High maintenance customer

[Mike Schwartz]

> From: Kenneth Brody
>
> It's amazing what one could do without those darn scruples getting in
> the way.

    Some of the places where I lost the most money were where my customer
and I just didn't see eye-to-eye and we parted ways, usually with me left
holding the bag.  In other cases, there were business deals for equipment
and a partnership that just went sour because my partner didn't know much
about computers and got cold feet. 

    You don't need a computer in order to get ripped off.  The main reason I
don't complain about the few thousands of dollars I've gotten stiffed on is
that I had one customer whose husband had taken an early retirement from a
large corporation.  Unbeknown to her, he pulled all his retirement money out
of the large corporation's retirement fund and invested it with a con artist
who promised high returns on his property investments.  He even BORROWED
money to give to the con man, because the con man kept sending him
statements showing something like 20% annual returns on his investments!
The con guy did use the money to buy a lot of property in the area,
including one of the most expensive houses in the area.  Unfortunately, he
sold off all the property, including the house, grabbed all the cash and
skipped town with a few million dollars.  They still haven't caught up with
him.

    The sad part wasn't that these two people had to try and get back into
the workplace at age 65 and ended up taking menial jobs, or that my customer
had to give up her "hobby" business to get a "real" job, but rather that
another guy that was a good friend of theirs, who had multiple sclerosis,
also trusted this guy with the inheritance his mother had left him, and he
ended up committing suicide.

     Talk about a con man without scruples!  

    I just thank God all the time that I have been able to weather the
storms and have enough food on the table to support my family.  I also pray
for these people AND that con man...

Mike Schwartz