I had a hard time deciding where to post this. Since it is funny to me, I put it here. Some may think it is educational, some would think it is a question of ethics, some might categorize it as business.
A lady contacted me a few months back and wanted a farm scrapped before an upcoming auction. I had let her pasture 12 horses on my place because she was out of hay. I declined the job because I was not going to drop my present customers to meet her deadline. A local scrapper that is notorious for bad checks and not paying customers accepted the job. I have seen this scrapper preparing loads he bought at an auction before the auction was over. Evidently he had to sell it before the check was cashed.
He paid the lady $ 2,000 in cash to start the project. She said she needed the money for her daughter that was attending college. He hauled his semi, trailers, pay loader, skid loader, etc. to the property and was hauling about 10 tons a day. Within a week he is visited by the sheriff at the farm. The real owner had just returned from out of state and reported the theft of his property. The lady had been his girlfriend and knew he was out of town. The scrapper had to pay the farmer fair market value, not scrap value for the items he took. He was also out the original $ 2,000. When he went to court to get his money back the lady did not know what he was talking about. He did not have any proof. Her horses will not be coming back on my property.
Everyone I have dealt with has been on the up and up. Someday I might get scammed, but I would like to think I won't. If you have another lesson you could teach us, please post.
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