Have you ever tried to help a guy out and the whole thing turns into a holy freakin mess? Every once in a while I'll turn a trick( yeah like a crack whore) to make a buck to get some funds for my hotrods. So I try to patch this car back together for this guys 16 year old kid (cause he don't want to go through insurance) and it has been one issue after another. Salvage yards, wrong parts, bad previous repairs, changed minds because of money etc? Ever do this? Am I alone, lemmie hear it.
boy do i know what you mean !!! every time i help someone , im the bad guy . had a friend say he needed some parts to finish his "A" , so i gave him a bunch of stuff . he sold the stuff ! no more giving to him ....... steve ... some peoples kids !
You guys got that right!!! I keep hoping all the karma points I keep collecting are gonna be worth something some day and I can cash them in if i ever need to. But, I'm not holding my breath! Yeah, I still help out peaple with their crap junk cars. I got a 94 chev truck in the yard now with a blown head gasket that Im helping out with. I feel like the shoe maker who's too busy making shoes for everybody but himself.
Usually it sucks to do somebody a "favor".They always want more than you give.Especially when it's for free.
Do more than whats expected and bring things back better then when you took it, thats my saying when I help/lend someone something. Whether it be help, tools, parts. They know when I help em' its expected back or they stand to lose more then I. Karma.-Weeks
Along the lines of listing crap on eBay for a friend or a friends wife, "too complicated for us, but you're good at it, right". They tell ya what they want for a half dozen items. That gizmo thay wanted $100.00 for sells for $160.00, two weeks later a "good friend" of theirs says it was worth $250. and I sold it too cheep! End of that Mr. Helpful deal.
A friend of mine had it right, I think , when he said he helps people out with their cars, but they'll turn on you in an instant when there's a problem. Very true.
No kidding!!! I hate selling stuff for other people but they always talk me into it "because I'm good at it". Sold an item for a guy he was hoping to get $1,000 for and got $3000. First words out of his mouth "do you think we sold it too cheap?"
Yeah I took in a 51 merc 4 door project. For a friend, Total custom make over with a list of all we were going to do, and a agreed on price he would pay. Except every time he came over to check on progress he would say what about if we did this. I always told him it could be done and actually threw a few extras in until it got way out of hand. That's when I told him that what I meant was that I was ABLE to do any thing extra. But we had to adjust the price. I guess that solved the problem. Except after I finished the agreed on items he pulled the car out of my shop. And proceeded to bad mouth me, and claimed he did most the work himself. He paid for it so let him claim it I guess. WAS A GOOD FRIEND...ghost
If you help someone when they are in trouble, they will never forget you the next time they are in trouble.
just keep trying to help people, some will return the favor, some will not appreciate your efforts. you will make some good friends, and they hopefully will out number the others.
Usually never works that way.And the blame always comes back to you.And I know,I've always tried to help somebody in good faith.
Been there, done that. Gone way out of the way only to get bitten. But, there are still plenty of good friends and rodders out there to make up for it. Just remember. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Old rule, but still right. Hambers prove that good guys still exist...................
You are not alone! We are ALWAYS helping people out. And we get stung! But, I know God will bless us for it! The Bible says "Vengeance is mine".
when i run my shop I got involved in a few deals and sometimes you have to throw out a car and let them deal with it themselves I was building[finally had to do the design too] a roadster for a guy and the front axle from speedway had caster stagger, it became my problem... I run low on customer work and asked him to contribute to light bill { $20 would have helped, we worked all at nights on his car and he said no way, next day he found it in my driveway, he put it in his warehouse and it got flooded and ruined last i heard] SO DONT LET OTHER peoples problems become your problem
Yeah I agree with ya. Most of the projects done in my shop now are just hobbies between friends. And the favors and friendship. Always come back twice to ya. Everyone chips in on the utilities or supplies or BEER or BEER or did I say BEER...ghost
Unless you know the person and sometimes that doesn't even work you can't always be the GOOD GUY. Good guys don't always win.
When I opened my first shop I tried to give people I new, better than good deals and every time it blew up in my face, give people cost on parts or what ever. Then the old timer that ran the shop next to me came over and said "never give a deal, always charge a full but fair price" "favors or good deals always go bad". But i'm still a sucker for my buddy's, always try to help out. Im a slow learner. Comes with owning a shop. But I never lend tools anymore.
I can pretty much tell if your an asshole within the first 20 seconds if you open your mouth. That being said I seldom do any side work because of the amount of assholes there are....the ratio isn,t in my favour. On the other hand in the last 2 weeks I have bought 2 trade ins and just called my junkyard buddy to come get them free of charge. He clears out farms etc and when there are vintage cars I,m the first person he calls! Great things come to he who waits.....
In a word;YES! Does it come back to bite you in the a** sometimes? DEFINITELY! Will you do it again? YES! Why? BECAUSE WE CAN! A couple of words of wisdom I learned long ago: Don't EVER lend anyone money,tools,your girlfriend,etc.with the expectation of getting it back(well maybe your girlfriend). Don't ever go into business with a friend or(especially)a relative.That is the quickest way to lose a friend or a relative(unless that was your intent). I could go on but you all know the rest.
Shit! I thought I'd blocked that out of my memory! 50-50 partnership on a garagefull of prewar car parts. I got to store them, load them in my truck and take them to flea markets, take the unsold parts home and re store them. Answer phone calls, ship stuff that sold in Hemmings ( this was a LONG time ago) than split the sale with my EXfriend.
For some unknown reason I got labeled as "the computer guy" by some of the local car guys (why I have no idea, I dont really know much about them). Now just about every time I stop by a friends house just to see whats up I get asked to list stuff on ebay or Craigslist for them. It sucks and I wont do it anymore, I spend enough time on the computer doing my own crap.
I've heard of "no good deed, goes unpunished" and I live by it. But there is another one that applies to some people you try to help "you can't help someone, who doesn't want to help themself."
Happened to me years ago also, when I actually fixed computers for a living. I come home from fixing computers, then people would call and ask me to fix computers. I hated it. I just wanted to work on my cars. Pissed off a couple "friends" when I started saying that I was going to have to charge them, but everything was so much better.
In my Previous life I used to help people for Free thinking they would come around and return the Favor. That "NEVER HAPPENED", then I changed and became a Cash only Ass Hole. Funny thing, I always had money to pay for things I couldn't do for myself. So life went on and I found the H.A.M.B. I decided a while back to try again to be a "NICE Guy" again. After all I'm getting Older and a Few friends might not hurt. What I re-learned is people will always come for the 'Free Shit" only now they want it on there time frame, at there place, and forget about "it comes back" still. Lately it's been advice Only on how to do it on your own since I've gotten to this point doing it alone. I never seem to lack for work as long as I do what I say when I say and keep it Pay before it goes. The Good Buddy thing always seems to end at the Cash Redgister and I never have a case of Raw Ass. I can still come here and be a nice Guy and never feel taken advantage of. If I think it's happening I can just Log Out. The Wizzard
i own a automotive repair shop also - i made a rule a long time ago that works for me and my friends understand. if you want a cheap deal or credit we will discuss it over christmas dinner. they are probably not gonna be there - so you have your answer.
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