Play It Again Sports

A Tulsa consignment company goes out of business. When the Tulsa County Sheriff's office shut down Play it Again Sports in August, because it wasn't paying its rent, hundreds of customers were

Monday, October 6th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A Tulsa consignment company goes out of business. When the Tulsa County Sheriff's office shut down Play it Again Sports in August, because it wasn't paying its rent, hundreds of customers were left in the lurch.

Some of them called News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright to investigate.

Play It Again Sports is a franchise that takes in used sporting equipment and sells is on consignment, when an item sells, the company gets half and the owner gets half. So when Play It Again Sports was evicted from its space on August 1st, for not paying more than $33,000 in rent, a lot of customers wondered how to get their stuff back, including Bill Pendley.

He brought a $2,000 commercial pitching machine here in February, but was told repeatedly, that it never sold. "About three weeks ago, I told my wife I was going to come get it and donate it to Beggs' baseball program. I called and got no answer, so I came up here and saw they were closed and didn't see the pitching machine anywhere." He's not alone.

The leasing company has been able to return a few items to their owners, but many more items are no longer there and the owners were never paid their half. The note on the door says call this number, 250-4545, but I began calling that number in July and got no call back, now it just rings continuously.

I also called their cell phone number and have left another dozen messages, but again, no response. The leasing company says it filed liens against the owners' home and rental property, but hasn't had any better luck than customers getting in touch with Tracy and Kathy Rogers. Janette Hughes, Property Manager: "I don't how to get a hold of them either. He had another job in town for awhile but, we called and he's no longer with that." Bill just wants the Rogers to do what's right. â€œI just want my stuff back or the money back."

I talked to a lawyer Monday afternoon who says if the items are gone, those people should file police reports and see if the DA will file charges. Otherwise, he says their only option is to file a lawsuit against Tracy and Kathy Rogers.

If customers want to see if their stuff is still in the store, they can call the leasing company at 493-2525, if you have a receipt and they find it, you can have it back.

I also called the corporate Play it Again Sports office in Minnesota, but didn't get a response.