I took on the wrong object! I tell you how the customer deceived me for 185 thousand

In the construction business, there is a category of difficult customers: they find fault with every little detail and come to the acceptance of the object with a delegation of professionals. These are people like that. But there are also unscrupulous clients who pretend that they need impeccable quality, but in reality they simply do not want to pay. Alexey, a member of our portal, shared one such story.

Order as order - nothing special

This happened at the dawn of my career, when I was just starting to work for myself. Orders, as usual, took through friends and newspapers "Everything for You". There I posted several ads. Clients called, we negotiated and took objects. In general, the scheme is like all shabashniki 10-15 years ago.

Once I was invited to look at a three-room apartment in a new building and estimate the cost of the work. Clients have provided several pictures with the design of how they want to see their apartment. They said that it is necessary that way, or very, very similar to it. The order was not easy, but I agreed.

I took these sketches and traveled through the shops looking for the tiles, paint, wallpaper, fixtures, doors, and plumbing I needed. Then he made an estimate and provided it to the client. A few days later he called back, we bargained for a bit and in the end we agreed.

The amount of our services, and I worked with a partner, amounted to 320 thousand rubles. This is for a complete turnkey renovation. Completion date: two and a half months. The customer promised 100 thousand in advance, 100 in a month and the remainder after the delivery of the object. We agreed to such terms.

Lay softly

We agreed on the start date of work and received an advance payment. But, however, not 100 thousand, as agreed, but 65. We received the money on receipt - at that time we concluded contracts in rare cases, when we worked with organizations and payment was made by bank transfer.

After receiving the advance payment, we started purchasing the material. Rather, the customer himself bought it, but according to our recommendations and discounts. He also saved about 10-15% on this business.

Work started, but we did not wait for the rest of the first part of the payment. The customer referred to financial difficulties and asked to wait a little. We worked, as they say, without second thoughts. In our eyes, he did not look like some kind of scam. An ordinary peasant, however, twitchy of some kind.

A month passed and instead of 135 thousand, he brought only 50. I asked to be patient a little more. He said that he was waiting for the debt to be repaid, there were business problems and so on. Well, we are people - we entered his position and continued to work. But then I noticed that he was laying too softly and this alarmed me.

The circus has arrived!

The business was going to completion, the object was about 98% ready. And so, a delegation from the customer showed up, his wife in a collar of gold chains, and some other relative with tattoos on all his fingers. They examined the apartment and then it began ...

The wife threw herself into tears with the words: “I did not expect this! You promised to find normal masters, but what have these people done here? It is crooked here, obliquely there; the gaps on the tiles are large, the doors don't hang like that! Everything doesn't look like what I wanted at all! "

Then she said: “I will not pay for this and will get more from you! The drunks are unfinished, get out before I call the police! " I was speechless from such impudence. I was, as they say, in shock - the work was done normally. In general, I decided to talk to the customer in private. He said that he would be back in an hour and we’ll talk.

Bad cop - good cop

He arrived with his relative and with a prepared conversation. The meaning of his words was as follows:

• the money is not mine, my wife gives it - she is in business and manages the family budget;
• She will no longer pay and wants to demand the money back, so she is not satisfied with the result;
• we have no chance to prove the case, because there is no agreement;
• let's go to court - we will sue you for the money received on the receipt;
• if we begin to demand our own, we will sit down, as relatives on her side are "bigwigs" in the local administration;
• we turn to someone for help - we all sit down together for extortion;
• we break something or spoil something - we will sit down for damage to someone else's property;
• all he can do for us is to give twenty thousand more and disperse in an amicable way;
• and, in general, we should be glad that we also received money for this hack.

In general, it was some kind of strange divorce for 185 thousand rubles. According to this scheme, his wife is an evil policeman, and he is a kind one. A relative with tattoos was silent, but he was very morally suppressive. As a result, we took these 20 thousand, collected the tools and left the apartment.

Final and lesson

I consulted with people in the know and I was told that "butting" with them is practically useless. In any case, I will not pull this conflict. The family is unprincipled, well-known, and indeed with certain connections both with criminals and with power structures. And Madame is capricious and nutty in reality.

This family is in debt and courts - as in silks. They "throw" everyone in a row, quarreled with half of the city: it is not known how they still walk alive.

In general, I took the wrong order, as they explained to me. They twist millions, and here I am with my pennies. Although in 2008 it was twice as much in dollars as it is now. It's a pity, but I couldn't do anything. To be honest, due to his youth and inexperience, he was simply frightened and glad that he received at least something. The lesson became ...

Do you think it was possible to achieve the truth in this situation? Write in the comments!

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