Re: OT: Somebody Called the Sheriff On Me

[ABLE1 <somewhere@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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