# The banker and a 8 foot piece of 2x2



## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

Many years ago i got a call from a man in cooper texas he owned a couple of banks in the area and needless to say he had a small monopoly on the building and construction going on in this area! Heck he even owned the local hardware store ! The federal government had funded the construction of a new high school in this county and the banker had purchased most of the land located in the near by area! I get a phone call from the bankers secretary and was ask to make a bid on the spec homes the banker was building on the land which he had monopolized ! I gave bids of 1200.00 per unit no materials ! Friend of mine and myself where hanging the Sheetrock and where knocking out 1 home per day ! [2 people =1200 sq ft living area ] 1 house completely sheet rocked in one day ! The tape and bed and texture works took 2 an 1/2 days per unit to complete! Upon completion of 2 units i turned in the first bill of $1200.00 per unit for a total of $2400.00! I handed the bill to the bankers secretary and the next day the banker shows up on the job sight WITH A 8 FOOT 2X2 PIECE OF PINE! I was scraping the floors clean when he showed up ! The old banker walked around the living room area with his stick in his hand with it on the vertical dragging the stick across the floor and if the stick touch the ceiling the old banker would holler out thats not gonna work then he would walk around making sure i was in ear shout dragging his stick around and if the stick touch the ceiling he would holler thats not gonna work either etc etc etc ! i walked into his office an picked up my check from his secretary for a grand total of $ 2000.00  THE BANKER SAID HIS STICK TOUCHED THE CEILINGS --TOO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT POST


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

That banker needed a 2x2 upside his head.


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*The banker and his 8 foot 2x2 continued*

The check was $400.00 bucks short of the agreed total ,so i went looking for the old banker ! I found him and ask him to give me the correct amount ! The good old banker looked down his nose at me with a glare and said you should have check the height of the ceilings with a stick to make sure it was exactly 8 feet tall ! :furious::furious::furious: Folks i want to tell you i was thinking about what tomb stone his old wife was going to pick out and if the old bankers wife had his life insurance policy on hand! [I was steaming mad] ! But know matter what i said the old banker wasn't letting me have my $400.00 ! I was pretty young back then i believed you could be honest work hard and shake someones hand and it was a done deal ! [WRONG] I will never forget the old banker from cooper Texas .The old banker died several years ago and i think he is buried in the cemetery in cooper Texas [not sure] ! To tell you the truth thought every time i drive thru or by the city of cooper Texas," i get a ""real bad urge"" to take a leak on some granite ! [IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT ] ! nuff said .​


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

It's unfortunate we have people like that in this world, his day came, the sad part is even though he is gone, some other old banker or the likes of him is pulling the same scam on someone other than you. Now we introduce the lawyers and that just messed up the whole thing, costs someone a lot of money and no one wins!!


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

We had a guy come out and count the "crooked brick" on a building and was not going to pay for the crooked bricks. Worked out to about 10%. I suspect every sub had something wrong that equaled 10%.... He's dead too so where did it get him?


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

!!!


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## bigchaz (Jun 17, 2006)

You got some issues if this bothers you years later


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

bigchaz said:


> You got some issues if this bothers you years later


 
There not issues, they are from the school of hard knocks, the lessons we all remember.


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## oldrivers (May 6, 2007)

your out 400 dollars??? i'm out well over 40,000 over 24 years.


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## bujaly (Dec 16, 2006)

Let the man vent!! Nothing wrong with that. 

I will say that I don't vent on here, BUT D%$M I'm glad I didn't run into that old banker D1CK!!


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*About the post on the banker*

I have no issue with the banker after all these years just figured it would make for good reading ! And yes over the years i have ran across lots of other people with the same out look on paying for a job being done ! LETS HERE SOME OF YOUR'S !


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*your out $40,000.00 GOOD LORD MAN*

:sad:


oldrivers said:


> your out 400 dollars??? i'm out well over 40,000 over 24 years.


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

That's a good story for the back page of Fine Home Building.


