ARGH SMASH CRUSH (stupid people rant)

Ok so a guy in my building saw me moving and saw all of my different computers at one point.

Last week he stops me in the hallway and starts talking to me about building him a computer.

sure no problem, what's your budget? Ill charge you 100 bucks over cost and when do you want it all?

I go back and get details for what he wants and get thrown a curve ball "NOTHING from online, I dont trust them."

I should have raised flags there.

Well we get talking and he wanted me to get started on the build, I get info on what he was looking for and tell him that Ill need to go to Microcenter for the parts, for now I will pick up a case (150.00 max) a PSU (150 max) and a 500 gb HDD (120 max)..

He agrees and I tell him Ill stop back by with the parts on Saturday and he can pay me then (BIG MISTAKE).

Off I go to Microcenter, I spent about 3 hours wandering around that store (kid in a candy store type scenario)...

Pick up a
P182 (130 IIRC before MIR)
Corsair TX650w (110 IIRC before MIR)
500 gb seagate SATA (110 IIRC before MIR)..

Remember I can only brick and mortar shop for things.

Saturday afternoon I stop by lugging the above items and knck on his door.

Oh hey, sweet you got the parts already?

Me:Yup, show him the receipt with the parts HE owed me for circled.

WTF Im not paying you that much, the computer isnt built yet.

Me:Uh what? No you ARE paying me for these parts regardless, I bought them and you can pay me now for them.

Not gonna happen...

I stand there and just stare at him for a second and realize that continuing this fiasco will result in someone getting in a fistfight (me vs him).

Me:You know what, Im just gonna return these, you obviously have some misguided ideas about how business is conducted and I suggest you buy a dell from Bestbuy.

Dude gimme my parts, Ill build the machine.

Me:Uh you gonna pay me?

No

Me:So you want me to hand over these parts to you, that I bought, without getting paid for them, that is what you are asking me to do. Am I correct in this?

Yes

Me:*start laughing*

Me: Dude you better have a gun or 12 friends hiding in your bathroom because there is NO way you are getting almost 400 bucks worth of gear for free.

Gimme my stuff man.

Me:*place bags on ground*

Me:I am probably double your weight, I am definetely not handing over this gear, please feel free to try to convince me that I should, I really need a good laugh.

Man I aint trying to fight you, I jsut want a new computer.

Me:Ok let's go back over this again, PAY ME AND IT WILL COME.

........

Me:Look chief, have a good one, Im outta here with these parts which you arent getting.

Too bad Microcenter was closed on Sunday, I dont like driving around with 400 bucks in my back seat.

I don't know what to say.

Boggle

just

Boggle...

What a tard.

Just a guy looking to sucker you into giving him free parts. Kudos to you for not giving it to him.

thideras said:

Just a guy looking to sucker you into giving him free parts. Kudos to you for not giving it to him.

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I dont give my father free parts, WTH makes this guy think I was going to just drop off parts he didnt pay for?

Adragontattoo said:

I dont give my father free parts, WTH makes this guy think I was going to just drop off parts he didnt pay for?

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That is just it, he didn't think...sounds like that is his normal "non-thought process"

By any chance, was this guy guzzling cans of Brawndo (it has what plants crave!!!!) while you were discussing the matter? That seems to be about his speed.

Y'know, I got out of the game of freelance computer work a few years ago, mainly because I got sick and tired of dealing with people who should be buying from Dell. Time was that I charged $50 an hour and only whole hours, so if a job took 90 minutes, it was understood up front that it was a two hour job. As long as people did not mind paying that, I was fine with taking the money but some people just could not operate on that basis.

People would try to talk me down in price, to which I would tell them that they were free to take their computer somewhere else. A few did just that, others would pony up.

The last straw on that account was when I took on a job for someone whom I knew was too poor to afford me but needed his computer for his very marginal business. So I cut him a deal where I would charge half as much and bill him only for half hours if he bought me dinner.

