchase a game for him, locally. If I mention reselling to him, the story will mostly be that it's for his brother or something generic like that.

So while the request is a bit much, imo, I feel it's even ballsier since I had tried to make a $1000 purchase from the guy about two years ago (two or three monthly payments), but the guy refused to send to my Taiwanese address, since my PayPal address was in the USA, and we ended up cancelling the whole thing as we couldn't find a suitable resolution.

While I can understand where this might raise some red flags, I think my reputation is sound enough (I even told the guy to set up a transaction on NA, and that if I screwed him over somehow he could go public) that I wouldn't risk it for a grand (or actually half a grand since it was multiple payment installments). What made that transaction worse this guy was that this guy lives in Spain, and over the course of ten years dealing with each other, he's always asked me to do the exact same thing (send to a different address) and I always complied, since we had known each other for a long time.

Given the strained relationship now though, I just thought you myself yesterday, "wow, that guy has balls of steel to even ask me for such a favour".

Anyone else have stories of people that were just too ballsy?

[Tabonga | 2,314]

A long time ago I was in small forum for Dark Wizard (sega cd).  One of the other members (who I didn't really know other than online) had bid a ridiculous amount of money (I think it was about $350) for a Japanese soundtrack CD for the game.  He won the auction but didn't actually have the money.  He wanted me to front him the money with somewhat vague but emphatic reassurances that he would repay me.   I declined.  

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

Several years ago, I lost out on a great deal on an N64 lot due to a local reseller who backdoored me.  After I called him out on in publicly, he offered to sell me the games as a way to "make it up to me."  Obviously I declined.  He is well known locally for doing similar things with other people, so this wasn't the first or last time.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

This wasn't asked of me, but I consider this a high mark in ballsiness (as well as lots of other adjectives I'll leave out) and figured I'd share since this is still fresh in my mind from this morning.  So, my wife's grandfather was hospitalized and tentatively diagnosed with terminal cancer within the past week and her grandmother was moved into an assisted care facility for a "trial" (try it for 2 months, then decide whether to stay or move back home).  To date, nobody has told my wife's grandmother the severity of things, fearing that she would take a turn for the worse due to worry.  Her grandfather knows exactly where things sit at the moment, and as of a day or two ago, made sure to finalize and sign off on a new will.  As of yesterday evening?  My wife's least favorite aunt started accusing her sisters of spending "Daddy's money" on taking their mother to eat in the cafeteria at the hospital (which would have been $5-7 at most, and wasn't even the case, regardless).  That's followed up with trying to claim their vehicles for herself (grandfather-in-law already gave his car to my mother-in-law as she's the only widow and the only one who doesn't have a backup vehicle and included his truck in the will--not going to the youngest daughter).  Then asking if it would be ok if her and her kids went through their house and started taking things that they wanted.  Her son started claiming that my GFIL promised him two guns...except that he'd already specifically given one of them to my sister-in-law, both verbally and in the will, and only owns two (spoiler: the other is in the will and not going to the great grandson).  Her daughter started trying to claim all of GMIL's expensive jewelry; not all of her jewelry, mind you, just the stuff that's real gems and precious metals, specifically).

Yeah, definitely some big ones on those folks.

[Tabonga | 2,314]

1 hour ago, darkchylde28 said:

This wasn't asked of me, but I consider this a high mark in ballsiness (as well as lots of other adjectives I'll leave out) and figured I'd share since this is still fresh in my mind from this morning.  So, my wife's grandfather was hospitalized and tentatively diagnosed with terminal cancer within the past week and her grandmother was moved into an assisted care facility for a "trial" (try it for 2 months, then decide whether to stay or move back home).  To date, nobody has told my wife's grandmother the severity of things, fearing that she would take a turn for the worse due to worry.  Her grandfather knows exactly where things sit at the moment, and as of a day or two ago, made sure to finalize and sign off on a new will.  As of yesterday evening?  My wife's least favorite aunt started accusing her sisters of spending "Daddy's money" on taking their mother to eat in the cafeteria at the hospital (which would have been $5-7 at most, and wasn't even the case, regardless).  That's followed up with trying to claim their vehicles for herself (grandfather-in-law already gave his car to my mother-in-law as she's the only widow and the only one who doesn't have a backup vehicle and included his truck in the will--not going to the youngest daughter).  Then asking if it would be ok if her and her kids went through their house and started taking things that they wanted.  Her son started claiming that my GFIL promised him two guns...except that he'd already specifically given one of them to my sister-in-law, both verbally and in the will, and only owns two (spoiler: the other is in the will and not going to the great grandson).  Her daughter started trying to claim all of GMIL's expensive jewelry; not all of her jewelry, mind you, just the stuff that's real gems and precious metals, specifically).

Yeah, definitely some big ones on those folks.

Hopefully the grandfather will have the wherewithal to change the locks pronto and make sure that the only extra keys go to whoever will inhereit the house (or will be in charge of it depending on what his wife's situation resolves into). 

Not only is this type of behaviour morally bankrupt but it could really destroy that family's bonds (assuming they are strong to begin with - maybe not so much since we are talking behavior that a vulture would be ashamed of).  Even people who basically don't want much (more likely things of a sentimental value) get caught into taking a side (and not taking a side generally gets one accused of taking a side).

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

1 hour ago, darkchylde28 said:

This wasn't asked of me, but I consider this a high mark in ballsiness (as well as lots of other adjectives I'll leave out) and figured I'd share since this is still fresh in my mind from this morning.  So, my wife's grandfather was hospitalized and tentatively diagnosed with terminal cancer within the past week and her grandmother was moved into an assisted care facility for a "trial" (try it for 2 months, then decide whether to stay or move back home).  To date, nobody has told my wife's grandmother the severity of things, fearing that she would take a turn for the worse due to worry.  Her grandfather knows exactly where things sit at the moment, and as of a day or two ago, made sure to finalize and sign off on a new will.  As of yesterday evening?  My wife's least favorite aunt started accusing her sisters of spending "Daddy's money" on taking their mother to eat in the cafeteria at the hospital (which would have been $5-7 at most, and wasn't even the case, regardless).  That's followed up with trying to claim their vehicles for herself (grandfather-in-law already gave his car to my mother-in-law as she's the only widow and the only one who doesn't have a backup vehicle and included his truck in the will--not going to the youngest daughter).  Then asking if it would be ok if her and her kids went through their house and started taking things that they wanted.  Her son started claiming that my GFIL promised him two guns...except that he'd already specifically given one of them to my sister-in-law, both verbally and in the will, and only owns two (spoiler: the other is in the will and not going to the great grandson).  Her daughter started trying to claim all of GMIL's expensive jewelry; not all of her jewelry, mind you, just the stuff that's real gems and precious metals, specifically).

Yeah, definitely some big ones on those folks.

As Tellurian/Natty said, have him change those locks ASAP and only give a key to trusted parties.

I've seen that shit way more than I should have after people pass away, with things that were magically promised to them etc.   

Luckily with the will and stuff the dreaded aunt won't be allowed to touch a single thing until it goes through probate, so call the cops immediately if stuff starts to turn up missing (before or after her grandfather passes).

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

18 minutes ago, Wandering Tellurian said:

Hopefully the grandfather will have the wherewithal to change the locks pronto and make sure that the only extra keys go to whoever will inhereit the house (or will be in charge of it depending on what his wife's situation resolves into). 

 

The extra keys should go to the executor of the estate.

Nobody inherits anything until the executor can sort through it all.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

12 minutes ago, Wandering Tellurian said:

Hopefully the grandfather will have the wherewithal to change the locks pronto and make sure that the only extra keys go to whoever will inhereit the house (or will be in charge of it depending on what his wife's situation resolves into). 

Not only is this type of behaviour morally bankrupt but it could really destroy that family's bonds (assuming they are strong to begin with - maybe not so much since we are talking behavior that a vulture would be ashamed of).  Even people who basically don't want much (more likely things of a sentimental value) get caught into taking a side (and not taking a side generally gets one accused of taking a side).

Well, the oldest sister has power of attorney, my mother-in-law is the executor of both wills and both were added to their bank accounts (alongside the youngest sister, unfortunately), so they're decently placed to keep an eye on things.  However, they don't want to upset or hurt either of their parents, so everybody is to keep their mouths shut about the youngest's (and her kids') greediness and other nonsense.  Fortunately, that part of the family lives at least a couple hours away and all have 9-5 jobs, so they're unlikely to drop by when other family wouldn't be around, but I suggested mostly the same thing (change the locks) to my wife to pass along.  I don't know that anybody other than the eldest actually has keys to the house, so I advised that if they didn't, she should change the entrance code for the garage and hide the spare keys kept in there in a new spot.

Honestly, their behavior is just the newest tip of the iceberg, with everybody just swallowing it so as to not hurt their parents/grandparents.  If anybody is truly interested in how despicable these people are, I'll be happy to share examples via PM but figure this is hardly the place to be airing (more) grievances.

1 minute ago, captmorgandrinker said:

As Tellurian/Natty said, have him change those locks ASAP and only give a key to trusted parties.

I've seen that shit way more than I should have after people pass away, with things that were magically promised to them etc.   

Luckily with the will and stuff the dreaded aunt won't be allowed to touch a single thing until it goes through probate, so call the cops immediately if stuff starts to turn up missing (before or after her grandfather passes).

My wife started rubbing her hands together at the thought of getting to file a police report when she found out that her cousin was bound and determined to get the guns her grandfather had already publicly promised to her sister and then put formally into the will.

When my aunt and uncle on my mother's side were getting older, they specifically sat down with everyone and asked what, specifically, everyone would want if/when they passed away.  We all gave out various responses (I wanted a few photos of both of them and some small knicknacks I'd played with since I was a toddler, with everybody else in my family answering similarly), and those were written in that way with everything else to be mutually decided upon by everyone named after their deaths.  When both passed, we had no arguments, everybody got the specific, sentimental things they'd asked for, and mostly nobody wanted anything else from the household.

I just don't get people treating their loved ones like this and will have one glad moment when both my wife's grandparents pass, as it will mean that we no longer have to see or interact with that aunt and her family again.

[Splain | 2,560]

My wife's family has had some of that inheritance/estate drama, involving a will that wasn't properly finalized, outdated appraisals, etc, and it had the potential to really mess everything up. Luckily, nobody planted their feet too hard and it didn't get too ugly. But that kind of thing is hard to forget, and everyone remembers what Aunt So-and-so did when it came down to it.

On the original topic, there's got to be some gene or personality type or whatever, that makes people just make those super ballsy requests. I had a roommate and a bro-in-law that were the same way. You could be already helping them with something, and they don't hesitate to ask to borrow your car. And if the answer is no, they just shrug and ask the next guy.

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

7 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

When my aunt and uncle on my mother's side were getting older, they specifically sat down with everyone and asked what, specifically, everyone would want if/when they passed away.  We all gave out various responses (I wanted a few photos of both of them and some small knicknacks I'd played with since I was a toddler, with everybody else in my family answering similarly), and those were written in that way with everything else to be mutually decided upon by everyone named after their deaths.  When both passed, we had no arguments, everybody got the specific, sentimental things they'd asked for, and mostly nobody wanted anything else from the household.

I just don't get people treating their loved ones like this and will have one glad moment when both my wife's grandparents pass, as it will mean that we no longer have to see or interact with that aunt and her family again.

Yeah, I don't get it either.   So far the aforementioned drama has been with my wife's extended family members.

 

[RH | 4,895]

Shifting gears...

I think I just made one of those "ballsy" requests, but I'm pretty sure we'd all agree that I was right. I had bought a lot of 195 Game Boy games.  I posted some photos about it on some other threads.  Anyway, I got them and I counted them--192.

I emailed the guy and told him thanks but I also told him I received 192 rather than 195 and asked him to double-check on where the other 3 might be.  I'm not going to ask about it again since I bought it as a straight-deal, but, you know... technically I paid for those games too and I didn't want to let it slide without saying anything.

I don't think he was cheating me, to be sure, and I give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was moving so I'm pretty sure I'll never see those 3 games (or maybe he counted once and mis-counted.)

[nrslam | 474]

"If you want to know the character of a man, share an inheritance with him" - Not sure who that quote is from, but it was framed and hanging on the wall behind the lawyer who handled my wife's mother's estate. Didn't stop a couple of her seedier relatives from getting greedy, though.

[Rooster | 124]

A guy I worked with asked me to help him move.  Not a big deal, right?  Well he was moving far south, it would have been a several hour train ride, and he wanted me to buy my own train tickets.  It would have cost me over $400 round trip plus two days of time to help him move.

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

My Dad once told me a story about someone who asked him to help move.  When he got to the person's house, they hadn't packed one single thing.  He just expected my Dad to help him pack up each box.  To give en idea of how bad it was, the washing machine still had wet clothes sitting in it...... on moving day.

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

21 hours ago, RH said:

Shifting gears...

I think I just made one of those "ballsy" requests, but I'm pretty sure we'd all agree that I was right. I had bought a lot of 195 Game Boy games.  I posted some photos about it on some other threads.  Anyway, I got them and I counted them--192.

I emailed the guy and told him thanks but I also told him I received 192 rather than 195 and asked him to double-check on where the other 3 might be.  I'm not going to ask about it again since I bought it as a straight-deal, but, you know... technically I paid for those games too and I didn't want to let it slide without saying anything.

I don't think he was cheating me, to be sure, and I give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was moving so I'm pretty sure I'll never see those 3 games (or maybe he counted once and mis-counted.)

It's worth asking as those three might be laying on his floor somewhere.  

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

40 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

My Dad once told me a story about someone who asked him to help move.  When he got to the person's house, they hadn't packed one single thing.  He just expected my Dad to help him pack up each box.  To give en idea of how bad it was, the washing machine still had wet clothes sitting in it...... on moving day.

That was the worst part about owning a pickup truck in my 20s.

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

12 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

That was the worst part about owning a pickup truck in my 20s.

Since this was my Dad's story, this was back before anyone besides contractors owned a pickup truck.  He was asked to help move because he owned a full size station wagon (which could haul more than most pickup trucks).  

[Tabonga | 2,314]

36 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

That was the worst part about owning a pickup truck in my 20s.

Or a van.

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

My own contribution-

Some time ago, I was in IT support at a bank.    There was a lady there that lived somewhere near me, because I would occasionally see her at the gas station near my house.

A few years after I had moved on from that job, she asked my friend that still worked there for my number, because her computer at home was having issues and she wanted me to work on it.   Keep in mind I didn't advertise doing this kind of work "on the side" like some guys do, and I only knew her from passing while I was at the bank in the first place.

He tried explaining to her that he didn't think I did that kind of stuff on the side, and if I did I would likely be very expensive.   She said "well, we can talk about that", which is also an instant no from me.   She kept pestering him any time she saw him until he flat out told her that he talked to me and I was way too busy to do anything on the side.

 

[MuNKeY | 241]

4 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

My own contribution-

Some time ago, I was in IT support at a bank.    There was a lady there that lived somewhere near me, because I would occasionally see her at the gas station near my house.

A few years after I had moved on from that job, she asked my friend that still worked there for my number, because her computer at home was having issues and she wanted me to work on it.   Keep in mind I didn't advertise doing this kind of work "on the side" like some guys do, and I only knew her from passing while I was at the bank in the first place.

He tried explaining to her that he didn't think I did that kind of stuff on the side, and if I did I would likely be very expensive.   She said "well, we can talk about that", which is also an instant no from me.   She kept pestering him any time she saw him until he flat out told her that he talked to me and I was way too busy to do anything on the side.

 

Meh I couldn't count the times I had been hit up to work on computers once they learn I know how to work on them and I never quite understood why they think people would do this for free now if it was brought up I would just say I used to but no longer with the explanation of how a lot of people liked taking advantage of peoples skills to do a job and get nothing or near nothing back in return and second I was not offering tech support 24/7 because someone doesn't know to avoid ransomware/malware and fucking their shit up after fixing it one time already and that generally that put an end to it. 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

15 minutes ago, MuNKeY said:

Meh I couldn't count the times I had been hit up to work on computers once they learn I know how to work on them and I never quite understood why they think people would do this for free now if it was brought up I would just say I used to but no longer with the explanation of how a lot of people liked taking advantage of peoples skills to do a job and get nothing or near nothing back in return and second I was not offering tech support 24/7 because someone doesn't know to avoid ransomware/malware and fucking their shit up after fixing it one time already and that generally that put an end to it. 

That was the main reason I wouldn't do work for non-friends.   As soon as you fix one thing, you're suddenly on the hook for every little thing that fucks up, even if it's months down the road.

 

[TDIRunner | 2,725]

1 hour ago, captmorgandrinker said:

My own contribution-

Some time ago, I was in IT support at a bank.    There was a lady there that lived somewhere near me, because I would occasionally see her at the gas station near my house.

A few years after I had moved on from that job, she asked my friend that still worked there for my number, because her computer at home was having issues and she wanted me to work on it.   Keep in mind I didn't advertise doing this kind of work "on the side" like some guys do, and I only knew her from passing while I was at the bank in the first place.

He tried explaining to her that he didn't think I did that kind of stuff on the side, and if I did I would likely be very expensive.   She said "well, we can talk about that", which is also an instant no from me.   She kept pestering him any time she saw him until he flat out told her that he talked to me and I was way too busy to do anything on the side.

 

As an accountant, I get a lot of people who assume I would love to do their taxes for them (for free too).  Funny thing is that the vast majority of accountants have very little tax experience.  I do my own taxes, but I won't touch anyone else's outside of family, and even then, I'll just push them in the right direction.  I won't do everything for them.  

[TylerBarnes | 184]

3 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

My Dad once told me a story about someone who asked him to help move.  When he got to the person's house, they hadn't packed one single thing.  He just expected my Dad to help him pack up each box.  To give en idea of how bad it was, the washing machine still had wet clothes sitting in it...... on moving day.

This exact thing happened to me. I was so annoyed. 

[Splain | 2,560]

I had a job doing IT in college. Every girl I dated in college had their name changed to "tech support" in my phone after each breakup, because 100% of phone calls from them were exactly that.

Edit: and YES, any time someone needs help moving, I always say "yeah, I'm happy to help, you get everything boxed up and I'll help toss it on the truck."

Edited January 16, 2020 by Splain

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

Yeah, next time I move (which is hopefully the last time) I'm hiring movers and a dumpster.