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## oldrivers (May 6, 2007)

tlfettled said:


> :sad:


 
yeah i went through the bad years when everyone cheated everyone all the time but it wasnt as bad as you'd think 2000 here 2000 there . Do two houses for a builder bid for 9000 pay for materials, pay hangers, pay sanderes, pay sprayers, pay scrappers, pay for materials etc. then the builder files bankrupcy your out the 9 grand and the money you paid everyone . repeat this a few more times over the years and it adds up quickly. Liens didnt do squat either. Plus we were young so im sure builders knew how to play us. And you didnt want to go around threatening people cause you didnt want the negative. But its been alot better since the mid 90s and on. :clap: and it does take awhile for the anger to go away .


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Would it have been a bad thing to have snatched that stick out of his hands and broken it over your knee, handed it back to him and said today it was your stick. I'll be expecting my full fee, is there anything you need to tell me today that would lead me to believe there will be a problem with receiving my full fee?


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*Yes at the time i thought about it!*



Mike Finley said:


> Would it have been a bad thing to have snatched that stick out of his hands and broken it over your knee, handed it back to him and said today it was your stick. I'll be expecting my full fee, is there anything you need to tell me today that would lead me to believe there will be a problem with receiving my full fee?


 Yes at the time i thought about doing something stupid but court costs and the old man had money and power made me decide i was a screwed pooch on the deal !


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## taper71 (Dec 5, 2006)

I once stood by my finished walls with an exacto knife until paid in full. I zig zagged along one wall before he caved and wrote me a check.


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## Builtbybeck (Feb 2, 2006)

*Midnight repo*

I would have been tempted to do a late night stealth (with a really big hammer) repo of $400.00 worth of work. It would cost him twice what he cheated me!


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*HMMMmmm i will remember that idea !lol*



Builtbybeck said:


> I would have been tempted to do a late night stealth (with a really big hammer) repo of $400.00 worth of work. It would cost him twice what he cheated me!


:notworthyIf i had of thought of that way back then i would have been guilty of it !


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*Hey theres an idea ! lol*



taper71 said:


> I once stood by my finished walls with an exacto knife until paid in full. I zig zagged along one wall before he caved and wrote me a check.


:thumbsup: That should get their attention ! might get my pay too !


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## johnjones (Mar 18, 2007)

*Getting screwed*

I've thought about stopping at the dollar store and buying a cheap garden hose. turn on the water and lay it in the attic. But i never did.


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## TempestV (Feb 3, 2007)

I have a friend who's dad repo'd a deck that wasn't paid for with a pickup.


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*I Love That Idea*



johnjones said:


> I've thought about stopping at the dollar store and buying a cheap garden hose. turn on the water and lay it in the attic. But i never did.


I LIKE THAT IDEA VERY WELL NOT BAD AT ALL ! :clap:


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*I wish i could have been there to see that happen !*



TempestV said:


> I have a friend who's dad repo'd a deck that wasn't paid for with a pickup.


I wish i could have been there to see that happen ! :thumbsup:


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## rjman36 (Oct 4, 2007)

*re:*

I would have pulled my hammer out on the spot and knocked a hole in the ceiling to show him where the framing was sagging!


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*I Did Think About That For A Brief Moment*



rjman36 said:


> I would have pulled my hammer out on the spot and knocked a hole in the ceiling to show him where the framing was sagging!


:w00t:That thought ran threw my mind as i was standing in front of him !:notworthy


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## Brockster (Aug 24, 2007)

johnjones said:


> I've thought about stopping at the dollar store and buying a cheap garden hose. turn on the water and lay it in the attic. But i never did.


A few mice from the pet store also work well. It doesn't take long for them lil' bastards to multiply!:whistling


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## Grumpy (Oct 8, 2003)

When I very briefly worked in the tool-n-die/machining industry right out of high school, we were given dimensions to create our parts. We were then given a plus/minus tolerance. If a part had the width of 1" it would be dispplayed on the print as 1.000". It would then usually have something that looked like this behind it: ±0.005" meaning is my part's dimensions were higher or lower than an inch by 0.005", I was within acceptable limits. 

