For G & D

 Let Them Set Their Own Trap

One time a rich Oliver collector from Ohio was in my yard to pick up a couple of Oliver tractors. A rare Oliver Super 44 offset like a Farmall A, and another one. That was all he could carry, but I had a clean, straight, sharp 66 Goodison Orchard sitting there. He asked what I'd sell it for and I replied I wanted $2000.00US for it. He said he would take it and left. He didn't offer a dime downpayment. 14 solid months went by and he never sent me a penny for it. I needed the money and it was a super easy sale because it was already a hot commodity, and also because it was so pristine. I put an ad in the Oliver Collector's News, and the phone rang off the hook the first night. The first guy that called said he would buy it and a cheque would be in the mail in the morning. He was good to his word. If I remember correctly, 33 more eager buyers called that first evening of distribution of the newsletter.

The guy that spoke for it well over a year before was a businessman that owned a huge concrete company with over 100 four axle mixer trucks on the road. He didn't see the ad the first night, but called a few evenings later and absolutely ripped a strip off of me. He made me feel two inches tall for selling a tractor I had held onto for 14 long months without a nickel on it. My $2000.00 was huge to me, but likely wouldn't have been much more than an hour or two's income to him. Well, I was dirt, and I represented all of Canada to him; "You're a typical Canadian!" He then told me he'd see to it I'd never sell another tractor in the USA again and slammed the phone down.

After he so angrily hung up, I had a change of heart. He made me think I had gone back on my word. That I had done him wrong. Further to that, he also seemed to be of the mindset and influence to put me out of business. 

Feeling absolutely rotten to the core, I called up the guy that said he was mailing the cheque, and asked if I could return it when I received it. His firm reply was, "Absolutely not; I bought that tractor fair and square and it's mine, and I'm going to tell you something..." He went on to lay out how massive a business the other guy was running because he knew of him. He finished by telling me, "If he really wanted that tractor he should have paid you for it! You don't need to be financing a multi-millionaire's hobby!" This time I got put in my place in an honest fashion with a clear, realistic picture of the situation. Set straight. Loud and clear. Roger dodger... 

Where does a multi-multi millionaire get off making me sit on what was big money for me but chump change for him for an untold amount of time? I re-evaluated my low estimation of myself and applied it onto him instead. All these years later I realize I was dealing with one major big time narcissist. Those kinds of people think the sun, moon, and stars revolve around them.

Being a narcissist, he definitely meant it when he said he was going to try to destroy my reputation. It wasn't an idle threat. That's what narcissists often do once they don't get their own way. They lash out with spite and venom to try to cause whatever harm they are able to. At an Oliver Collector's meeting, he actually got up on the stage and took the mic and ran my name into the dirt. He said I was dishonest and a shyster and I couldn't be trusted! What a petty friggin' creep. 

Well, it backfired on him big time when a bunch of different guys that I had done business with over the years that were in attendance each stood up and told him to shut his big mouth because they had bought tractors from me and said I was a straight shooter so it was obviously him that wasn't right. He was told to shut the heck (that wasn't the word) up and get off the stage! One of the Oliver guys there that I had done business with excitedly called me and told me the whole story, and that's how I know. He set his own trap and sprung it on himself. I had been using his name when I sold tractors to other guys. The gentleman on the phone told me, "Now that you won't associate yourself with him anymore you'll sell more tractors than ever!" He was absolutely right about that. That guy was a loud-mouthed schnook and using his name as a reference was actually holding me back instead of promoting me. Sometimes you just have to be patient and wait for a wrong situation to right itself. 'The truth will come out in the wash'.

---------------------------------------

When I first decided to sell my two biggest tractors, I advertised them for "$15000.00US or best offer". The phone rang in my first shop on the farm. It was a guy from Minnesota. "I'm interested in your two Cockshutt tractors. I'll give you $11000.00US for them". That was way low. I paid $11000.00US for the one. For the pair? Nope, not happening. 

"Ok, thanks, but I won't sell them for that. I'm going to have to wait for a better offer". 

"What?! That's my best offer! Your ad said you'd sell them for $15000.00 or best offer! That's my best offer!" 

Just all over me, right from the start. Angry and pushy and huffy. Somehow in his mind only his best offer counted, not anyone else's. That's some position to be in. Must be nice...

"That's only your best offer. I'm going to wait for others".

He yelled back at me, "Who gave you the right to an auctioneer?!" 

