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Oh gawd, I hate you so damn much (soooo long)

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  • Oh gawd, I hate you so damn much (soooo long)

    Gah! I hatchu I hatchu I hatchu!!!!!!!!!

    Ok, I'm better now, really. I can almost get over the whole wanting to stab things.

    I have a 'customer' who I will no longer be working with. Ever. For any reason.

    I used to do some custom sewing for people. I stopped, partially because of my job at the time and partially because I was just tired of sewing for other people, because they suck! This guy was a big part of that decision.

    When I first met him, he wanted some pants for Burning Man and offered to pay me in professional pictures of the finished product and bottles of wine. I originally told him no but turns out, I knew his landlady. She'd been friends with my grandmother-in-law since elementary school. She said he was a professional photographer (which is true) and he knew a lot of people around town to tell about my skills. I still say no and she calls my husbands grandmother, who yells at me for an hour about taking the job. Against my better judgement, I do the 3 pairs of pants, 2 skirts, and 4 tunics that he ended up wanting.

    He dodges me for the next 2 YEARS!! I'd been calling him every couple of weeks about the pictures for 6 months before I just wrote it off as a lesson learned and moved on.

    Low and behold, his friend who was a seamstress told him to take a hike and, suddenly, he was making a point of running into me and gave me 2 cd's of pictures. Not a single damn one that I could use to showcase my work.

    He wants more work. Nope, I told him. Cash up front or I'm throwing you out of the damn store. He offers trades, he offers to do work for me. Nope, nope, I'm pregnant and work 60 hours/week. I don't have time to work for him for free. He eventually comes back with cash and I make him a kilt, some pants and some matching cuffs.

    Ok, fine, he'll pay for the work. We can do business. He wants something kind of off the wall and I spend days researching if it's possible. It is, but not for what he wants to spend and so I figure, that's the end of it. He keeps promising me pictures of what I've already made for him but I never see them and I don't care. I'm done.

    This last October comes around. I've had a lot of health issues this last year and I'm still not back on my feet. I'm packing the house up to move, making my costume and getting ready for a convention. He calls me up wanting a costume idea. I give him one cause, hey, ideas are free and I'm not doing it.

    He calls a couple days later. Can I make the costume for him? No, I tell him. I don't have the time to work for free. Oh, he'll pay me, he says. I told him my rush price. Oh, that's a little expensive, how about he redesigns my business cards? No, I need the money, cash up front or no deal. He waits a week and calls me again. He really needs these pants and will bring money if I tell him what to buy. I tell him the price went up because of the extreme rush to get them done.

    He shows up at my house with the supplies and $40, saying he needs to go to the atm but could I get started? What did he want? Vinyl lace up pants. It was part of a fallen angel costume. He decided he could make the shirt if I'd take it off the original price I quoted him.

    Fine, I get it started, he calls me to tell me he got a flat tire and will bring the money by in a couple of days. I get the pants done (100 hand punched and set grommets) and keep packing and go to the convention. Can't get him on the phone, can't get him on facebook or by email to tell him to pick up the damn pants.

    He shows up while I'm out one day and picks up the pants from my husband, telling him he'd send me an email with everything else he owed me. I get an email with business card ideas and a new logo, telling me he would be posting pictures of the pants on his facebook and would be handing out the cards at all the parties he went to in the pants.

    No, no no no DIE IN A FIRE YOU FUCKING DOUCHBAG!

    The business cards he sent me? His watermark is stamped all the way across them so I couldn't use them if I wanted to. The 'pictures' he posted? Him from the waist up. Oh, he mentions that I made the pants but you cant see them!!

    I ran into his landlady the other day and she was saying he wanted some velvet cuffs for Christmas parties this year and she loves the pants. I told her he needs to show up at my door with at least $300 cash before I even talk to him again. And then, it will only be to tell him to take a hike. I don't care who else tries to pressure me, I am done!! Done done done!!


    So, basically, 'client' is a douche and family keeps pressuring me to keep working with him. Every time I tell him no, I get a call from my husband's grandmother. Next time she calls, I'll tell her how much he still owes me and ask her if she wants to cover it.

    Ok, I'm done, frustration over.
    "I'm starting to see a pattern in the men I date" - Miss Piggy, Muppet Treasure Island

    I'm writing!! Check out the blog.

  • #2
    You should!--that last statement. He's got granny snowed.
    "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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    • #3
      What is wrong with the rest of these people, bugging you to work with this thief? Yes, thief...

      If I were you I'd refuse to discuss it with either him or them. Next time he calls, hang up. Next time they call to talk about it, tell them you're too busy to talk and hang up. Even if he had the total cash in hand for a new job, he still owes you from the last one, so....nope. You are correct. Never again.
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

      Comment


      • #4
        Take your post, print it out in BIG letters and send it to granny. Give you husband a little spanking.

