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.
>