I Didn't Want To Do It ...

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When I ran my Custom Auto Upholstery business back in the late 80s I had a similar policy and yet some folks still wouldn't pay up when the work was done. It's frustrating and completely unnecessary. Folks if you want work done, get your $$ in hand first.

I did this '56 Caddy interior and had far more into the job than the deposit covered. When the job was done, the bodyshop owner told me he didn't have the cash to pay the bill and told me I had to wait a few weeks. I took a razor out of my pocket and held it over the interior and told him he had 20 mins to come up with the cash or I was going to extract my work in shreds. I also picked up a hammer and told him I wasn't going to bother rolling down the windows to get at the back seat.

He somehow found the cash in 17 minutes.

This is the interior I held for ransom with my razor and hammer...

'56 Caddy interior 3.jpg
 
Ddaddy said:
When I ran my Custom Auto Upholstery business back in the late 80s I had a similar policy and yet some folks still wouldn't pay up when the work was done. It's frustrating and completely unnecessary. Folks if you want work done, get your $$ in hand first.

I did this '56 Caddy interior and had far more into the job than the deposit covered. When the job was done, the bodyshop owner told me he didn't have the cash to pay the bill and told me I had to wait a few weeks. I took a razor out of my pocket and held it over the interior and told him he had 20 mins to come up with the cash or I was going to extract my work in shreds. I also picked up a hammer and told him I wasn't going to bother rolling down the windows to get at the back seat.

He somehow found the cash in 17 minutes.

This is the interior I held for ransom with my razor and hammer...

View attachment 1714972737
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Now that's badass, I like it!
 
I'll jump on the bandwagon and say that I agree 100% with you, Leanna. You may 'Hate to do it', but you are running a business, not a free babysitting clinic.
 
It's business..not charity labor.... You have to defend yourself up front ,honestly and adamantly....
 
I don't blame you one bit for being frustrated/pissed off, Leanna.
My father had his own business when i was growing up, and he had to go under because of non paying ''customers''.
Then you are late on your bills, and everyone looks at YOU as being a rip off artist!
I know what it's like to go without from a very young age........
My 3 brothers and i worked after school, weekends, and all of the summer holidays (without pay) for years to help him out, but to no avail.
He died a few years later after he lost the business, and he had just turned 54.
I believe it was stress that did him in with several heart attacks in rapid succession.
He was also a WW2 veteran and a hard worker, perhaps a lousy businessman, brought up in an era where a man's word and a hand shake meant something.
I have now outlived him by about a month as of today, and am the youngest of 4 brothers.

So......... If anyone reading this owes money to anyone, be diligent and pay them off, work out some sort of payment plan or whatever.......it's not a game.
 
Being a co-owner of a business, cannot agree with you more! It is no loss on their part and can only hurt you. All the good customers will definitely understand your stance. Keep up the good work!
 
Thank you all for the outpouring of support!
I woke up to some PayPal love this morning from one of the six and two promises that my bill will be paid before the respective deadline so my mood is a little better today.
I have not responded to the Conversations about available parts yet, but will do so if the others' deadlines come and go without action. Keep an eye on my posts over the next couple weeks (they will be For Sale ads rather than replies here in this thread).
 
You are on the right track as you well know.
Hope it all comes together and you get paid up quick.
 
CudaChick1968 said:
The "right track" is getting these parts to their owners. I agree fully Beastie!
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Yea, well I hope they not only pay you but that they kick in a little extra for the trouble.
Nice thought, but more likely you will be forced to sell some and then get bad mouthed for it.
My Brother did decorative iron work, and once a really nice beveled glass and wrought iron table was done the guy said he would give him half what they agreed so my Brother put a 3lb hammer through it right in front of the guy just to make a point.
He could have sold that table for 1,200 easy, but the deal was 2,400.
 
For years now I've read members post how they won't do business with businesses who require a deposit, with some such nonsense about "you own the business, you should be able to cover parts and material etc, until the project is done."

Where are those.... members.... now?

Maybe now they get the idea of why some require the deposit.

When Pop and I had the restoration shop, parts and material were paid up front as well as 25% of the labor, billed by the hour. I didn't bill again until I had at least 40 hours in favor of the customer. Funny, I usually kept quite on those members who said the above, since they don't get it.

Do you really think that I wanted to buy five or six thousand dollars worth of parts or material to have someone walk on me and never return? The internet was brand new back then, forums like this didn't exist and the only way to recoup an investment like that would be to ship back to the vendor and eat the shipping.

Sorry, it's actually your project, not mine. I just building it for you.
 
ramenth said:
For years now I've read members post how they won't do business with businesses who require a deposit, with some such nonsense about "you own the business, you should be able to cover parts and material etc, until the project is done."

Where are those.... members.... now?

Maybe now they get the idea of why some require the deposit.

When Pop and I had the restoration shop, parts and material were paid up front as well as 25% of the labor, billed by the hour. I didn't bill again until I had at least 40 hours in favor of the customer. Funny, I usually kept quite on those members who said the above, since they don't get it.

Do you really think that I wanted to buy five or six thousand dollars worth of parts or material to have someone walk on me and never return? The internet was brand new back then, forums like this didn't exist and the only way to recoup an investment like that would be to ship back to the vendor and eat the shipping.

Sorry, it's actually your project, not mine. I just building it for you.
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My Son in law has a popular local heating and ac business and does mostly new construction.
He buys all the materials and pays for all the employee labor and then the housing contractors don't pay him until they sell the houses.
Even then he as a hard time getting it from some of them, so he floats thousands and thousands to the developers for sometimes as long as years until the development sells.
I asked him why he puts up with that crap and he said because if he doesn't someone else will and they will get the jobs.
Even the mention of charging interest on over due payments is met with threats of finding another company to do the work.
 
Hmmmm;cheap bastards on this board???? Say it ain't so!!!! I still want my 68 340 and 383S hood inserts done. Cash check money order -stamps,parts or services.If you are interested
 
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