this young 20 yr old prole white trash kid came out for an estimate. he offered $175 for the job. we also have 3 small stumps that eventually we'd like to have ground, and in talking to him, he said his "business partner" has a stump grinder, and could take out each stump for $25 each.

wife and i discussed and figured we'd hire him for the job because of his ability to knock out both the original job and the stump grinding together. more efficient to pay people to do multiple jobs at once.

the next day, i texted him: "can you do the whole thing for $225 including [job #1] and the 3 stumps?" he replied "sounds good."

we scheduled for last thursday, and he couldnt come because he didnt have access to the stump gringer from "business partner." he then pushed it off to friday, and the same thing happened. then he pushed it off to monday.

he shows on monday on his bike, and i asked him about the stump grinder, and he said his "business partner" is coming over soon with it, and he'll be able to do everything today. so i said, fine go ahead and start.

so he texts us a few hours later that he's done, and we come out, and we're like, where's your stump grinder. and he's like, my "business partner" couldnt come over today. he says he can't get access to the stump grinder until thursday.

i said fine, all well and good. no problem, it's not a hurry, come back thursday. and he says fine, but i want to be paid $175 for job #1.

i said, no, we agreed to a package deal, $225 total for both jobs. you didn't finish the job. i said i got cheaper quotes than 175 (even one as low as $90) for job #1, but we hired you because you had a stump grinder and could efficiently do both jobs for a fair price. i said, you need to finish the job, and you'll get paid in full.

so we go back and forth. after a minute or so, i said, fine, we'll give you half ($112.50) in good faith that you'll come back on thursday to finish the job. i figure that's enough of a holdback to incentivize him to show up again.

so he starts arguing with wife and i, and it became clearer and clearer to us that he doesnt really have access to his "business partner"'s stump grinder and he had no intention of coming back thursday to finish the job.

he kept saying they're two separate jobs and he did the first job and the first job is 175. i said no, it wasn't 175. the only agreement was 225 for both jobs. there was no separate price for each job and i hired you on your ability to do both jobs.

i explained that i could have found someone to do job #1 for $90, and if i pay you $175 i'm not only overpaying you but i've wasted my time and now have to find someone to remove the stumps and i'm never gonna find someone to come out to do anything for $50, so you're not making me whole and making me worse off.

this goes on and on, and it becomes very clear it was a total lie that he was going to come back thursday. so i got fed up and said, fine, get out of here i was being fair by giving you half in good faith, you wasted our time arguing about this and it's clear you're not acting in good faith, i'm not giving you anything now. you're welcome to come back thursday and finish the job and you'll get paid.

so he gets maf and starts doing some zoomer shit trying to record us and wife and i said nothing on camera. he puts the camera down and starts ripping out our plants. i said you're destroying our property, you need to leave now and you're trespassing, i'm calling the cops. and i called the cops, and he hears me on the phone and he hightails it out of here.

cops show up and he's long gone.

haven heard from him since.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5724947&forum_id=2#48930401)

you would have been killed before age 20 if you lived even 150 years ago

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5724947&forum_id=2#48930543)

i take it off only when negotiating / interviewing workmen. once they're hired, i leave it on.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5724947&forum_id=2#48930596)