I really didnt want to do this, because I dont want to vilify him, but he really kicked my business under a rock, and I cant sit pretty with that.
I own a cleaning company, and I was called to come and clean Extreme Landscaping's office. John the owner, asked me to come everyday. He also told me that he would pay me at a higher rate than I had quoted him, because I did such a good job. Sweet words to hear when you are trying to get your company off the ground.
So, I bent over backwards for him. He had made a verbal agreement with me about sub-contracting a large account to me. He told me to hire 10 girls and that we would start work the next week. So I did. I didnt schedule anything for that whole week, because I thought we would be busy. When the time came to work, he stalled and said that we couldnt go there until the next week. When the next week came, nothing still. The job never happened.
I had 10 girls blowing up my phone, showing up at my house. I ended up losing 2 weeks worth of work, because I dedicated that time on my schedule towards what I thought would be full of doing "Move-Out" apartments, I was "snookered" on the money that I wouldve gotten-and desperately depended on after holding the schedule open, and looked like a fool to girls that are my friends, but they are also my competition in the work field.
When he was around 3-4 weeks behind, I halted services until the bill was caught up. He would avoid me, avoid my calls, avoid the bill statements that were sent to him, wouldnt respond to my text messages, or messages left to him on voicemail or with his employees. If I did get a hold of someone, it was his secretary, and she would say that she had his phone, and he wasnt around.
I told him how my business was just starting out, and how him not paying for the services I did for him, really hit my business hard. I wasn't able to stock supplies, have gas to get to jobs, and my refrigerator was totally empty. I run my business out of my home, and I was put at risk to not be able to cover the rent. He didnt even give me the decency of an answer. He didnt even offer me a single dollar out of humane courtesy.
I even tried to tell him that he didnt have to pay the whole thing at once, and that I would work with him. I left text messages begging him. No response. I did text him making a brazen, truthful statement about his behavior, (that I even bit the bullet later on, and apologized for...) Only then, did I get any kind of response, in which he had both of his secretaries call me the next day, to offically fire me.
Bill still stands unpaid.