John:
It seems that the world is filled with people who see almost every human
interaction they experience as a struggle for control. They are people whose
lives are governed by an endless battle against their own weaknesses. When
faced with a situation where they can bully others they are suddenly
transported to the scene of some past personal humiliation and they will
strike out to make you pay for it.
These people are often charming and gregarious in a social setting, a No
matter how successful they become, they never can seem to beat this past
situation. In fact it seems to be one of the driving forces behind their
success. real pleasure to converse with. But as soon as a transaction or,
Heaven forbid, an adversarial situation arises they turn into a snarling
beast.
I recall having been seated across the table from a "gentleman" who had it
in his head that I was trying to full a fast one on him over a paltry amount
for some software work. Before my bill arrived, he used to sit on the edge
of my desk and chat in the evenings as I came in to do some programming.
That changed when my bill arrived. We had a meeting where, he was literally,
red in the face, pounding his fists on the table and shouting "I will sue
you! You are finished, done do you hear me, Dead!". 5 minutes later he was
all smiles as we reached an agreement over a little change in wording that
fixed it all for no money extra. At the time I was a 29 year-old programmer
with a little contract I very badly needed to keep my house and he had 4500
employees in a company he sold for almost $1B (his share) a few years later.
It made no difference at all. Terror was his daily weapon in dealing with
all who worked with him.
Unfortunately, your friend is going to have to learn to refuse some work
when he detects this type of person. Somebody who says "see what you can do
to my differential for a couple of pounds" is either asking you to clean the
part or hoping to browbeat you into a bad deal. Your friend's mistake was
playing on this bully's terms without previously knowing how he operated.
General deals like that are for people you know and trust and who trust you.
I certainly hope your friend isn't too rattled by the situation. Frankly a
guy who explodes because he can't pay for a decent job on the differential
is not about to start paying solicitor's rates to get back a small fee. LBC
owners as a group have a very high level of friendly and courteous
behaviour, but there are a few right bastards in the mix as well.
Mark Hooper
72 TR6
P.S. If this guy actually does send a legal letter, I for one would be glad
to throw a little in the hat to have a nasty snarling legal type respond
with a suit for assualt. Fight fire with fire. That would settle his hash
right then and there.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Macartney [mailto:jonmac@ndirect.co.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 5:01 PM
To: Triumph List
Subject: Venting the spleen (Tenuous LBC - a bit long)
List
Apologies if this doesn't conform to strict Triumph guidelines - but
over the last three days I've encountered one issue *three* times and
while I'm pretty sure the subject is nothing more than the
unpredicatability of coincidence, it raises a concern of some
magnitude.
A few days ago when the chrome thread was running, Randall recommended
customer and plating shop should jointly sign duplicate pieces of
paper to presumably avoid all doubt of what customer was getting in
return for a payment and what the shop would do for a given price?
Presumably Randall wrote from experience but he concluded that if the
goods didn't meet expectation, there might be grounds for a lawsuit.
Each to his own of course but I doubt I'd employ the services of
Learned Counsel to uphold my claims for a badly plated bumper for the
simple fact that two new bumpers would be a lot cheaper.
Then today, on my early morning download, I'm confronted with a pic of
a Spitfire owner whose car was so tightly sandwiched between two other
cars that he nearly had to walk to work. Others also saw that pic and
one commented the Spitfire owner ought to sue for the inconvenience
caused. Is being penned in on a public highway an indictable offence?
Sure, it's inconsiderate - but grounds for legal action, related costs
of undoubted substance and valuable court time?
Then, just before lunch today, I called in on my old chum from ST
Service Division days who sometimes does work for me on my two
Triumphs. He's a nice old guy, well into his seventies and still
having to work well into his retirement to support his orphaned
grandchildren who all live with him - and he's a widower as well. I've
done what I can to point other enthusiasts in his direction and he
does all this to ensure the kids don't have to go into care. His
company and state pension just aren't enough to meet those costs. As
I arrived at his little home and emerged from the daily driver, I saw
someone standing beside a Triumph 2000 and raving at Mick for what he
termed "a gross misrepresentation of services. You'll be hearing from
my solicitor - and I'm going to sue! By God, I'm going to sue."
With that, he got in the car and stormed off at high speed.
Old Mick was in one helluva state and it took all of an hour to try
and calm him down. It wouldn't be untrue to say he was almost in tears
with anger and frustration. He told me the owner had brought the car
to him a week earlier to rectify the common problem on 2000's of quill
shaft 'clonk' in the diff nose piece. Mick said this car was so bad
that it really needed to have the diff rebuilt and he'd explained this
at length before accepting the car for work. He'd quoted a price and
te owner said he couldn't afford it but asked him 'to patch it up as
best he could.' Mick said he'd done his best to do what little could
be done under the circumstances and the owner returned today to
collect the car, clearly expecting a full repair - even though
(fortunately) this is not mentioned on the job card. Mick had written
and the customer had signed "investigate and rectify where possible,
clonk from rear differential." Of course, the diff still 'clonked' -
but allegedly not as badly as before. This was wasn't good enough for
the owner and Mick said he had been berated and harangued for some
time, had had the Consumer Protection Act quoted at him and had been
treated unjustly, rudely and inconsiderately in front of two
neighbours who had attempted to intervene in his support.
None of this is my problem. I entirely accept Mick's assessment of
that car's axle but what really sticks in my craw is that an
interchange of this sort even took place, especially as old Mick is
one of the most caring and attentive guys I've met for years and he's
certainly a miracle worker. But the outcome of the lambasting he
received outside his little lock-up, together with the promise of
legal action and all this implies has left him seriously considering
abandoning his little business because he's not emotionally equipped
to handle a courtroom situation - or the costs he'd have to incur for
his own Defence.
There's a time and a place for everything but threats of legal action
against an old man who did his best for someone who purported to be an
enthusiast IMHO is grossly misplaced.
I hope it doesn't come to Court, but if it does, two other people and
I have already told him we'll be there to appear in his defence.
Hopefully our respective credentials and what we can say in his
support will put this ***hole back where he belongs. Maybe he might
learn as well that while "suing for punitive damages to redress a
grievance" may be his legal right - it doesn't and shouldn't extend to
a 'clonky' diff. Perhaps I'd better keep my views as to whether it
also might apply to bad chroming or inconsiderate parking to myself?
Rant mode off.
Jonmac
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