Re: OT: Somebody Called the Sheriff On Me

[Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>]

On 6/21/2021 1:49 PM, ABLE1 wrote:
> On 6/21/2021 3:14 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>> On 6/21/2021 11:37 AM, ABLE1 wrote:
>>> On 6/21/2021 11:44 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
>>>> If you don't want to read a rant.  Stop right now and hit your kill
>>>> key on this thread.  This is a rant.  Its also not alarm related.
>>>>
>>>> I was a licensed contractor for 23 years.  Never had a complaint on
>>>> my license (a real complaint) and only had two BBB complaints.  Both
>>>> of the later just didn't want to honor the terms they agreed to and
>>>> their letters just read like they didn't want to pay their bill.
>>>> After the second time and the BBB listed me with a B while listing
>>>> companies I knew first hand engaged in fraudulent practices with an
>>>> A I told them they were prohibited from listing my company at all.
>>>>
>>>> Well recently I had a customer pay for a custom job.  I told them up
>>>> front that there was about 16 weeks custom work already paid on my
>>>> jobs board, and that all jobs were done in the order they are paid.
>>>> PERIOD NO EXCEPTION and I understand if they want to look for
>>>> somebody else.
>>>>
>>>> That is pretty much the standard in the market niche I work in now.
>>>> Some new guys do work on spec or take partial deposits, but they
>>>> quickly learn like I did that you get stuck with items on your shelf
>>>> you can't sell and can't get paid for.  Lots of guys don't tell
>>>> customers how long its going to take, and they don't respond to
>>>> demanding emails at all.  I tell them upfront and I try to always
>>>> respond to their requests for updates.  I actually had a customer
>>>> tell me early on, "No Bob.  I will pay you up front just like I
>>>> would have to with anybody else decent in the business."Â  I've been
>>>> that way ever since.  I have about 14-16 weeks work on the custom
>>>> jobs board right now so obviously its a workable model.
>>>>
>>>> The customer from paragraph two started giving me crap and being
>>>> demanding after about 8 weeks.  I told him that we were not close to
>>>> the terms he agreed to and pointed out it was sent in email and it
>>>> was on his invoice.  Well he went off the deep end telling me he had
>>>> already contacted his bank and they had refunded his money, and
>>>> threatening to "write lots of reviews."Â  He didn't have the nerve to
>>>> actually say bad reviews or slanderous reviews, but I thanked him
>>>> for the warning and asked him if he would so kind as to send me
>>>> links to those reviews so I could share them with all my happy
>>>> customers.  He went off the deep end again and threatened to sue me
>>>> among other things.  I'm not sure exactly what he would sue me for,
>>>> but I let him know his reply wasn't really coherent and I was
>>>> blocking his emails. I also told him that if he tried to circumvent
>>>> that I would consider a harassment (harassment is criminal)
>>>> complaint against him.  Within a minute or two my phone was
>>>> ringing.  I was in the machine room setting up a job, but when I
>>>> went back in the office I looked up the CALL ID and it was this
>>>> guy.  I'm glad I didn't answer.  He didn't leave a message.
>>>>
>>>> I was a bit annoyed and decided to call it a day before I broke
>>>> something or worse hurt myself and everybody's jobs got delayed.  I
>>>> was sitting in my living room in my recliner sipping on a cup of
>>>> fresh brewed coffee and watch Ian of Forgotten Weapons on YouTube
>>>> tell all about how Samuel Colt was an interesting and very driven
>>>> individual when a local Sheriff's Deputy rang my door bell.
>>>>
>>>> Apparently the guy had called his local Sheriff's department in
>>>> Florida and said I was trying to rip him off.  Now lets stop a
>>>> minute.  If he misrepresented things to his bank/credit card
>>>> provider and took my money back he has no financial claim, and I no
>>>> longer had any obligation to him.  If he did not tell that to the
>>>> Sheriff's department he misrepresented things at best.  To my
>>>> knowledge there is no jurisdiction in the USA where filing a false
>>>> police report or making false statements to law enforcement in the
>>>> performance of their duties is not a crime.
>>>>
>>>> They called my local Sheriff's Department and who sent a deputy to
>>>> see me. I explained everything, showed him all the pertinent
>>>> supporting documentation, and  emailed him copies.  He said the
>>>> police report on his end was going to be really short.  I'll be
>>>> getting a copy, and also the incident report number from the Florida
>>>> Sheriff's office so I can get a copy of their police report as well.
>>>>
>>>> In the mean time I sent our friend in Florida one last email letting
>>>> him know that as long as he did not succeed in stealing from me I
>>>> would unblock him long enough to get proof approval on his job when