Don't you know it but two weeks later he was back with the same problem. Now if I cut someone a deal, I would think it reasonable that he not keep doing the stuff that got him in trouble in the first place. Now when I told him that I did not want to keep taking what little money he had, he came back with “but don't you want to make money?”

Well yes, just not that way. And I had cut him a deal to begin with, so I was not making the usual amount of money from him in the first place. So no more of that work for me.

Today, if someone seems like they have a fair chance of doing the work themselves, if only they knew how, I tell them about this great website that I know about. It has a couple of thousand people who do this type of stuff all the time and they don't really mind answering the most basic of questions provided that you at least try to read up on your specific issues (care to guess which site that is? ;-P).

If I think that they are not going to be able to do the work themselves, then I tell them that they can get a fairly basic Dell from the ads in the Sunday paper for not much more than I would charge and they will have a brand new computer. For a lot of people who already have a monitor, the $300.00 Dell really does happen to be a better way to spend money that giving me $200 to keep a five year old computer alive for another year or two anyway, so I think that I am really giving them better advice that way.

I have no idea what the guy was smoking... that just sounds.. odd.. I would love to have him come here and try to explain what he was thinking.

As an aside, should it ever happen again, if the person that you are buying parts for does not trust online stuff, have them pay you in cash, then you will buy the parts for them online. ALWAYS get the monies for the parts up front. If someone does not agree with that, then they can find someone else imo.

Sorry to hear you go through all of that... at least the machine wasn't built before this came up.

I've done this a bunch of times for people, the main thing is to get a quote or something in they're hand, and somehow plant the seed that you need to get paid before the work is performed... If you leave room for someone to change they're mind and waste your time... they will.

I'm just glad you didn't get hurt.



~ Gos

Goshawk said:

Sorry to hear you go through all of that... at least the machine wasn't built before this came up.

I've done this a bunch of times for people, the main thing is to get a quote or something in they're hand, and somehow plant the seed that you need to get paid before the work is performed... If you leave room for someone to change they're mind and waste your time... they will.

I'm just glad you didn't get hurt.



~ Gos

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I used to bounce at a nightclub in SE DC and dealt with crackheads, some fool isnt going to compete with them. Between that and driving Tow truck for 2.5 years, there is very little that intimidates me and even less that scares me.

I have been shot at, stabbed in the hand, had knives and guns pulled on me and never was I in fear of my life. Then again, most of that time I didnt care anyways so I might if in the same position now, reconsider the fear factor.

Oh I got the quote, I also told him rough prices and got the top end limit AND told him that I was going to get those parts and would be back to get paid for those parts.. He didnt get confused, he didnt want to pay AT ALL.

You are absolutely correct. Probably he didn't even plan on building the computer, he planned on taking the parts back to a store that didn't require a reciept, and get himself some free money.

...which is why he told you 'I don't trust online stores'. It's hard to get a refund sent to a different house on a different credit card.

Glad you were too smart for him. Cheers.

What a Moron that guy was to think he would actually get you to buy the parts and not pay for them.

This is a joke, right?

Thats messed up.

I've had the same thing happen once before...

Except the guy actually tried to take them from me, so I let him(after giving him a black eye), and then had him charged for theft and assault... only the theft charge went through.

Least I hard he's in prison for robbing a mall full of security cameras... twice... at the same stores.

Drinkyoghurt said:

This is a joke, right?

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seriously?

no it isnt.

you should send the guy down here, from the sounds of it a guy posted on craigs list that all of his stuff is for free, i am sure theres some sort of computer in there some place

bahahahahahaha tards !!! thier everywhere !stupid should be leathal at birth and the world would be a better place !!

been building custom hoggs all my life allways get all the money up front first !!

just started building comps 2 years ago ( my bro has a small shop) & guess what the customers are the same !! dummer than a box of rocks ( most ) or got more money than thay know what to do with ( my fav. kind )

stick with the latter the first bunch will cost you everytime

Shell said:

(after giving him a black eye)

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IMO, the assault charge was dismissed, because YOU punched him!