maintaning business when customers become friends.

I have always prided myself on being able to seperate business from friendship. An incident a couple of days ago caused me to reaccess my real ability to do this, and what I found made me re look at my lifes business dealings.

I have a customer, a really nice guy, honest as the day is long. he is a scrounger and about once a month he will call me when he gets a trash can full of #1/#2 insulated wire. he is well aware of the stripping process and what I will buy. for over a year I have bought a monthly 50 lbs or so for $1 per lb to $1.25 and it has always been spot on. 2 days ago I he calld and I stopped buy to pick up my 50 lb of choice wire. He was kind of in a hurry so he says give me an extra $5 and just go ahead and take the trash can too.

To make long story short.the top foot or so was the usual quality, about 30 lbs was comm wire and stuff he knew not to be up to snuff. aparently he needed some quick Christmas money, and was willing to jepordise a long working relationship to get it.
My $50 worth of wire from this valued customer is worth about $28.

Desperate people do desperate things./ this was a cold reminder, friendship is friendship and business is business.

sorry you got burned, olddude. thats cold

you got to always keep business as business....no sense being out of pocket when you shouldnt be.

I would not let it slide. I would express my disappointment in this man and assure him he needs to make it right. Mike

22 dollars is all u lost look at the brightside at least it wasn't thousands of dollars. I hope u have a reciept or something so u can write off the loss.

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Originally Posted by PistoneScrapProcessing

22 dollars is all u lost look at the brightside at least it wasn't thousands of dollars. I hope u have a reciept or something so u can write off the loss.

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22 dollars, is 22 dollars...that is gas, food, money towards bills, etc.

Business is business...mixing pleasure (friendship) and business is NEVER good, no matter how you shake a stick at it.

Yup friendship and business make a bad mix. A buddy of mine had a tractor trailer rig, he was out of work and not able to make payments when he came to me asking for a loan. Well I dug the hole a bit deeper for myself, I asked him how much was owing against the truck, he told me 35 thousand the GE finance.

I told him the only way I would loan the money was to pay out the GE loan then register my own paper against the truck and trailer. Which is precisely what I did, then a couple of months later a Sheriff comes looking for the truck. My bud neglected to inform me there was also a 9 thousand dollar mechanics lien against the truck.

What was i to do, I was already into this thing large, I paid out the mechanics lien. I had been very lenient with him about not paying as he had the truck and trailer up for sale. Ha the plot thickens here.

Couple of young lads come along and agree to the price they have some cash, enough to satisfy my bud, my money was still tied to these fellows getting a loan. So I step right up to the plate and tell my bud take the deal and that I would hold the paper for the lads. This is when I sniffed something was amiss, when he refused. I could only then assume that he was trying to screw me out of the loan money.

Okay the lads don't get their truck, it's going on 9 months and I haven't been paid a dime, so I foreclose on the loan and seized the truck and trailer, got my money and lost a friend.

This deal cost me more than I care to think about. I had just purchased a brand new 93 Dodge 4x4 fully loaded with the Cummings engine. I suspect that my ex friend had put some metal filings into the fuel tank., some made it past the filters and screwed up the injector pump.

A friend that would cheat you is not a friend at all, cut your losses Olddude and move on.
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Originally Posted by gustavus

so I foreclose on the loan and seized the truck and trailer, got my money and lost a friend.

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I really do not think you lost a friend. Friends do not treat each other like that. You parted ways with a self serving, vindictive scammer.

This can be easily resolved, bring the lower grade material back to him and deduct the $22 from the next load. No reason to heat up the error (what ever the reason). I see it often...

As consistent as the guy has been sounds like a pretty regular source of income. I would find out a little more before making a final decision as to keep a regular good supplier.

I agree with wildbill, this guy seems to be a consistant source for you so you shouldn't just write him off just yet. Just my opinion.

Well... a customer of mine told me yesterday , he trust people till they mess up, he said... everybody have 1 and only 1 chance with me, if they do wrong that's it...I agree...there is nothing like Honest business , and honest people it is what we should support and keep around ...

22 hard ones!

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

22 dollars, is 22 dollars...that is gas, food, money towards bills, etc.

Business is business...mixing pleasure (friendship) and business is NEVER good, no matter how you shake a stick at it.

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