>>>> I got to his job on the board in about 8 weeks.  I also let him know
>>>> the local sheriff's department had visited with me, and I would be
>>>> getting a copy of both their and his sheriff's departments police
>>>> reports. "While I am not sure you filed a false police report, under
>>>> Arizona law even as the victim I am REQUIRED by Arizona statute to
>>>> report a crime if I believe one has been committed."
>>>>
>>>> What I should do for my own peace of mind is refund the guy and
>>>> block him forever, but I don't believe in rewarding bad behaviour.
>>>> Besides I consider that a binding agreement to do a job goes both
>>>> ways.  I am just as obligated to complete his job as he is not to
>>>> back out of it after I have put the money to work making sure there
>>>> is material to do it and spent time figuring out the best way to get
>>>> it done.
>>>>
>>>> I never had a customer call the sheriff on me because I insisted on
>>>> sticking to the terms of an agreement and refused to be intimidated
>>>> until last Friday.  I'm still a little stunned.  Relieved too
>>>> actually. Law enforcement, atleast on my end, had no problem seeing
>>>> the situation for what it was.
>>>>
>>>> As a contractor I had a couple customers I fired, but I never fired
>>>> them before completing the job I agreed to do, and I always covered
>>>> the warranty until the 366th day.  I think I will fire this guy ten
>>>> seconds after I ship his part.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Whoopsie!!!
>>> I hit the Send Key to fast!!
>>>
>>> Well hello Bob!!  Hope your day is going better!!
>>> I totally get the frustration.  This guy had nothing better to do for
>>> his day than to waste Your, Deputy(X2), Sheriffs(X2) time.  Very sad!!
>>>
>>> Needless to say he needs something done to cost him some serious money
>>> that he will not have a idea or clue how it happened!!!
>>>
>>> First we have to find a quite friend in Florida.......and then.........
>>>
>>> The plot thickens............................  :-)
>>>
>>> Have a better week!!
>>>
>>> Les
>>
>>
>> There are very few things that will make me want to enact some sort of
>> revenge plot, justified or otherwise.  This is not one of them, and
>> most that I would like to I still would not.
>>
>> Even those things I can legally do I will not if my plan going forward
>> is not inconvienced by further chicanery.  I will start his part at or
>> about the time I said I would.  I will give him the opportunity to
>> provide feedback, and I will ship it when I am done.  If the OP has
>> done nothing further to try and harm me that will be the end of it.  I
>> won't work for him again, but given his actions I doubt he would ask
>> either.
>>
>> Unrelated:Â  I did go on the road when I was 19 hoping to catch up with
>> a guy who ripped off my family.  I have no clue in retrospect as to
>> what I would or could have done if the FBI (one I) had not caught him
>> first.
>>
>
> Bob, my suggestion of a "get even plan" was just a mental Ha Ha moment!!
>
> I understand the consumption of time that would be spent to get nowhere.
>
> BTW
> Just for clarity.  This guy said that his bank returned his money.  So
> is that true or was he just blowing smoke??
>
> If you still have his money then yes, do the job and turn him off in
> your mind, block any emails, etc.
>
> About 11 years I had a customer ask me to provide a proposal for a
> cameras system to watch a dumpster that was costing them an additional
> $3000+ a month in extra trash removal.  I took a considerable amount
> of time working out the details and writing up the proposal that came
> to about $7,500 installed.  After about 2 weeks I got a phone call from
> some guy from the corporate office in California.  He started to pick
> apart my proposal and saying it was too much money.  I told him that
> he should go somewhere else for the system.  Shortly there after they
> cancelled there monitoring.  Poof gone!!  Me Happy!!
>
> Then about a month ago I got a call from their Maintenance Guy. After
> a bit of hello how are you doing stuff, he ask me about doing the
> camera job.  I won't type everything but it ended with "Here is the
> deal".  "You guys write me a check for $4000.00 and when I get it
> cashed and the money is in my bank, I will then start to "think" about
> the system and write up a contract for the final amount it will cost.
> Failing that, have a good week................ bye!!"
>
> The puzzlement on my part is, if the dumpster is costing an additional
> $3000/month wouldn't the original system have paid for itself already?
> Maybe a little over 10 years ago!!
>
> Oh, this is an apartment complex with a common trash dumpster, but used
> by EVERYBODY in the area!!
>
> Boggles the mind about some people!!!
>
> Les

He told his sheriff's department he was "thinking about it." Which is
not the same as he told me prior to that.  If it hasn't hit as a charge
back in 8 weeks when I get to his job I'll do the job.

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