There needs to be, and probably is, something similiar in construction... however it's usually an eyeball tolerance. If the eye can't catch it, it's not a problem.

There are guys like that pulling scams like that every day. Sometimes they feel they are doing what's right. I think they just say this to themselves so they can sleep at night stealing from someone. Seriously where did the $400 he stole from you go? Did he use it to pay someone to fix your work? No, he just pocketed it and called your work acceptable behind your back and continued on with the construction. 

I can understand back charges. They are a necessary part of construction for corrections of true mistakes, however they are often abused and the novice business owner feels helpless so he bends over and takes it time and time again. 

I do not recommend damaging your finished procuct. Remember the laws favor the scum bag, so you'll be the one ending up in jail for damage to property.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

My first thought is...How does he know it is the ceiling and not the floor, why should you be held responsible for his floor that might have some high spots. 

But then I just paid for 1/2 of a hose bib replacement, that was probably 35 years old and would not shut off after we cleaned our concrete tools from pouring a footing. 

I don't think we should have had to pay for "maintenance" of the old hose bib but the owner insisted that the builder pay for it, so we split it. 
Had we run into the thing with the skid loader, that I would gladly pay for, but all we did was turn it on then try to turn it off. :furious: $$


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*About the acceptable limits .*



Grumpy said:


> When I very briefly worked in the tool-n-die/machining industry right out of high school, we were given dimensions to create our parts. We were then given a plus/minus tolerance. If a part had the width of 1" it would be dispplayed on the print as 1.000". It would then usually have something that looked like this behind it: ±0.005" meaning is my part's dimensions were higher or lower than an inch by 0.005", I was within acceptable limits.
> 
> There needs to be, and probably is, something similiar in construction... however it's usually an eyeball tolerance. If the eye can't catch it, it's not a problem.
> 
> ...


 :thumbsup: Just for reasons sake i would like to mention that the finish work was of high quality and there where no installer blemish's or defects in our work ! The banker just decided to come up with the 8 foot 2x2 idea in order to cheat me out of the money ! I give a 12 month guarantee on anything i do unless they beat me out of money ! Some times this kinda stuff really makes me wonder if this trade is really worth the hassle sometimes! :blink::sad:


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## tlfettled (Oct 19, 2006)

*I agree but what can a poor working man do !*



tgeb said:


> My first thought is...How does he know it is the ceiling and not the floor, why should you be held responsible for his floor that might have some high spots.
> 
> But then I just paid for 1/2 of a hose bib replacement, that was probably 35 years old and would not shut off after we cleaned our concrete tools from pouring a footing.
> 
> ...


:thumbdown I tried that explanation but the banker just sneared . ""Makes you wonder why people drink doesnt it !


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

tlfettled said:


> :thumbdown I tried that explanation but the banker just sneared . ""Makes you wonder why people drink doesnt it !


No Sir, it makes me wonder why people don't drink....more!:drink:


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## Grumpy (Oct 8, 2003)

People would act differently if carrying of hand guns were still legal.


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## Builtbybeck (Feb 2, 2006)

*Legal handguns*

Hey Grumpy,
You would like it here in the south!
People do legaly carry concealed handguns in TN. With nothing other than a couple hour course, a very simple test, and a small fee. It's supprising seldom that I hear of a legaly carried gun being used.


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## localtradesman (Oct 27, 2007)

Just a simple small claims would have handled this....I am sure...But...live and learn like we all have over the years.


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## CrazyTaper (Oct 9, 2007)

I just finished work for a contractor without any contract between us-just a verbal agreement for the footage price. I can't get him to answer the phone -am I out of luck -do I have any recourse?


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## A W Smith (Oct 14, 2007)

CrazyTaper said:


> I just finished work for a contractor without any contract between us-just a verbal agreement for the footage price. I can't get him to answer the phone -am I out of luck -do I have any recourse?


show up at his home at 6 am.. repeatedly.


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