How do deal with cheap people?

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

I'm wondering how some of you on here would have dealt with a situation I had. I got the snow removal contract for the complex(Condo's) I live in. I also offered to clear individual parking stalls for a $15 charge to tenants if they wished. It wasn't mandatory. I made a deal with a tenant that I could park my skid steer in her stall, since she uses her garage, and in exchange I would clear her stall. When I cleared snow on Sunday I couldn't clear her stall because her neighbor was parked beside and was partly in her stall. I got the skid steer fixed and went to clear her stall today. The neighbor was parked there and was closer on their own side but I asked the neighbor if they could move their mini-van, which they did. I cleared the snow and parked the skid steer. I came in the house and was told the neighbor to the lady called. I called them and the guy was wondering why I didn't clear his lot. I told him I put put flyers in everyones mailbox, explaining the $15 charge for clearing parking stalls. Then he goes on that he thought I was clearing the whole area and that's the only reason he moved. He said he was on his side(the line was covered in snow) and I shouldn't have bothered him to move his vehicle. I told him I didn't want to damage your vehicle. He kept going on and said it's my responsibility if I hit his vehicle. I just hung up. I'm tired of getting taking advantage of and don't give freebies anymore. I talked to the lady and she told her neighbors I going to be parking there and might clear a little of his lot. These people have a history of parking onto her side(why I couldn't clear her lot initially) and also parking in the visitor only parking lot. They have been warned several times about parking in the visitor only parking lot. I think they just wanted a free clearing of their parking stall. I'm sure they knew about the $15 charge or how else would they have got my phone number. I should mention the guy is East Indian. I've had some good dealings and some bad dealings with them in the past. Would you have done anything different? Thanks in advance. Dave

 

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Phil in Pa

Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

I'll bet the 50's were cool in the regard that you could have just kicked the guy's @ss.

Today, it's a real battle to deal with troublesome people. Many times the law sees no difference between you and them.

Again, no common sense.

 

Vito

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Take your own advise from the other day.

Vito

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Maybe you could go running to Miss Kim and cry about it. It seems to be in your nature to whine.

 

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ericlb

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

you said it all when you mentioned where he came from, you didnt do anything wrong, i guess you could have picked up the rear of the mini van with the skid steer and moved it but that would have got him mad too lol some idiots are just too dumb to waste time on sounds like you found one today, just concentrate on all the ones who were happy with you for the service you provided and at a very fair price too

 

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Gafla

New User

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Move south,We don"t have snow is south Georgia.

 

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bob15

Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Who care if the are East Indian???? Would it be any different if they were Russian, German, British, French, Canadian, etc??

 

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Rick(MN)

Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Not sure how confident I would feel with my skkidloader parked next to someone I had gotten into it with.

 

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Rusty wheel

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Take the snow you cleaned from the other stalls and put it in his. Simple

 

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barn E

Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

When you said cheap people, I thought this was about me, but I am not that kind of CHEAP! I do look for good deals but fully make sure people know what they are getting or not getting as the case may be. Dave

 

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fixerupper

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

People of certain nationalities argue as a part of the bartering system in their home countries and they bring it along with them when they come to the US. I'll bet if you offer to clean his stall for free he'll still argue with you about it. Jim

 

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Mark - IN.

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Don't be so confident about that. I heard a couple of days ago some town in California got snow for the first time in their history.

Mark

 

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Roy Suomi

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Many years ago [ about 40 to be exact]I was flagged down with my '51 Willys CJ3A plow Jeep..This guy wanted me to plow his driveway..In the mean-time he was able to finally get out of his driveway so I could plow the drive..I thought he would have parked in the road till I was done..That way he could pay me when finished..[I think I was going to charge him 6 bucks...] Well, when I finished , he was nowhere to be found..After many attempts to contact this guy , I finally found him home one day..He told me to " Take an aeronautical intercourse at a rotating piece of pastry"..Cleaned that one up , huh ??..He wasn't about to pay me , in other words... One day I went past his house and the garage door was up with no car to be found..Well, I plowed his drive for free on last time..Every bit of that snow was inside his garage...What do ya think of me now , Buck-o .....

 

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Ken Christopherson

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

I'll try to censor this as much as possible. I've got a good one for you. I also live in a town home complex up here in frigid MN. I have got a guy not next to me, but 2 doors down. He has been a nuisance and quite rude ever since I moved in in Feb. 2007. I also find it odd because it seems that he enjoys playing with his cat on his front patio while drinking a glass of wine and listening to Opera music (not that there is anything wrong with that). He will also drive his vehicle from his garage to his mailbox, and back to his garage (which is only about 100-150 ft) no matter what the season.