        I figure he already owns you hundreds. No excuses, he must pay what he owns plus *ALL* costs up front before you consider even doing a single stitch for him.
        Last edited by earl colby pottinger; 12-12-2011, 02:06 AM.

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        • #5
          They insist they're "helping" me get exposure. He's never brought me work from other paying customers. Ever.

          And it's not like these are easy things to make. Most of what I've done for him started simple but ended up having to be custom designed with the patterns hand-drafted. And the grommets! I couldn't feel my fingers for a day after they were done. The most I've ever used on a corset were 30 and it took me 2 days to do them.
          "I'm starting to see a pattern in the men I date" - Miss Piggy, Muppet Treasure Island

          I'm writing!! Check out the blog.

          Comment


          • #6
            Any chance of small claims court? $300 is a lot of coin.
            A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul. (Quote per infinitemonkies)

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            • #7
              I know dealing with family is touchy, but I also feel your husband needs to talk to his grandmother about her treatment of you. You should not be guilted into doing work for a deadbeat just because it's someone she knows, and she has a lot of gall to be cutting you down for refusing to do it. If it was your own grandmother you could deal with it but since it's your hubby's...I say it's time he stands up for his wife.

              I completely agree with you not wanting to do "business" with this guy ever again...as if there was every any legitimate business going on in the first place!
              "I was only LOOKING, I didn't mean to enter my card's CVV and actually ORDER! REFUND ME RIGHT NOW!!"

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              • #8
                This is no man. This is pond scum.
                Customers should always be served . . . to the nearest great white.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Yeah, we've talked about the way his family treats me. He's basically told me I need to deal with them myself. So, they're getting an earful and don't seem to like it. This is just the most recent battlefront.

                  I've considered small claims court, actually. I'm gonna try and get it from him first so I don't lose most of it in fees.

                  Mostly I've just given up on commissions. I still do dice bags that I sell to local games shops and I'll do something for a friend as a gift but anything else? I'm just tired of dealing with the bs.
                  "I'm starting to see a pattern in the men I date" - Miss Piggy, Muppet Treasure Island

                  I'm writing!! Check out the blog.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    what a piece of scum and sorry but i have to say you gmil is a piece of work. next time she gives you a bollocking for not working for him the gmil can pay you upfront a huge huge amount just to cover what you've already lost and what you might potentially lose thru him


                    stop falling for emotional blackmail. start learning some phrases to repeat to everyone who wants you to make something for this dirtbag


                    sorry, too busy.

                    sorry, not possible at the moment.

                    sorry, he's never paid me for previous work and i refuse to work for free

                    sorry, i've never recieved any referral work from him so he's not worth it

                    he wants work done? YOU do it :-)






                    and tell your hubby that he's under strict orders to NEVER give anything to anyone (of your work) without your express opinion even if he's given the saddest sob story ever
                    Last edited by georgie; 12-12-2011, 08:07 AM. Reason: missed something

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                    • #11
                      For the rest of his family, I've started replying FYNQ to anything they want. Gmil has actually been helpful outside of this so she's gotten more leeway but yeah, she's going to start getting the standard answer, too.

                      For those who don't know, FYNQ = Fuck you, next question.
                      "I'm starting to see a pattern in the men I date" - Miss Piggy, Muppet Treasure Island

                      I'm writing!! Check out the blog.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth Food Lady View Post
                        You should!--that last statement. He's got granny snowed.
                        This. You shouldn't have to put up with freeloaders.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          FYNQ! I love it! Now, I will be stealing it. Thanks, SuperRTL!
                          "Imagine that. Human souls, trapped like flies in the World Wide Web, stuck forever, crying out for help."-The Doctor
                          "Isn't that basically Twitter?"-Clara

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                          • #14
                            Quoth SuperRTL View Post
                            I've considered small claims court, actually. I'm gonna try and get it from him first so I don't lose most of it in fees.
                            2nd the mention of small claims. Also, you won't lose it in fees. You'll have to pay the fees upfront, but so long as you state your claim correctly "$XXX plus reasonable costs and fees" you'll get that as part of the judgement should you win.

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                            • #15
                              Quoth earl colby pottinger View Post
                              Take your post, print it out in BIG letters and send it to granny.
                              This, plus an itemized bill of material costs, time and labor. Let her see that this guy has literally robbed you of hundreds of dollars and that you will do no more work for him until he repays every cent.

                              There are so many stories like this, so many good craftspeople burned by deadbeats. And my husband wonders why I don't start sewing for profit.
                              I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                              My LiveJournal
                              A page we can all agree with!

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