[HD-5000]

Oh my God, I can't control my anger right now.

Ok, so I've been obsessed with building a home theater in our finished basement with our 65" TV just sitting there. For the past 10 months I had been researching and dreaming for countless hours. Dreaming that I would have a home theater of my own to enjoy. Just this night, my dad came home with 4 enormous boxes. Guess what? They're the infamous white van speakers. They suckered my dad into buying $600 worth of speakers, gave him a phony number and ran off. No paperwork, no address, not a trace. My dad says that thats the end. No more speakers, no more hifi, and I just stand there aghast and literally trembling with anger. My dream was shattered, but worse, he betrayed my trust, letting me have no say in what was supposed to be our project.

What am I supposed to do?

Update, just a moment ago he yelled at me as if my problem wasn't his fault.

 

[fewtch]

Get a new dad? ...

Edit -- he's probably very upset at being ripped off, pissed at himself and underneath it all feeling guilty... give him some time (this weekend at least) and just have a sit-down & discuss it with him after he cools off, if you guys have the kind of relationship where you can do that. Bet this one has a happy ending eventually, just give things time.

 

[braillediver]

It’s only a home theater for crying out loud.

Yeah it sucks but if he died tonight would you want your last words to be in anger over something as trivial as this?

If you have a sister it’s time to pimp her out.


Mitch

 

[KR...]

Ok here it what you do.
Wait until he is sleeping and then pee on him. That always works.

Seriously, It sounds like he is just as mad as you are, so you both need to just relax, claim down, and discuss this a few days or even weeks later.

 

[braillediver]

What was the Bill Cosby skit:

“I brought you into the world and I can take you out. You can be replaced”

So unless you can out run him and he doesn’t have a gun handy I wouldn’t do it.

Borrow the car and sell it cheap to get some speakers? If you’re not going to talk make it worthwhile?


Mitch

 

[Music Fanatic]

Was your budget for speakers limited to $600?

Whatever is left in your budget, you can always research and find what the best speaker combination is at that price range.

 

[Lisa]

Put yourself in your dad's position for a moment. He is all happy, he just got a GREAT deal on some speakers and comes home thinking you'll be thrilled! And what happens, you tell him he got ripped off. You're not happy at all and even agry and frustated with him.
Is that the thanks he gets???

Give eachother some time to cool down. Your dad feels just as ripped off as you do, if not more. He was the one who fell for it. The only person he can blame besides himself is his unthankfull son. ( Not saying you are, just saying that it's likely that that's the first emotion your dad had when you told he got ripped off and you weren't happy with the surprise.)

When you both have calmed down you'll both realise that neither of you is to blame and you'll sort it out. I can't imagine you won't.

 

[radrd]

Quote:

No more speakers, no more hifi, and I just stand there aghast and literally trembling with anger. My dream was shattered

Get some better dreams. This is a home theater system, not a child.

But, as has already been said, give your dad some time to cool off. He's probably even more upset than you are. No one likes to discover that they are an idiot. I bet that he will come around on his own and decide to give the home theater another try.

Also, if $600 was your entire budget, then you weren't going to have much a home theater system anyway.

 

[D-EJ915]

The Kenwood HTIB was pretty good, not the greatest thing on earth, but gets the job done.

 

[wallijonn]

you should contact the police and file a complaint. your father may at least be able to give a description of the van and the drivers.

the info will probably be disseminated to other police offices and perhaps they can be caught before doing it ot someone else. since this is near the holidyas, they are likely to run the ruse again.

 

[Wodgy]

I've never heard of this "infamous white van speakers" scam before. Can someone fill me in on what it involves?

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by Wodgy I've never heard of this "infamous white van speakers" scam before. Can someone fill me in on what it involves?

See, for example this link (although I must admit the page is written in a way that makes me wonder whether "Scam Shield" itself might be a scam.)

 

[hempcamp]

Relax. If this was a project you and your dad were working on together, your dad probably thought he was helping you (and the project) out. Dads usually get easily upset when their kids are dissatisfied with the help they try to provide.

Give your dad your support. Let him know it's not that big a deal, and that you'll get through it with him. And if you have to live with junky speakers for a while, so be it. It's not the end of the world.

--Chris

 

[Musicfan123]

There has been some rumors floating around these white van speakers.

These people supposedly drive around in white vans, and literally sell speakers right from their white vans.

Sometimes these speakers go for dirt cheap, sometimes very expensive. It all depends on the seller and buyer negotiations.

Some people say these speakers are utter crap. Some say they are good value for the money. But no one has ever said they are the best speakers ever made.

I never thought this story was true until now.

Why don't you give them a listen, and see how you like them. If you are happy with the sound, then there is no reason you couldn't live with these speakers.

 

[Wodgy]

Wow, thanks. I had no idea this kind of thing was going on.

I'm curious, how do these van guys get paid? Do enough people walk around with that kind of cash in their pockets that the van people can make money? They mustn't accept credit cards or checks (too easy to challenge, stop payment, or trace).

Oh, and HD-5000, it's not as big a loss as it seems. Believe me, you'll have as much fun inviting your friends over to eat pizza and watch a movie whether or not you have a fancy HT system.

Edit: I guess people do pay by check after all. See here:
http://www.msnbc.com/local/kfor/WhitevanJim.asp