So I recently had a deal go completely south on me. I'll try not to bore you all with a huge wall of text , but here it is, in a nutshell..3 years ago, I entered into deal , metal and body work for a "custom rifle". From the onset, we agreed that the ceiling would be set at $4500. His rifle at $4500 & 250 hrs of my labor at $20 an hour. My rate is usually $40-$45, but this guy was a vet, being one myself, the $500 overage on my end was acceptable. Enter the next part of the deal, a member here ( who introduced me to this local "gunsmith" ) who was also having work done by the same 'smith. He became involved because he was providing the materials needed to do the job, as payment for the work he'd had done previously. It was made clear that this was a "side project" on my end, and it would take a year or more to complete. Without getting into too much detail, I've had 2 major surgeries in this time frame. Recovery took some time on the first one, and the VA decided to make me wait 6 mos. to have an 11mm kidney stone removed. So, after initial inspection of the car, I felt my inspection of the car was spot on & $4500 was pretty accurate, provided he took the car to have it media blasted in Commerce. After the tear down , as usually happens , more issues with the car popped up. I made this more than evident to him, and suggested he buy a new set of fenders, being that he wanted an SS style hood, I took him to AMD in Burford where I get a fairly substantial discount. I got him well over $1800 worth of brand new sheet metal for around $700. A deal on it's own.
At this time he informed me, he would not be able to afford the blasting, even though all he had to pay for was media, shop time & transport. I'm lucky enough to have a friend who owns probably the most advanced media blasting operation in Georgia. This is when I should have returned the car to him, but being the type of guy I am, and him being a Vietnam combat vet , I figured I owed it to him to "go the extra mile". I then began to strip the car, by hand. Well over 40 yrs ( it's a '66 ) of bad metal repair, bondo, pin holes, drilled holes ( think '70's style dent pulling ), dents dings and rust. I let him know that my time was going to be eaten up because of this, to which I got a reply of " we'll settle it on the other end " .. maybe I'm stupid & gullible, but I tend to take a man for his word, until he proves otherwise. Needless to say, the other guy ( the member here ) completely failed to come thru with the materials, and suggested I use my material on hand to cover him until he had more " spare cash " ... this never happened. I ended up putting $800 of my own material into the car. Then things really started to go sideways. He became demanding, wanted to know when his car would be finished, why it was taking so long. I explained my situation to him repeatedly & suggested he speak with the other party to fulfil his part of the bargain. Never happened.
It finally came to a head a few weeks ago. I told him my situation. I'm now up to 450 hrs of labor ( 200 extra ) and $800 out of pocket for materials. I t was also made abundantly clear that there was no way in hell I could afford to cover his material, from the get go. I had basically had enough, I told him we either needed a clear, reworked plan, or he needed to come get the car. Again. all I got was " we'll work it out on the other end " . It was getting bad, affecting my attitude around the house & general demeanor.
My wife had had enough, and I wasn't having that. Period. So I decided that the car HAD TO GO. I let him know that seeing as I was well over the agreed amount , that we settle up. The deal was never for a complete, turnkey car, just 250 hrs of my labor. He said he'd come get the car. Shocker. I also let him know that the car was not going anywhere until the rifle & cash were in my hand. Naturally he got PO'd. He then told me the rifle was not complete and he needed a few days to get it finished " button it up " were his exact words. He showed up, with the rifle & $800 in hand. The rifle looked right & again I took him at his word ( yes I'm stupid ) .
Life changes & I need a $4500 rifle like I need AIDS, so it went up for sale, again going by his build sheet, it seemed legit. I didn't want to mess too much with an unfired brand new rifle, so I just did a thorough cleaning, at which point I discovered it hadn't even been bedded. A loaded SS M1A/M14 in a McMillan M3A stock HAS to be bedded. Period. When I figured out the rifle was incomplete I immediately took my post down, and now I'm stuck with about $2500 of really nice rifle parts. So here's my question...
