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Re: OT: Somebody Called the Sheriff On Me



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."  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."  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:  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.

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