The first instance I had with him was summer of 07-when I parked my truck (I admit I was a little crooked) in the overflow area. I WAS well within the lines. He cracked his window and shouted F*^& you !!!@ole. I went to his door, knocked, and politely asked if there was a problem. He told me I was double parked. I assured him I wasn't and wondered what his problem was. He told me that he was just an !!!!ole and slammed the door in my face.

The second time was when he called the police for us playing loud music (which was in no way an offensive style-Tom Petty it was, nor was it late at night). He came over, asked us to turn it down, I said no problem and turned it off. Not more than 10 minutes later the police showed up. There was no music on so nothing was done.

3rd was I had my engine block outside from the Case SC on the stand spraying it off after having it boiled and blasted. He called the association and I got a letter in the mail stating it was against bylaws to work on anything outside of my garage.

Lastly was actually last week when I was letting my dog out (on common ground which was no where near his "area") and he cracked his door open and shouted "!@#$ you" again at me and slammed his door.

Needless to say I am not having a good first home experience. I don't enjoy it much here anyway as I have no yard and a very small 1 stall tractor shop.

Ken

P.S. This guy is also suspected to have cut the neighbor in between our two units Christmas light wiring between one of the bulbs so that they would not bother him.

 

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Ken Christopherson

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

P.P.S. Little does he know I am going to school to be a police officer.

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

I was asking how others would have handled a situation. At least I don't use a very offensive user name. HMMMMM sounds less intelligent than Homer Simpson, DUH!

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

I just think he wanted his stall cleaned for free. I only mentioned he was East Indian because I have had some other East Indians act the same way. I've had some others that were very happy customers. It wasn't intended to be a racial slur. Dave

 

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Paul from MI

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Had an experience with a driver hauling Amish. Ran out of gas on a nasty snowy night. Got him a few gallons, he didn't have change to pay. I said just leave it in the mailbox on your return. Never did get paid for my trouble, if I ever see him again we'll discuss it.

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

tightwads put no value on their reputations, they will sell it for 2 bucks. They are mental defects,
and probly copy their Dad. They can make a penny give a gallon of blood.

 

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Uncle Ernie

Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Treat him calmly, fairly and with respect and do what YOU think is right. It will make you feel good knowing you did what you could. There is really nothing you can do about how he acts or feels.
Isn't that what you would want someone to do to you if the roles were reversed?

 

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flying belgian

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Well I had a guy stop the other day to ask if I had any straw to sell. I said yes how many you need? He said two. I said yes, $5.00/bale. He about fell over. Started ranting and raving about how he was getting it from someone else for 2.00. I said fine, go get it from him. He said he is all out. I said that's exactly why I can charge 5.00. Supply and demand. Do you want them or not. He took them but was not happy. Said I was taking advantage of him. I'm not about to stop what I'm working on get all bundled up and walk across the yard up in the loft and throw down 2 bales of straw for less then 10.00. If he were buying 50 bales that might be different but maybe not. I mean when is it my turn?

 

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johndeeregene

Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

i know how ya all feel i had a guy break down on the highway by me, used my pickup to pull him off the road an a high priced trailer, then he asked to rent one of my trailers to haul his pickup back to his house, his brother was comin down with his pickup, about 150 miles, said he would be back the next day early with a different pickup to return trailer an an got his trailer. we agreed on a price, he left, returned during the night returned my trailer, in good cond, an got his trailer, never seen him, had to come real slow with lights off, not to wake me, havent seen or heard from him since. or any money. guess i should be happy i got my trailer back in good cond. but it will never happen again.
johndeeregene
i thought about puttin a chain on his wheels an hitch but i thought he look honest. you live on learn.

 

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37 chief

Well-known Member

• Dec 9, 2009

• #1

Take the guy a box of candy for Christmas. Wish him a Merry Christmas. It will take him months to figure that one out. Stan

 

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Ken Christopherson

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

I have been nothing but calm and assertive to his concerns. I have never raised my voice or screamed obscenities. As a matter of fact, I only confronted him the first time. Now I just try to ignore him. The only thing I am concerned about is if one of the neighbor's little girls is running around outside and he lets his obscenities go uncensored towards the wrong people-then we have a bunch of 4 year olds swearing at eachother. Not my idea of a good start to the future of my neighborhood.

