Friend lost my property

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin
Over 3 months ago, I accidentally left a pair of $150 Oakley sunglasses at a friend's house. When I called her the day I left, telling her I had accidentally left them in her bedroom, she said she'd send them to me.
3 months later, after several requests for her to do so....
and after several failed promises of her doing so (as in "yep! they're right here! I'll bring them up to your city when I come up there this weekend!....oops, I forgot them at home!"), she is now saying that she can't find them.
Is it fair/legal for me to ask that she reimburse me for them now?
She's become very hostile about the subject.

Do you have any type of proof she said , Yep i have them right here , I'll bring them to you , or proof she had them there ? , Besides verbally ?

If so , do you have any proof of what they were worth ? When you purchased them > what condition they were in when you left them at your Friend's ?

She lives in Chicago, Illinois, and I live in Wisconsin.
I have a couple emails of her saying she'll look for them, and one of her saying it's my fault because i left them there and she's not going to reimburse me at all.

She's getting extremely hostile about all of this...
All I keep saying is that I'd like her to find them soon, that it's been over 3 months, and that I'll reimburse her for the shipping to get them to me.
She's freaking out!
I'm starting to think that she's getting so aggressive because she gave them to somebody, or wants to keep them, or some other reason that she doesn't want to give them back!
She also keeps stating that it's MY fault, MY responsibility...
If a friend left something at your place, isn't it just common courtesy to return it for them?

Is it fair/legal for me to ask that she reimburse me for them now?
She's become very hostile about the subject. [ quote ]

Yes to both .

Even though she admits to them being there and she should taken reasonable care of them and return them to you , you have a couple of problems :

#1 ) You live in a separate States , and you would need to file small claims in their State . while the filing fees are small amount , the cost of travel , Etc. might out way your efforts , Reason :

#2 ) Unless you can prove these sunglasses were in fairly new shape , and what their worth is/was , it would be difficult to prove the sunglasses you allege are worth $150.00 . I'
Also , without that proof and any mention of a particular brand , or the email acknowledging the worth of the sunglasses , she could simply State you left a $5.00 pair of scratched up sunglasses , and that is why she said she's not dealing with this issue .

So, first you would have to Prove the glasses were worth $150.00 then you have to weight the cost and time to take it to court , then you would have to Pray you win .

Is all that worth it ?

Thank you for your help.
Regarding the two issues that you mentioned, travel is only about 3.5 hours of driving time..but the part i would like to ask you about would be about the proof of brand of value...
in all of my emails to her, i have always regarded them as "have you found my Oakley's yet?" or "You know that they really cost a lot" and so on...would this be suitable?

Ashbee said:

Thank you for your help.
Regarding the two issues that you mentioned, travel is only about 3.5 hours of driving time..but the part i would like to ask you about would be about the proof of brand of value...
in all of my emails to her, i have always regarded them as "have you found my Oakley's yet?" or "You know that they really cost a lot" and so on...would this be suitable?

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How old are you?

23, why do you ask?

Ashbee said:

23, why do you ask?

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I asked beause you are an adult but you are acting with the maturity of a teenager.

You, as an adult should remember something as important as expensive sunglassess, however these are nonperscription sungalssess so it is not like you can live without them or they cannot be replaced and since you live 3.5 hours away, have you ever thought about just going there and retrieving them? Or sending a mailer, addresed, approporite to ship the glasses, with the correct postage, why make your friend be responsible for your forgetfullness? Maybe the lesson is to not buy such expensive sunglasses if you are so forgetful.

Ashbee said:

Thank you for your help.
Regarding the two issues that you mentioned, travel is only about 3.5 hours of driving time..but the part i would like to ask you about would be about the proof of brand of value...
in all of my emails to her, i have always regarded them as "have you found my Oakley's yet?" or "You know that they really cost a lot" and so on...would this be suitable?

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Not really . But If you think you must , and she acknowledges she has/had your sunglasses , you could search on line or get ads for your specific brand and price and similar models of the same brand and price for proof of some kind of worth.

Then you drive 3.5 hours and pay a small fee for filing , 3.5 hrs. back.. Then you drive back 3.5 hrs. on the court day , 3.5 hrs. back.

Then you tell the Judge what happened, what month and year you purchased these sunglasses, what the cost was new , and what similar models of the same brand are worth, show or state what the Email correspondence Stated about her acknowledging she had them and would return them to you.

Then you hope the Judge does some rough Justice and awards you something for them plus filing fee cost .

rmet4nzkx: thank you very much for your opinion. perhaps you would understand more if you knew that these were a gift from my fiance, given to me about a week before he passed away. i would appreciate it if you kept your judgemental viewpoints to yourself until you knew the entire situation. i would also appreciate it if you kept your posts relative to what this site is intended for...which is for questions (such as mine) to be answered. if you cannot be constructive, please keep your comments to yourself.
for the other posters: thank you very much for your helpful advice.

I don't see this as being a winning case. A typical judge in small claims cases is going to look for the primary cause of negligence. Judge Wapner used that line many times. In your case, that would be you. The other party had no legal obligation to return the glasses. If you are so willing to spend hours driving back and forth to seek a legal remedy, why wouldn't you spend even less time to drive back and retrieve the glasses yourself. I don't know how much you think your time is worth but it will probably be more than $150 and you have a very slim chance of winning. Drop it.

Ashbee said:

rmet4nzkx: thank you very much for your opinion. perhaps you would understand more if you knew that these were a gift from my fiance, given to me about a week before he passed away. i would appreciate it if you kept your judgemental viewpoints to yourself until you knew the entire situation. i would also appreciate it if you kept your posts relative to what this site is intended for...which is for questions (such as mine) to be answered. if you cannot be constructive, please keep your comments to yourself.
for the other posters: thank you very much for your helpful advice.

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I'm sorry for your loss, but it doesn't change the advice at all which was constructive and as racer72 pointed out, if the glasses were of such sentimental value why waste your time doing nothing to retrieve your glasses, you would have to do as much to file in small claims court. You haven't even tried what I suggested to have them mailed back. Why not go get them as soon as you realized they were missing. Now because of your negligence you not only forgot your sunglasses but have hurt a friendship.

Ashbee said:

Is it fair/legal for me to ask that she reimburse me for them now?

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Actually, the CORRECT legal answer is:
Of course you can ask her to reimburse you, but she has no legal obligation to do so.
Simply, she assumed no liablity for the care and custody of the glasses since YOU left them there. She can return them to you or deny that she ever saw them. In fact, she can say "Yes I have them and you will never see them again". And though a moral/ethical obligation arises, no legal obligation does in her simply FINDING your lost property.

well, jetx, thanks.
i don't think anybody else was understanding that, in order for me to go retrieve them myself, that they first had to be 'found' by her.
I just wish you would see the fact that this is not only the fact of the missing item which upsets me...it's the lack of decency that's being expressed. as far as i'm concerned, someone who doesn't even apologize for losing a friend's property which was left at her residence isn't worth it.
thanks for all of your help.
i actually think the glasses were a small price to see the true nature of who i thought was a friend.