PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

Fulcrum525 · #2 11-06-2008, 08:31 AM

Part Two.

So I gave him the check and every week for a few months, I asked for a contract (Which I had seen because another fellow was doing the exact same thing) The answer was always "I have it but I'm busy or I'll get it to you soon." Eventually because of the fear of retribution/getting yelled at I stopped asking. It also happened again a few months later "I have another investment opportunity for you." So again, another check went to him. Things went just fine for the next 6 months, I continued working as I had always. Sales had slumped a bit during the fall but overall things were going just fine. Even though I didn't have a contract I wasn't worried (I was living in the same house as him for crying out loud!) Also the other fellow who also invested in the company was someone who I knew, know and trust. He's been around the block more times then me so from my prospective, everything was just fine.
End of December. I was grateful for the opportunity that I was being given and went out of my way to get "The Jackass" and his wife (Who BTW was always nice to me) gifts for Christmas. I got quite a number of things for them and the wife was especially happy with her gifts. They got me...... a flashlight but said that I would be taken out next week to a new store that was opening because "I'm tough to shop for" However they decided to go for an end of the year trip to Puerto Rico. He said that he was "Having cash flow problems again" and needed to borrow from me again with the usual 20% fee. Again, a check went to him.

New Years resolution for 2008-the investments are coming back so I'm going to reinvest, find a girlfriend, buy my own winter vehicle so the SDL can stay inside. Its going to be a great year.

Tuesday, Janurary 1st 2008-The other boss who was originally the Dunkin Donuts manager (who from here on out will be reffered to as "The Idiot") So i'm in the office but its sort of an unofficial holiday so only the managers are they all look a bit concerned. We start talking and eventually it comes out that "The Jackass" was emmbezzling from the company so I tell "The idiot" about my investments and he says, "There are none, I would have known about them" Ahem? Your going to have to run that by me again....

So as it turns out the boss and owner of the company was "The idiot" all along and that he just let "The jackass" masquerade around as the boss. So "the jackass" comes back from his vacation and we expose him. He's in an office crying with the fakest tears that I have ever seen and says "I'm sorry I spent your money I promise I'll pay you back" I didn't buy it and I walked out. Within a week I moved out and was back home but of course I didn't tell my parents what was really going on (They still don't know) oh and did I mention that his wife was pissed cause he cheated on her? Yeah, model citizen this one is huh?

He was supposed to draft of a contract with the company lawyer so I would be paid back, never happened (which in hind site is actually ok because arbitration would have made the court system unusable) The other fellow who invested? Same thing, oddly though, he had a full contract original but still isn't paid back. So even if I had a contract on day one, I would still have gotten stiffed. Also before anyone says "An investment holds risk" I was fully aware of the risk elements which would have been the company going under, not getting defrauded. The company at this point was really hurting, "The jackass" had pissed off so many people and embezzled so much that there was quite a bit of debt(Understatement). "The idiot" came up to me one week and said that he needed help with payroll so once again being the loyal employee and not wanted the company to go under, I bailed him out. I was supposed to get paid back within 4 weeks, its been 10 months. At this point, my account was essentially empty. So a round of layoffs and I had to take a paycut along with several of the other people who had been with the company for several years. Annoyingly "The jackass" still had a job (As a closer, he was stripped of all ownership) I couldn't stand the site of him, even worse he still tried to boss me around but I would ignore him even though I grew angrier every time he asked (My poor mouse got squeezed into pieces because of it)

Oh but we're not done yet because it gets worse.... After three months and not a hint of being paid back I was thrown into complete chronic depression which has only worsened and lasted to this day. If you thought I was happy at the NE shop meet, it was just a front.

At this point "the jackass" Is fired and "the idiot" was in full control and thus earned his title. One, he also had a hand in putting the company into its debt by overspending. Two, he has NO ability to plan ahead, none, not even a few hours. Three, he has pathetic office etiquette.... (I could go on) He wanted me to go back out on the road to help a new sub-office grow. I said it was stupid because then the main company wouldn't have any sales leads and the whole place would fold like a deck of cards. He insisted and cut my salary to zero an essentially forced me to go out on the road. This time I wouldn't be selling the processing package that I was good at but a new companies processing which I simply couldn't because there customer service was horrible. I signed up one merchant but he got pissed because it wasn't the smooth transition that I was told it would be. After that I simply couldn't sell anymore (he was eventually installed but I never got paid for my time on the road. and it simply depressed me even further) If I can't guarantee a smooth transition for the customer, I won't sign them up. So after some arguing and threatening to quit I managed to get back to my old job in the office again (So for 1.5 months I didn't get paid anything....I'm very good at living cheaply)

And finally, the Gwagen, AKA the last straw.

In March "the idiot" wanted to sell the workhorse of the company a black G500 that he had only had for a few months. I need to mention that this was the 2nd G500 in the company. "The jackass" had one (on my recommendation) and I used it often to take care of supply runs for the office and a dozen other uses. I'm the only person in the companies history to actually use a company car to get company work done and not just drive it home at the end of the day. It was great until "The jackass" decided to bling it out with ugly, weak, oversized drug dealer wheels. The brick that I **** that day......everything that makes a G great was thrown out the window in one fell swoop. Now it couldn't be loaded with weight, couldn't go so much as a pebble, and looked ridiculous. I refused to drive it. Of course being the bling master a G wasn't flashy enough so later on he traded it for a (By comparison) useless ML63 AMG.
So back to "the idiots" new G. He is the worst driver I have ever seen and piles trash into his cars like they are dumpsters, needless to say he never cleans them. (Anyone who saw my car knows how I treat a Mercedes-Benz and why this would piss me off) Thankfully he didn't have it for very long and I managed to get a hold of it before he completely trashed it. So for a few months it was my company car. It still took me a while to get it cleaned to my specs. He had smoked something funky in it which took about a month to get rid of (The smell) The timing was good because the SDL was acting up at the time and I needed some to drive while I fixed it. It was all a nice boost in confidence at the time but I always referred to it as a company car....until June. One week after my salary gets reinstated I'm told "You going to have to start paying for the G if you want to use it, otherwise I have to sell it" I said fine (Of course then on the spot he gives me the payment for the month that I never got paid....which pissed me off) So during the summer things seem to finally be stabilizing, I have the G and am getting paid. However in order to help the company I "chip in" and help with the ordering of supplies with money out of my pocket but I keep the receipts of course. But it doesn't stop there, I find myself paying for his car maintenance and other personal things for "the idiot" and I'm also constantly using the G to do work at "The idiots" house (Part of the agreement for me not to quit was $50 an hour for any work on the side that I did for him....he's on 180 hours and I haven't been paid for a single hour) I do all of this in the name of keeping the company afloat and helping people.......