[another Linda]

Ok, stupid I know but they were so nice ... So, we hired some people to do some work. They did part of it and needed money to buy some materials to finish the remainder. Long story short, we paid them in full and a month later they still haven't finished. My question is about any recourse. Has anyone used small claims court? Any other suggestions?

[SteveFromNY]

I've used small claims in NY but never FL. You can certainly try and see if you can get a judgement against them that way.
Are they incorporated, or just some guys who do some work? Do you know their names and addresses so the papers can be served? Or are they just first names and a cell phone number from an ad someplace? Finding them and collecting won't be easy, but you should try.

[Irish Rover]

Is the amount of money in question enough to make this a felony? This could be a good question for TAL. :dontknow:

[iaudit]

There is an organization called Senior Sleuths that handles situations like this. They are based at the sheriff's station on Rt. 466, right near Morse Blvd.

They gave a brief explanation of their services at the POA meeting last night.

[BETTY1212]

I Would go to the seniors vs crime first because they try to contact them and if they have had numerous complaints about the same people they might be able to do something about it.Also if you don't mind me asking what company was it.Just so i know not to use them.

[another Linda]

Thanks for the suggestions. The amount of money involved is under $500 and some of the work has been done, so I doubt it is a felony. However, if we need to hire someone else, and it looks like we will, then we may need to make a trip down. I can see expenses starting to mount. The Senior Sleuths sounds like the place to start.

Betty, I've given them a week to get the work done before I take action. If they don't do it, then I will most certainly give out their names, the name of their business, and their phone numbers. It is a young couple, hard working when there were there, and part of me hates to do anything to harm their business. However, they outright lied at least 2 times that I know of, and that makes me very angry!

[another Linda]

Well, last week I gave this company until tomorrow to finish the work before I took action. I didn't specify what the action would be but had planned to start with the Senior Sleuths and publishing their name here. Didn't hear boo from them until this morning. I was told the materials are being delivered today and the work will be completed by tomorrow. I've heard that story before so we'll see. If it isn't then I will go ahead with my threat. I really, really, re-a-ll-y hate this!!!

[nONIE]

Another Linda,

Im so sorry you have to go thru all this, how frustrating for you. You are too nice a person to be taken advantage of this way. Good Luck!

[KathieI]

Another Linder, We had this happen to us many years ago when we moved into a new development. There are predators out there who take advantage of us idiots.

We had a very nice guy come up to us and was so friendly and we fell hook/line and sinker. He was a "contractor" who was looking for work and we needed a lot of work because we bought our house new so stupidly we gave him upfront money to buy materials, (a check for $700) and he was to show up at 7am the next morning with a crew and start the work.

But, instead he showed up at our bank at 9am, cashed the check and never showed up again. We went to the police who knew this guy and we assisted in identifying him but they never caught him and we were out the money. A good lesson was learned by us, and we have never been caught again. We never, ever give any money up front. If supplies are needed, they are delivered and we pay for them. The contractors only get paid for what they have completed and we agree on this prior to them starting the job.

I suddenly realized why am I not handling this kind of project as I would my business? How stupid of me. So I've completely changed the way I hire contractors and it has worked now for the past 15 years. Stupid once, but never again. Hope this helps, your not alone, we all make mistakes.

[another Linda]

Thanks Kathie. My fatal flaw is always thinking "what a nice young hard-working couple". I haven't had the heart to call our renters and find out if they actually did the work today. I will be so disappointed if they haven't -- if they lied to me yet again. But tomorrow I will do something about it. A promise to myself.

[Boomer]

Have you ever found yourself yelling at some guy who is blathering away on television?

Every city has its local "star" who has that little segment on the news where they track down perpetrators of these schemes or at least warn others to look out...more often the case because they usually never catch up with the bad guys.

Anyway, a local station has one of these "stars" who is particularly smarmy. He also gestures distractingly. His gestures look fake and practiced and are never timed exactly right with whatever point he is trying to make. (You know, like in some movies when the actors' mouths don't quite move at the same speed as the words that you are hearing.)

He drives me nuts. I don't know why I watch him. But sometimes I just have to.

