I fixed a mower for someone. They talked me into picking up the mower because they said her arm was broken. Good enough. Their house was big but unkept. The walkway was full of moss and moldy outside furniture.

I fix it and bring it back. No one was home so I left the invoice taped to the mower.

Two weeks go by and I finally go back and knock on the door. The give me some story about them paying their bills 'once a month'. Whatever.

The check bounced! An $85 check bounced!

I am going to mail them back the bad check and forget the whole thing. They have bigger problems.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Yep, bigger problems indeed. Wait 'til they bounce a couple of house payment checks!

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

They probably did already. Sometimes they're just waiting for the Sheriff to come get them.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Very true. That process can take a LONG time!

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

In the state of WI, a bad check is worth the lessor of 3X face value or $500 + court costs. Usually that comes to $150, give or take. 2 weeks after the court date, if you don't pay up or come to an arrangement and don't send me your financial data, you are in contempt of court and I can drop more papers in so that when you get pulled over, well..... If I know where you work, I can still do that and garnish your wages. Obviously, if you are a couple, I will serve BOTH of you.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

There are some towns in West Texas that have a number of homes like that. When the oil was flowing in the 1920's folks built giant homes, but when the oil ran out so did the money. The homes are still there and would make a nice place for anyone who did not mind driving 80 miles to take in a movie.

So the houses just sit there, falling apart, and they are purchased by folks who don't know how much it cost to keep such a large place going.

Tulsa, during the 70's, had a lot of large homes like this in an area called Maple Ridge. The cost to heat and cool them was too much for many people to take, so they fell into disrepair and sold for almost nothing.

How much is almost nothing? A friend of mine bought a 5,000 sf house for $15,000. It cost him $40,000 to fix it up, but he was able to do that over a matter of years. Today homes in Maple Ridge sell in the $500,000 range since so many have been updated and restored.

Such is life.

my guess is they already have!

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Why bother getting the mower fixed to mow the grass on a foreclosing house????

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Repo the mower.

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1989 300E 144K

Keep the check and take the tax write-off as a business loss.

__________________

Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

Fixed mower is worth more than a broken mower

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

You are far too nice. If they have bigger problems, they shouldn't be contracting for services. You should go collect the mower, and start adding up a storage fee to the unpaid bill. Send them a certified letter saying what the policy is, which should be after a certain amount of time unpaid, the mower will be sold by you.

They may have bigger problems, but there is no sense absorbing a loss on work you did just because you feel sorry for them.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Talk to them about trading something of value (to you) for that payment.
They might have some cool stuff.

__________________

"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

she was pretty hot. hmmmm..... see the horns growing on my head here..

nah!

__________________
Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Well, since you got fawked by them, fawking them might be a return that you can have. That or nothing.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow