NooBee, I know exactly the situation you are in, and know how it feels for everyone to hammer you with opinions. So I will leave you with my opinion, which is the same as most of the rest, DO NOT make any more contact with either the husband of wife, and wait for something legal, which I doubt you will get. As most people said, it is an argument ove $225.00. Unless it is lined with gold, or other stuff suggested here, it is not worth legal representation. In no way trying to put down your machine.
Now, my little story about something very much the same.
I know how you feel, you finally got a pinball, and couldn't wait to restore it. Now you are in a state of not knowing what to do with it, and the whole situation has just ruined the project for you!
I was kinda in the same situation with my house. my wife and I bought our first house, with the agreement that the old owners could live in it for two weeks after the closing, which we agreed to. Let me add we knew the old owners, these weren't complete strangers. After almost 3 months and trying to reason with them, the only way I could get them out was to get my lawyer to write a letter as stated above saying I was starting eviction processes. My lawyer did this because he felt so bad for us being young and trying to get into our new house. Yes to answer any questions I would have had to EVICT them from MY house, could have taken up to 3 months, and a ton of money. However we were talking around $100,000 and not $225.
What I am getting at is: To this day we talk about moving in and what should have been a happy time, is just memories of frustration!
I am just saying that I know the stress you are under, and how what should have been a lot of fun for you is now just a hassle.
I hope you get what I believe is YOUR pin restored and back together have fun with it, and get it behind you. Until then, as much as I know you want the ordeal to be over, sometimes it is just better to stand back for a few days/weeks and see how it settles out. I am with most people, in the end you are going to be the owner of the pinball.
Don't do anything by the seat of your pants.
And in my opinion the main thing is stop all communications! The more you try to reason, and talk to them, the more chances you are going to say something you shouldn't. That is what I had to do, being nice or thinking about how he feels is not going to help you, and you are who is important. What happened here, if you are getting the true story is between him and his wife.
Chances are, there is a reason he is going though a divorce, and it might be his personality. If he treated you like this on the first call, think about how his wife must of got treated, and he was supposed to love her. Does not sound like a good person at all.
Sorry for the long post, your story just brought back a lot of memories for me.
Good luck to ya!