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

(quoted from post at 23:16:20 12/09/09) I have been nothing but calm and assertive to his concerns. I have never raised my voice or screamed obscenities. As a matter of fact, I only confronted him the first time. Now I just try to ignore him. The only thing I am concerned about is if one of the neighbor's little girls is running around outside and he lets his obscenities go uncensored towards the wrong people-then we have a bunch of 4 year olds swearing at eachother. Not my idea of a good start to the future of my neighborhood.

Click to expand...

Our houses are real close together and we have parking on the street as well as driveways. Old guy across the street would throw potatoes into the guy next to us' place cause his dogs barked constantly (still do BTW). I always parked in the spot in front of his house because they only had 1 car and a tractor and plenty of room for parking on their place. He started yelling at me about parking there and one day came out to give me a whupping. I smiled at him and offered him a beer. We went to a little bench on the corner and he said I'd have to move my car from in front of his house cause when the Russians came to haul all the Americans away, he didn't want to be picked up by mistake. I put a couple German soccer team stickers and a Bavarian flag sticker and I could do no wrong. After he died a few years ago, his wife said he had changed medication about the time he started bothering me and he had spent a couple of years in a Russian prison camp during the war.
Your neighbor could just be lonely or on some screwed up meds.

Dave

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

(quoted from post at 18:39:50 12/09/09) Maybe you could go running to Miss Kim and cry about it. It seems to be in your nature to whine.

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Naaaa........That wouldn't do no good. The neighbor in question meets all the criteria to be a recipient of abundant sympathy. Dave may loose some of his whiner status if he went that route. Didn't see him on Site Comments complaining about a biggoted comment in a thread, but I guess that's cause he made it and he's got enough whiny points to look over a small infraction.

Dave

 

Ultradog MN

Well-known Member

Location

Twin Cities

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

Wait till they start in the public schools. They'll be learning all kinds of new words.
You can't hide them from foul language. It pervades our society. Sad but true.

 

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Spook

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

When I 1st moved to Howell, my house was on a private road, with the usual road association. One resident, the one with the most expensive house, refused to pay the $20 month association fee. After all, he was in the middle of the road, and they had to clear it out anyway, why should he have to pay? One day I went by his house, it was packed with snow 4 ft deep, 20 ft in. All the snow from a considerable distance of the road was packed it there. He had to park on the street for a week.

 

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CJ3b_jeep

Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

That's awesome!

 

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INCase

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

Quick answer, don't deal with them....

you have to remember the "indians" have a class system. If they're here they probably came from an upper class that had $ to get here. They still think the rest of the world (us) are beneath them. That's probably why they act like that. If they think you can help them get ahead in life they're nice as pie. Then if they get ahead you watch out. He's probably a doctor or college prof. If you do something wrong he'll probably sue you in a heart beat. With Gore's global warming you won't have snow to plow anyway.... Good luck.

 

showcrop

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

I agree with Dave2 and 37 Chief. Be nice. be kind. Get him to wondering why you obviously have a better life, and maybe you will have a fast friend.

 

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dhermesc

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

Tell him your price is $2.00 when you don't have any to sell but its $5.00 when its in stock.

 

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Ken Christopherson

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

Yeah, but I don't hear any of my other neighbors shouting out their windows and doors all kinds of foul language. Just him...... Maybe I am the problem?

 

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Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

I agree with 37 chief. I do so enjoy being overly nice to people who don't like me. Get him cornered sometime and ask him about his cat or what wine goes best with grilled cheese.

 

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JDGnut

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

Tell him you'll clean his stall for free, if you can park you skid steer there.. or you'll make him the offer next yr.. (most likely he can't give up the parking space..)

I like the reply about pushing the show in his garge.. that's classic...

Ken.. I like the comment about take him some candy or a Christmas card and tell him "Merry Christmas"...

JDGnut

 

old popper

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

I like mild weather as well as anyone else, but I wouldn't trade one shovel full of my snow for anything you have in Georga. Hard core Iowegian.

 

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SDE

Well-known Member

• Dec 10, 2009

• #1

Rule 1: Stay true to yourself. Don't do something you will will feel badly for doing.

After I had a fit one day, the guy smiled and said "see ya in church". I learned something that day.

I mailed a $100 to a guy who had been a regular contributor on here. I did not get my part or my money back either. His wife signed for the last letter I wrote, which was just a request to get my money back. I have been thinking about sending them a Christmas Card.
SDE