"The fact that they're my tractors and I can sell them for whatever I want gives me the right." 

"Fine! I'll see to it that you never sell a tractor South of the Border again!" And down goes the phone. 

That same old threat. Boy oh boy. It's almost like a broken record with those types. Brenda heard the conversation on speaker phone and got anxious. "What are you going to do? Did you hear what he said?" She was more worried about my parts business than selling tractors.

"Yeah, I heard. I've heard that before. Don't worry." Just another browbeating creep, used to getting his own way, and when he doesn't, out come the exact same threats. "He wants those tractors. You can't find a Cockshutt 2050 and a 2150 in a package deal anywhere and he knows it. He'll call back with a different approach. Just watch." 

Sure enough, not 15 minutes went by, and the phone rang again. Same number. Whole different attitude on my end now. "Hello?" Not my most welcoming voice. In fact, it had a bit of a low, slow growl in it. 

"Yeah, this is ***** ******. It seems we got off on the wrong foot in our first conversation." No kidding. And no apology either. Notice it was "we" that were out of line, not him. "I'd like to buy your tractors. What is it going to take for me to get them?"

I replied, "There is absolutely nothing you can do to get them now. You could offer me the full fifteen thousand dollars and you still wouldn't get them. As a matter of fact, you'll never get them". Matter of fact and cool as a cucumber. 

A little nervous laughter on his end. He definitely wasn't used to that. "Why not?"

"Because you're a friggin' jerk!" 

This time it was me that hung up the phone. With great satisfaction, I might add. You don't always have to wait for a situation to right itself. Sometimes you can right it yourself in short order. I don't know if I ever actually called anyone a jerk in business before, but that guy had it coming and I have never for one moment regretted it. I wonder how many times in person he just intimidated himself to a one-sided deal? 

The crowning jewels of his collection were never going to happen and he had only himself to blame.

At supper at Brenda's parent's place, the subject of that heartwarming little phone exchange came up. I related how it went, and said I told him he was a jerk and hung up. Brenda's Mom couldn't believe it because I'm normally a pretty soft-spoken gentleman. She was aghast at the thought of me actually saying something like that. It sounded like an exaggeration for me to her. "You didn't?!" 

Brenda lowered her fork from her mouth and nodded her head slowly and affirmatively with her eyes meeting her Mom's, "Oh yes he did..." Emphatic. Her Dad replied that he had that coming after the way he jumped down my neck right off the hop. He didn't see a thing wrong with it. I didn't either, and not really even much today. Maybe the jerk learned a lesson. Well, probably not... but let's call it a win for all the other people collectively he pulled that same garbage with.

--------------------------------------------

After I got into the parts business, before I started physically taking shipments across the border myself, I always had to deal with American buyers getting US Customs bills. Anything over $200.00US was subject to a Customs bill, and they could be serious. Doing my best to inform them, I put warnings all over our website in red boxes with bold white letters like a STOP sign to make people fully aware of what they were subject to when buying from us. There was a warning at the top of the home page, at the bottom of it, on the contact information page, and on the checkout page after they placed an order, giving them a final chance to back out and ask me to cancel their order and refund their money. There was no excuse for getting a Customs bill unawares. If they could read the part description, they could certainly read the warnings also.

Not everyone accepts personal responsibility well. A customer ordered a dual gang hydraulic and power steering pump for an IH tractor off of my website at a price of $800.00US. A week later he got his pump with an accompanying US Customs bill. He called me up and told me I should be liable for that bill. I told him he was warned twice on the home page, once on the contact page, and one last time on the back page after his checkout, and, if he ignored all of those warnings in bold white letters in red boxes, I sure wasn't responsible for his bill. He snarled at me, "You'll never sell another part in Ohio", and hung up. Now where did I hear that before? Lo and behold, three months later, I received another order from him for over $200.00, so sure to get a Customs bill. I guess  he was dumb enough to tell someone else not to buy from me because they'd get a Customs bill, and the other guy said something to the effect of, "His website warns you'll get a Customs bill for a purchase of over two hundred dollars, and you ordered 4 times that much; what did you expect would happen?" At least that's how I picture his comeuppance going down. That guy has since become a semi-regular customer. No apology for threatening to put me out of business. That never comes from those types and you'd better not hold your breath waiting for it. Just don't get anxious and uptight when you encounter someone like that and their threats. Hopefully their reputation precedes them. Or at least their big fat mouth in the present gives them away.