question....

[Jchonline]

Around Christmas last year I dropped a car off at a "friend's" place to have the exterior refinished (paint/body). Paid him for the majority of it when I dropped it off. I've had him do work in the past and it was fine, a little time consuming, but been fine--and communication was good. It is now close to Thanksgiving 2021, and he has provided zero communication. 4 months since drop off went by and I asked for an update. Ain't got to it yet. Another month or two, same deal, ain't got to it yet. The same today. So I'm out a bunch of money, my car's sitting for coming up on 11 months, and not much has been done to it. I'm pretty upset. This evening I found out that another guy dropped his off right after I dropped mine off, paid him (full), an his ain't nowhere close either.

So over the spring/summer/fall I've been facebook tracking him. He's been out racing, buying parts, fixing stuff, etc. Playing, if you will. All the while, my stuff is sitting there.

I am pretty sure that money I paid him is gone.

I need it done, and done right. Or I need to go get it and pay someone else to do it. But I can't do that because I already paid him part of it.

The other guy whose stuff is also there, he contacted me and said if his stuff ain't done by x date, he's going over there to get it and it won't be pretty. I don't know this guy very well but what I do know of him, he's probably right. It won't be. He don't just say stuff like that and not do anything...

What do I do?

Call him and tell him you want your money back. I would not go over there with the other guy it might get nasty and you dont want to be a part of it.

If he doesn’t have your money, take him to court.

Small town lessons….this is a really tough one we learn at a young age. If you don’t know a person’s mother (and know she is good people), never let them do any work for you. Many of the pop up shops have nothing to loose if you go after them. So many examples I can remember of lazy people that try and cull you with politeness. Don’t fall for it, they are just manipulating you.

 

[lugbolt]

no more contact has been made with the shop. He's already refused, twice. Said come get your car, and he'll 'give me' the supplies he's already bought (and they're probably all junk by now, after a year). Supposedly he paid $900 and change for the supplies. It may or may not be "my" supplies, so I told him keep your stuff and I'll deal with the money part later.

I know the sheriff of the county he lives in, and have done a good bit of work for him. I don't really consider the sheriff a friend, but we know each other fairly well. And I used to work with his kid. And-I know several that live within a stone's throw of his "shop", and could make his life a living hell, but I am not like that. I talked to a lady friend who used to work for the state police, she said if you need me to.....well you might get the idea....just say the word and it'll be taken care of". Again I don't want that; nobody does. But makes me think, I need to keep her as a friend


Already made contact with several other shops (legitimate shops) that might be willing to help me finish it. I'd do it myself but physically cannot, so it's one of the few things I have to hire out.

sad deal. I had him to my other car a couple years ago, was reasonably fast, and good work. Dad had his done in the same scheme and it came out nice too. Now this? I'm like what in the world did I do to make him mad? But now dad's pretty mad about it, my brother is madder'n a wet hen (he is owed some money from the paint guy), the more I find out about him the more upset I get. Not even counting the other guy's car that's sitting there. I need to get my stuff quick before this other guy does something dumb. If that happens, the shop guy's estate is then in limbo for eternity.

Truck's down for a while, so I'm gonna have to get someone to go get it for me. Probably hire a rollback, I know another company who does it for a living. I'll call them in the morning.

My old boss was a county judge, called him for guidance. Then after that phone call I called my other friend who was a senator for a while, then a supreme court justice (lives about 15 min from me). We had a good chat over at his farm after turkey, and I got some good council. Not exactly what I wanted to hear but now I know. Small claims is the best option but there's no guarantee I'll get anything back. Judgment only means he owes, it doesn't mean anything will really happen and that's where the trouble starts. From the point of judgement, it's up to me to figure out how to get the money, be it a lien, garnishment, whatever. he's got assets but never seems to have any money, so.....

 

[Fordtech86]

Can’t trust anyone…

 

[D2Cat]

Yea Lugbolt, that's called judgement proof. You win the small claims case, but can't do nothing with the paperwork. I think one thing a judgement does to give you some satisfaction that the debt can be following him around for a long time.

You can give the (collection) job to your favorite attorney (and about 60% of the money every collected) and they have software and methods to keep him broke. He would have to deal in cash and not have anything in a bank or they could get it. In some places if the county attorney is a strong personality he will pursue such folks.

 

[lugbolt]

keeping him broke means nothing, he's been broke his whole life. He spends it faster'n he gets it. Kinda like my brother in a way. I know their type, being broke is normal.

He's afraid of the law. Found that out when I took the sheriff over there to pick it up. So I can use that. I told the sheriff about what he was doing (running cash only business) and the sheriff said "you want me to make the phone call?".

Turns out, the "shop" (individual) is a convicted felon from decades ago. So that explains why he hates the law. Explains a lot of things actually. Taking him to the courthouse might be an option, even if I don't get paid, he'll have to deal with 'the law'.

Car's at the house now, half primered. Couldn't get no money out of him. Another shop owner showed up yesterday and appraised it, not a terrible appraisal but he wants 50% up front. I told him after this last deal I'm real skeptical of doing that.

and lastly, since myself and many others know him pretty well, if'n I don't take him to court, I'll just ruin his name, which will be real easy on the social media.

 

[ccoon520]

Another shop owner showed up yesterday and appraised it, not a terrible appraisal but he wants 50% up front. I told him after this last deal I'm real skeptical of doing that.

and lastly, since myself and many others know him pretty well, if'n I don't take him to court, I'll just ruin his name, which will be real easy on the social media.

Do some research into the new shop. Get an agreement on timeline on paper and see where that takes you. I know if I hire people for work a lot of time they need between 20 to 50% to start to cover materials. However, especially with your last experience do a bunch of looking into the new shop, look for BBB complaints, reviews on Google, Yelp, and any other service.

As far as ruining his name goes, unless you have something official that people can look up like a court filing or settlement he will just say that you didn't like the color you picked and threw a fit. It will work and he will continue on his way with just a minor hiccup. If you want to get even get something official that people can find with a google search. Then they probably won't even make the phone call. Shouting into the ether doesn't work unless there are a bunch of other people shouting with you.