Abusive customer making threats

Kittenonthekeys

paddyrg wrote: »

How much is your time worth? For £60 I'd be inclined to send a cheque and wish him to the devil.

Fact is, sounds like he's already 'troubled' far deeper than anything you could say or do or wish him.

Consider it a really cheap lesson, take cash upfront from hereon in, and get yourself some terms of business drawn up where the client will have 14/30/whatever days to reject work should they feel there's a problem, etc. Get each client to sign/agree to the terms before starting work. Take photos of the items as they arrive in their original condition and in the condition you return it in, and print and staple these to the agreed terms for that client... you get the idea - just make sure if you get another nutter down the road, if it does end up in court, that you have excellent evidence in your favour.

£60 is a cheap way to learn such a good business lesson ;-)

Although of course my time certainly is worth more than £60, this person does not operate within the realms of logic, and really is whacko enough to keep on milking this for all it's worth, and as others have said, I'm concerned that refunding him would be taken as an admission of wrongdoing and open up the floodgates. He is a person with a lot of time on his hands.
Really sound advice in your posting, generally, thank you.
I've always taken a before & after pic of every job I've ever done.
I do like the idea of written /signed agreements, but not sure how this would work for my 'one man' business, as everything is web and email-based. Printing and posting out written agreements for the large volume I do, and waiting for the signed replies would delay my work to the extent that I would lose a lot of income and it would generate a huge amount of admin, and as I say, it's never happened before.
I've always charged on completion and have only ever had one customer out of several thousand who did not pay.
They actually pretended to be DEAD, but that's another story in itself.... :eek::eek:

Kittenonthekeys

DCFC79 wrote: »

Multiqote is the button/icon with the 2 speech bubbles on top of each other.

Oh thanks!

DCFC79

Have you asked/ has he said whats wrong with the item ?

Im not aan expert in law but surely if you have proof of work that you were asked to do then how can he think/expect to win in court.

Kittenonthekeys

DCFC79 wrote: »

Have you asked/ has he said whats wrong with the item ?

Im not aan expert in law but surely if you have proof of work that you were asked to do then how can he think/expect to win in court.

Yes, thats what's so strange and doesn't make sense.
He emailed some pics today that he claims to have taken at the time he got it back, (ie in 2011, so why did he not complain then?) My repairs are very tough and durable, but bits have been yanked off and are actually missing from it. It looks to me like my repair has been pulled apart forcibly and either sabotaged, or damaged in some way - perhaps even as recently as last week for all I know.
Maybe his dog attacked it again, as it had originally, and he's now trying to get a freebie by way of a refund as he doesn't want to fork out for someone else to repair it again - who knows?
Trouble is, I can't accuse him of doing this and can't prove it - but I'd bet my bottom dollar that's what has happened.

meer53

Don't refund him, let him do his worst. Can't see him getting anywhere in court with something he accepted 2 years ago.

brettcta

if he threatens court, your reply needs no words, only this image

MothballsWallet

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

Yes, thats what's so strange and doesn't make sense.
He emailed some pics today that he claims to have taken at the time he got it back, (ie in 2011, so why did he not complain then?) My repairs are very tough and durable, but bits have been yanked off and are actually missing from it. It looks to me like my repair has been pulled apart forcibly and either sabotaged, or damaged in some way - perhaps even as recently as last week for all I know.
Maybe his dog attacked it again, as it had originally, and he's now trying to get a freebie by way of a refund as he doesn't want to fork out for someone else to repair it again - who knows?
Trouble is, I can't accuse him of doing this and can't prove it - but I'd bet my bottom dollar that's what has happened.

I wonder what the date and time information on the pics says? Digital cameras tend to record that information in the pic header (especially JPEG), but that aussmes the camera's date and time have been set properly...

paddyrg

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

Although of course my time certainly is worth more than £60, this person does not operate within the realms of logic, and really is whacko enough to keep on milking this for all it's worth, and as others have said, I'm concerned that refunding him would be taken as an admission of wrongdoing and open up the floodgates. He is a person with a lot of time on his hands.
Really sound advice in your posting, generally, thank you.
I've always taken a before & after pic of every job I've ever done.
I do like the idea of written /signed agreements, but not sure how this would work for my 'one man' business, as everything is web and email-based. Printing and posting out written agreements for the large volume I do, and waiting for the signed replies would delay my work to the extent that I would lose a lot of income and it would generate a huge amount of admin, and as I say, it's never happened before.
I've always charged on completion and have only ever had one customer out of several thousand who did not pay.
They actually pretended to be DEAD, but that's another story in itself.... :eek::eek:

Hiya,

Instead of printing and posting terms, you could email them as a pdf insisting they reply with an 'I agree to the terms' email, or remain part of the email trail. Not as robust, but you can still print it out and demonstrate that you have something in place!

As you've always charged after completion in the past, this could be a chance to review how you do the business - you'll still allow payment on invoice for previous good customers, but first-timers now pay by paypal/credit card upfront. It's really not unusual to deny credit to unknown credit risks.

If you offer the refund for a 'full and final settlement', and they take it, at least you can show any courts/whatever that they accepted a full and final settlement (which you can even do by post - saving a day in court), which should nail the case closed. As you have photos, you can keep those with that too.

Then again, if you want to fight for the £60, frankly your case is decent anyway - 'bring it on'!

"Dear total loon,

As with all work performed by me, I have photographic evidence of the good condition of return, and 2 years is simply too long to reject the work, no matter your personal circumstances. I consider this closed. Should you wish to pursue this through the courts, such is your option, however please be aware they do not take kindly to forms filled in with crayon and covered in drool.

(Up) yours,
xyz"

gb12345

bod1467 wrote: »

Inflatable coital partner repairs?

I think you're close there - the OP does say that they added something that could be removed at a later date, but not in the way they would have recommended.

The OP clearly offers a gender reassignment service for the "plastic partners" and was asked to attach an appendage in a strange position.

mttylad

I'd got with post #5

Tell him to do one, block his emails or just setup a filter to mark them read and save them in a folder etc for evidence.

Report him for harassment.