Well, one night he was advising people how they should not become victims of these creeps who want money up front. He was actually going on and on about how the really smart thing to do was to only give them HALF. HALF!!! Yep. That's what he said. I was screamin' at him. But he did not hear me. I was going to call the station but I did not bother. They would just have pretended to listen to me anyway. The idiotic "advice" was already out there.

When alleged contractors want money up front, it is often because their credit is not good anywhere.

I will sign a contract. But I will not give anybody money up front.

This kind of thing just makes me furious when I hear about it.

Oh, and the dorkarooney is still on television, gesturing wildly, and his hair keeps getting slicker and slicker. Sometimes his advice is OK now. The station seems to be buying more of it in a can for him to just repeat, rather than turning him loose to "save" the world. :edit:

Boomer

(Gee. Where did all that come from? It happened years ago. Guess I'm still mad. :dontknow

[Boomer]

Here's Part II or whatever the heck this is.

I was really pounding the keys on that post I wrote last night I guess I'm still mad this morning. And I guess I thought of something else while I was sleeping.

Another Linda, please don't beat yourself up. I have a very good friend who is one of the nicest, sweetest, kindest people in the whole world. And this happened to her, only it was someone she had known forever, not a friend, but someone she has to see on a regular basis.

This mess lost her several hundred dollars and she tried to deal with it politely, off and on, for two years. Circumstances are such that there is not a whole lot that she can do. It is one of those "choose your battles" things.

My friend and I have talked a little about this, off and on. (Sometimes I am like Lucy from Peanuts" and I feel like I can't help but end up in that little booth with the sign that says "Advice 5 Cents." That's all my advice is worth, on a good day.)

Anyway, over lunch one day, we came to the conclusion that this woman who did the scamming was not really intending to scam but was having some sort of money problem, like a bill due or someone in need, and so the upfront money for the fabric just got away from her. That does not make it right, of course. But that's what probably happened in this case. This woman who kept the money was not really a business woman but someone who made stuff for people for money -- if that makes sense.

So anyway, they still see each other and nod politely, but my friend's stuff will never "materialize" she knows. They both know.

Your situation is different from my friend's I know. But I know how she felt. She would use the word "stupid" just like you did in your post here at the beginning of the thread. Well, please Another Linda, just stop it. Something tells me that you are every bit as nice as my very good friend and neither of you is stupid at all. Sometimes not-nice things just happen.

I will be tuning in to see how you are doing. I hope this turns out well for you. And if it does not, don't feel bad if you just decide to write it off to the cost of education. That's what my friend finally did. I wish you the best.

Boomer

[bsliny]

When i had work done on my house I put the deposit and finall payment on American
Express I felt that if i had a problem Amex would back me up The guy lived up to everthing he said :hot: :hot: :beer2: :hot:

[another Linda]

Thanks for the kind words, Boomer. And the credit card is a good idea, BSLINY. Unfortunately they are just 2 people and don't take credit cards.

So, today is the day. I still haven't called to find out if they actually did the work. If they didn't then I need to make a decision about whether or not to act. Why is that so hard? Because I really don't believe this young couple intended to defraud us. But whatever their intentions, that will be the result if they don't do the work. We could just write it off, the total was just under $500 and I'm sure that amount means a lot more to them than it does to us. But truthfully I'm not sure that would be doing them any favors. If they don't clean up their act they will never make a go of it. And one point that I haven't been able to get across is that they need to keep in touch with their customers. Talk to them. Email them. Whatever. I think most people are pretty understanding. We certainly would have been. But the only time I have been able to reach them is if they don't know it is me calling (that is my guess anyway.)

So, I have decided that I will call our renters at 4pm to find out if the work is done. And if the work isn't done, then what? I **H*A*T*E** this!! Didn't their parents teach them anything?

[sandybill2]

another Linda--I've been keeping up on your situation. I hope they come today and do the work for you. We had a garage door screen put in and gave the gentleman a deposit (check) to order materials. After we did it, we wondered if we should have done so. Our story turned out well though as they came exactly when they said they would and did a great job. Good luck.