Folks Of Interest Fatman Fabrications

I agree.
Not a judgement here about this or any other situation. Just my general view on things. Maybe deposits should not be asked for, or paid, until such time as the job can actually be started and completed in a satisfactory time frame.

 

Here’s the challenge with trying to book jobs without taking deposits, then people book things and never follow through.

 

Yes, I totally get that, but how does that justify businesses taking deposits and not following through. I have been in business since the mid 90's, and I have always tried to operate in a fair and honest way. I will not take a deposit until the client is ready to proceed AND I am in a position to immediately begin ordering and fabrication of the job.
Maybe it's just me.....????

I will add that I have seen a lot of guys in business misjudge their position purely because the bank account is fat with deposits, and they start to get a bit spendy, thinking they are in a better financial situation than they actually are.
They are usually the ones with the most toys..... (Well, at least for a while.)

 

I honestly think that it’s a no win situation sometimes. Like everything in life there is no perfect method.

 

The old fashioned handshake and trust method mostly worked ok way back when.
Unfortunately, that all seems to be a totally forgotten art these wonderful modern days.

 

It probably didn't work as well as we'd like to think.

 

True, but it was THE original form of agreement to terms, that, and your word!

 

Yup there is a reason deposits started being taken and they are not a new thing.

 

Agree. Someone is going through a life-changing business loss, after what appears to be significant health problems at home. Looks like he is doing the right thing instead of hiding behind bankruptcy, a rare thing. My guess is that all he will walk away with from this is his honor. Conjecture-mongering is like bayonetting the wounded.

I had a HAMBER trust my (virtual) handshake this week and send some stuff COD. Made me stop and realise there are some truly good people out there still. This world is what we make it.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Worked fine for 35 years for me , but I live in a small Midwestern town where everybody knows many generations of anyone , including the bankers & lawyers .

 

It worked a damned sight better than it does today. As humans, it seems that our collective sense of society and community reached it's peak sometime in the past, and we have been in a rearward slide for a while now.

 

After trying to get ahold of ANYONE from fabman fans or there lawyer. I have not been reached out to, have not received my parts, or gotten a refund. Rather disappointed they even took my order for the shoebox fors lower spinder arms in November then for this to happen. Unfortunately I'm just going to dispute the charges with bank at this time. I was really trying to not to do this but I have done everything I can think of.

 

I've seen that with non automotive businesses too many times. All the sudden the company owned a wake boat or a big RV or both or the owner was taking trips and living large and when it came time to pay the bills the checkbook was empty.

I also had a friend who thought it was good business to use the company checkbook as his personal account and then let his wife write checks on the account and being more than a bit spoiled she spent far more than she would have if he had just given her an allowance each week. Checks to suppliers bounced because the bank who was tight with the high dollar clothing store she shopped at paid her clothing bills first.

 

Sounds to me like time for a better business plan, and maybe a better wife.............

 

I guess I am too New School to be happy with a little wifey getting an allowance. Marriage is a partnership even if there is only a single income stream. What should have happened is that both parties should have had a conversation about income,expenses and disposable income. She can't be held responsible if she didn't know there were limits-especially if he wasn't curbing expenditures either. By New School, I mean married 52 years and counting..

 

What "should happen" and what "does happen" often don't look like the same thing in the real world. What tends to happen in the business world is that too often that big checkbook balance in the business account looks like an unlimited supply, so "borrowing" a little bit of it doesn't sound like the end of the world, until the bills come rolling in and the borrowed amount can't be repaid. Once the business gets behind, its really hard to get back above ground.

Its also pretty presumptuous that you believe all wives are like the one you married 52 years ago. I have relatives where both the husband and the wife have to be on a limited allowance, both were more then happy to try to outspend the other, and they too have been married for 48 years. He has had a really well paying job all these years but neither can retire because they are so far in debt.

Not saying this may have been the issue with Fatman, my reply is just towards the quoted post.

 

Fair enough

 

See post #102.

 

The amount of people speculating on this with zero knowledge of the person(s) involved is wild…

 

Discussion drifts right then it drifts left, then it's pulled back on topic only to start the drift again and again. Time to close this post and let the current owner of Fatman work it out.

 

Too bad, they did some, both "more normal", and some "odd custom" work for me.
Always willing to help.

Mike

 

Congrats man. Keeping a marriage glued together for over half a century is no easy job, and takes real values. Kudos.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Amid all the speculation, unfortunately there are a lot of businesses that are taken over by long-term employees that don't survive more than a few years. The person might know the business but may doesn't always have the business skills to keep it sustainable.

A local antique Ford parts business was that way. His right-hand-man purchased it so the owner could retire. It didn't work out, so the original owner bought it back and the employee stayed on and ran the business successfully without owning it for several years until the owner decided to liquidate everything.

Whether the owner of Fatman knew or didn't whether it was going down and what the circumstances are, we'll never know. I hope the people that paid in good faith for products they didn't receive get a good portion of their money back and are able to bounce back from any money they don't get reimbursed.

As for handshake agreements, I got screwed doing contract work on the side for someone I used to work under in my day job and never did get paid for the work I did. As it turned out, the startup company did that to almost all of their outside vendors as a way to keep costs low. Shady crap.

 

Yep, you gotta be real careful who you shake hands with.......

 

Yep. I've got local folks who still owe me for baled hay their cows ate 25 years ago.

 

The world of business is filled with snakes hidden in the grass, many times you don't even know they are there, until they have bitten you. Sometimes, if your quick enough after being bitten, you can reduce the damage before its too harmful.

I can think of only 3 times in my 45 years of operating different businesses where I got screwed out of payment. I was pretty careful and never set myself up for any large losses. The 3 losses I remember were all under $100 (wish I could say the same thing about things I have purchased that were a rip off).
One was early in my business life, the second one was because I left the item set out after closing hours, and the last one was a calculated loss (and worth every penny).

 

Stiffed me for $9K in the end. Learned an important lesson.