Moron venting

Eric, I don't know anything about your business so take this for what its worth.

Sounds to me like the main question is have you been paid anything yet? If so, you can keep your case and tell him to pound sand. If you haven't been paid you don't have many options, will probably have to send him his case to get the money out of him.

It never ceases to amaze me how petty people can be over things like this.

79 you hit the nail on the head, over the last 10 years i have had 3 problems, this being one of them, one other was i sent a clutch pack C.O.D UPS for $3900.00 of course to a guy in NJ, the driver failed to get the check, the customer would not return calls and told me the package was damaged blah blah blah. that was a 6 month battle and UPS finally paid me. guess where the third problem was.... you got it. I do deal with alot people from that area and they are some of the nicest people to deal with... one bad apple though.. in my case 3

Eric are you mailing these guys a form or contract before you start working on their items. If not I would do so and have it explain right in the contract that they are signing the options they have if something is wrong.

I know from experience with my lawn care business.

Eric,

Don't you know that no good deed will go unpunished.

Sounds like you were trying to do the right thing but my experience tells me thats not always the way things work. We have our customers sign off on their quantities, their garment specs, their artwork specs, print colors, production time, etc, it gets rediculous but is neccessary because as soon as you give them a way to stick you they'll go for it.   

I can't count the times I tried to be a nice guy in business and it always costs you money. It's hard keeping the doors open these days, you can't afford to give anything away.

In my business where there is a time factor involved, ie: a customer places an order and it is delivered 2 weeks later, I always get paid atleast 50% upfront and the 2 weeks production time gives the bank time to clear the check. I still have to hope everything goes ok when delivering the order but atleast I've gotten my cost of goods out of the job by that point.

We do offer free shipping with orders that are paid in full when they are placed.

Magicman's famous last words " And How would you like to pay for that?"

And yes. I'd rather have a check than Credit card

hate when stuff like that happens Eric.
I cut gra$$ for a guy about three summers ago, I cut for him the year before and never had a problkem getting paid at the end of every month. Next year came around, he signed a new contracted I started cutting on time. I cut for three months with out pay, this hole time I sent numerous bills, and numerous phone calls with his a$$istant that if the bill wasn't paid I wiould have to stop cutting the gra$$ and take further action.

Well after a month of me not cutting the gra$$ I caught up with the guy and he only wanted to pay me half what he owed me, because he said the city sent him a bill for them coming out and mowing the gra$$ because it was being mowed. He said that was my fault and I should have to pay for it. He was wrong I took him to court and got paid all my money. In my contract I always put the loop hole in there to protect myself if things go badly with a client even after I have tried to correct said problem.

Much like your customer Eric some people are just out to screw others.

Eric,

I had a guy owe me $2100, I finally got tired of chasing him so I turned him in for collection. After about 6 monthes he paid the agency with his credit card, then the wingnut files a claim the next day and suspends payment. So I never got paid and the collection agency sends me a bill for $700 for their services and they're after me. What a circle jerk that mess is.

It's such a waste of time chasing these losers it's hardly worth it. My accountant says don't worry about it we'll just write it off and offset some taxes but I would rather decide how to spend the money I make than have some cheat do it for me. Oh well, time for a cup of coffee and start making my A/R calls so I can make payroll next week.

I still love working for myself but man it can be a challenge sometimes.

81nautique wrote: Eric, I had a guy owe me $2100, I finally got tired of chasing him so I turned him in for collection. After about 6 monthes he paid the agency with his credit card, then the wingnut files a claim the next day and suspends payment. So I never got paid and the collection agency sends me a bill for $700 for their services and they're after me. What a circle jerk that mess is. It's such a waste of time chasing these losers it's hardly worth it. My accountant says don't worry about it we'll just write it off and offset some taxes but I would rather decide how to spend the money I make than have some cheat do it for me. Oh well, time for a cup of coffee and start making my A/R calls so I can make payroll next week. I still love working for myself but man it can be a challenge sometimes.

Yeah, but they accountant doesn't remind you that now it creates negative cash flow since you have suppliers, employees, machine expenses to pay for... Bummer all the way around.. All of us in business go through it.. I like your idea the best though Magic.. Get commitments and down payments up front, so these people have part ownership in the work you are doing...

Moj'

Bwahahahaha, right on Alan....

These jerks probably owe money to people all over town. It's a game to them to try to stiff people. In my business (dentistry), the people who don't pay are the same people that we try hardest to please; at least before we get burned once. It's strange, you can have 100 people that are satisfied and pay you for your services and it is the one jerk who doesn't, that you remember.

I've had several of my employees and friends suggest that option.

Hell send him an empty case you have laying around then give him the run around.

Eric at least you got the trans back. You thought you might lose it as well. I could not have a business that I had to deal with the public all of the time. My wife is in retail & they have to bend over backwards for the customer, even if they are crazy. I would fail in that dept. All of my customers are the same from month to month & keep us swamped with business so I don't have to look for new business. This might be one where you just have to take a deep breath & let it go. Good Luck!

im clinching my teeth and I wont let him get the best of me, and i will do the right thing, i hav'nt pulled it out of the box yet, im going to take some pictures first thing.. maybe Ill post one and you guys will see that im not exagerating.im definitly going to hit him with a tear down and inspect charge and shipping. i just cant imagine what is going on in this idiot's head and what he's thinking

The two things I keep in mind are;
One aw' sh*t takes away a hundred atta boyz, and knowing when to cut my losses.

It takes a long time to build a good reputation and only one incident to ruin it.

While being self employed can be it's own greatest reward, there are times when you have to catch yourself from stooping to some idiots level.

Character building situation, no doubt.
Good luck, vent when needed. d







                                                                                                                                                 

I recieved a letter today from the attorney general and i have 10 days to reply regarding this matter, so i spent another 2 hours drafting a letter taking pictures and so on, and at this point i have no idea which way this is heading, but i know that sob is snickering and covering his bases but I think he screwed up on the shipping it back to me in this single wall box with no packing,