The 'I'll sue!' thread reminded me of my father-in-law (FIL) when he went after a customer. So a bit of a reverse.
He ran his roofing company for over 25 years and still keeps the license current in his state even though he no longer has a business (he runs bars now - much less stressful I'm sure ).
Anyhoo, one of his jobs went through like a typical job: estimate, agreement, deposit, start work, finish work, clean-up.
Except after the clean-up, the Old Man refused to pay him. FIL took small deposits (whereas my DH took 50% deposits - because of people like Old Man). So FIL was out quite a bit of money just in hard costs.
FIL asked, "Are you not happy with the job? What's the problem?"
Old Man: "I just have no intention of paying you."
FIL (not quite understanding yet he's dealing with a sociopath): "You realize I'll put a lien on the home, right?"
Old Man: "Go ahead! This house is covered with liens. I'm never gonna sell it. You'll never get your money!" (You'll have to imagine the absolute glee Old Man expressed himself with.)
FIL ended the conversation, went back to the office and let his Office Manager know that they'd have to start a lien process at the 30 day mark for Old Man and got busy with other things.
But when he paid his guys that week, he did mention that Old Man scammed him and wasn't planning on paying him. His guys were more than a little ticked at Old Man. FIL could be a hard@ss, but he *never* skimped on paying his guys and he always paid promptly.
Imagine FIL's surprise to get a furious phone call from Old Man the following week, where Old Man shared, between expletives, that his guys came and ripped his roof off!
FIL: "Ripped your roof off? It's gone?"
Old Man: "It's a mess! A ton of shingles are gone and a bunch of the paper is ripped, exposing the wood!"
FIL: "And you 'saw' my guys doing this?"
Old Man: (silence, then) "I *know* it was them!"
FIL (trying to keep the laughter out his voice) "No one in my company would ever do anything like that. No matter how bad the customer is. Good day!" (hanging up the phone).
FIL told his guys about the phone call but didn't ask them about it.
He just didn't want to know. And he'd have rather had his dam money!
He ran his roofing company for over 25 years and still keeps the license current in his state even though he no longer has a business (he runs bars now - much less stressful I'm sure ).
Anyhoo, one of his jobs went through like a typical job: estimate, agreement, deposit, start work, finish work, clean-up.
Except after the clean-up, the Old Man refused to pay him. FIL took small deposits (whereas my DH took 50% deposits - because of people like Old Man). So FIL was out quite a bit of money just in hard costs.
FIL asked, "Are you not happy with the job? What's the problem?"
Old Man: "I just have no intention of paying you."
FIL (not quite understanding yet he's dealing with a sociopath): "You realize I'll put a lien on the home, right?"
Old Man: "Go ahead! This house is covered with liens. I'm never gonna sell it. You'll never get your money!" (You'll have to imagine the absolute glee Old Man expressed himself with.)
FIL ended the conversation, went back to the office and let his Office Manager know that they'd have to start a lien process at the 30 day mark for Old Man and got busy with other things.
But when he paid his guys that week, he did mention that Old Man scammed him and wasn't planning on paying him. His guys were more than a little ticked at Old Man. FIL could be a hard@ss, but he *never* skimped on paying his guys and he always paid promptly.
Imagine FIL's surprise to get a furious phone call from Old Man the following week, where Old Man shared, between expletives, that his guys came and ripped his roof off!
FIL: "Ripped your roof off? It's gone?"
Old Man: "It's a mess! A ton of shingles are gone and a bunch of the paper is ripped, exposing the wood!"
FIL: "And you 'saw' my guys doing this?"
Old Man: (silence, then) "I *know* it was them!"
FIL (trying to keep the laughter out his voice) "No one in my company would ever do anything like that. No matter how bad the customer is. Good day!" (hanging up the phone).
FIL told his guys about the phone call but didn't ask them about it.
He just didn't want to know. And he'd have rather had his dam money!
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