Things being what they are, and learning a valuable lesson to not trust anyone and get everything in writing, I'm wondering if I should take the next step & publically trash this person. I know enough people in the area that I could easily choke off his business with a few phone calls, but is that wrong ? Is the blame squarely on me, or him, or is it shared between the two of us ? Part of me wants to put a mechanics lien on his ride so he can never register it until this is resolved. The other part of me just wants to walk away, get rid of the rifle and be at peace because this problem is out of my life forever ? I feel like a ***** for laying down & taking it, but I know that's just pride messing with me. Or is it ? Hopefully this made enough sense to you all and you're able to form an opinion about it. I would really like any input on this, even if you think I'm an idiot for letting go as long as I did. I have thick skin. That being said, I will not reveal the name of the member here, who "hooked me up" he's a scammer & will eventually be caught of his own doing. So what say you all ?
At this time he informed me, he would not be able to afford the blasting, even though all he had to pay for was media, shop time & transport. I'm lucky enough to have a friend who owns probably the most advanced media blasting operation in Georgia. This is when I should have returned the car to him, but being the type of guy I am, and him being a Vietnam combat vet , I figured I owed it to him to "go the extra mile". I then began to strip the car, by hand. Well over 40 yrs ( it's a '66 ) of bad metal repair, bondo, pin holes, drilled holes ( think '70's style dent pulling ), dents dings and rust. I let him know that my time was going to be eaten up because of this, to which I got a reply of " we'll settle it on the other end " .. maybe I'm stupid & gullible, but I tend to take a man for his word, until he proves otherwise. Needless to say, the other guy ( the member here ) completely failed to come thru with the materials, and suggested I use my material on hand to cover him until he had more " spare cash " ... this never happened. I ended up putting $800 of my own material into the car. Then things really started to go sideways. He became demanding, wanted to know when his car would be finished, why it was taking so long. I explained my situation to him repeatedly & suggested he speak with the other party to fulfil his part of the bargain. Never happened.
It finally came to a head a few weeks ago. I told him my situation. I'm now up to 450 hrs of labor ( 200 extra ) and $800 out of pocket for materials. I t was also made abundantly clear that there was no way in hell I could afford to cover his material, from the get go. I had basically had enough, I told him we either needed a clear, reworked plan, or he needed to come get the car. Again. all I got was " we'll work it out on the other end " . It was getting bad, affecting my attitude around the house & general demeanor.
My wife had had enough, and I wasn't having that. Period. So I decided that the car HAD TO GO. I let him know that seeing as I was well over the agreed amount , that we settle up. The deal was never for a complete, turnkey car, just 250 hrs of my labor. He said he'd come get the car. Shocker. I also let him know that the car was not going anywhere until the rifle & cash were in my hand. Naturally he got PO'd. He then told me the rifle was not complete and he needed a few days to get it finished " button it up " were his exact words. He showed up, with the rifle & $800 in hand. The rifle looked right & again I took him at his word ( yes I'm stupid ) .
Life changes & I need a $4500 rifle like I need AIDS, so it went up for sale, again going by his build sheet, it seemed legit. I didn't want to mess too much with an unfired brand new rifle, so I just did a thorough cleaning, at which point I discovered it hadn't even been bedded. A loaded SS M1A/M14 in a McMillan M3A stock HAS to be bedded. Period. When I figured out the rifle was incomplete I immediately took my post down, and now I'm stuck with about $2500 of really nice rifle parts. So here's my question...
Things being what they are, and learning a valuable lesson to not trust anyone and get everything in writing, I'm wondering if I should take the next step & publically trash this person. I know enough people in the area that I could easily choke off his business with a few phone calls, but is that wrong ? Is the blame squarely on me, or him, or is it shared between the two of us ? Part of me wants to put a mechanics lien on his ride so he can never register it until this is resolved. The other part of me just wants to walk away, get rid of the rifle and be at peace because this problem is out of my life forever ? I feel like a ***** for laying down & taking it, but I know that's just pride messing with me. Or is it ? Hopefully this made enough sense to you all and you're able to form an opinion about it. I would really like any input on this, even if you think I'm an idiot for letting go as long as I did. I have thick skin. That being said, I will not reveal the name of the member here, who "hooked me up" he's a scammer & will eventually be caught of his own doing. So what say you all ?
