I feel your pain, sgreanbeans.
My little story:
Last fall we did a tree job for a guy here in town, a lawyer who travels between here and the Middle East, non-stop. We do the job, the guy disappears for eight-months. He shows up few weeks ago, I see him on the street, July 1rst, Canada Day, I meet him with a smile and a handshake, and I tell him we thought he was killed over there and it's nice to see him still breathing. He mentions the money he still owes us and says to call him at 5PM and come up for a beer and he'll pay his bill. But as it's July 1rst, Canada Day, he says, let's wait until tomorrow. Fine.
July 2nd I call at 7PM. He says "Oh, we're just sitting down to relax, call me tomorrow at 5PM and come up for a beer and I'll pay you.".
Okay... I don't see why I need a beer, I just need a paycheck, but so be it.
I call at 5PM for a few days, no answer. I pass him on the street in his car (on his way home) at 4:45PM, I call at 5PM. No answer. At 5:30PM. No answer.
Okay...
A few days later me and my climber are running around doing estimates and it's 2PM and ****it! I call him, he answers, I say we can be there in five-minutes. He says okay. We show up, he's super friendly, we go over the job we did eight-months ago, look over some more work he would like us to do, and then he says he doesn't have any money on him and his wife has the check book and she's out shopping. So why don't you - wait for it! - call me at 5PM and come over for a beer and I'll pay you then. My climber, a patient and very peaceful guy, has steam coming out his ears at this point. Fine. We'll be back.
As we're leaving, his wife pulls up. I say, "Hey, since your wife is here, you can save me a return trip and just write me that check now". So, with an Oscar level performance, he asks his wife, "Honey, can I have the check book?" She looks at him as if he's an idiot and says "It's in the drawer in the kitchen." So he goes prancing back into the house, comes back out with the check book, and writes us a check for the measly $300 he owed us. Unbelievable.
What kind of a guy would obfuscate and evade and lie to your face like that over $300? Honestly, I was less angry with him than I was feeling sorry for him. What a miserable state of being to behave like that.
But today is Saturday and I'm doing nothing, and I'm doing it very, very well.
