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Timewasters?

So, today, i had a call for an outcall, quite a ways away. I had spoken to the guy a few times, asked him to call back and stuff as i was busy, so i was feeling ok about it. He sent 4 texts throughout the day, which noramlly puts me on edge, from my experience, guys who text inccesantly, tend to be timewasters. Eitherway, i get in the cab head off, call him to let him know im on the way, its all good. But i had a get feeling that was wrong, but i didnt listen to it. So i get there, and sure enough he's not there.

And this is where it gets weird. His flatmate answers the door, i ask for the guy, and he says, hes not around, would i like to wait for him. I say ok go in, and spend some time with his flatmate to see if he turns up in a bit. His flatmate said he was at the hospital with his mum, which is the same thing he said on the phone, but also that he was heading back.

Anyway, eventually i leave. Call again, it rings, he answers, i say hi, he hangs up. 3 minutes later i get a text (saying its from his flatmate, not the guys number) mate saying the guy's mum had passed away, and he was asked to pass on apologies etc. I ignore it, not going to be drawn into texting whilst im angry.

Then it gets even weirder, the flatmate says he fancies me, but that he shouldnt say so because im probably dating the guy (hahaha) and wants me to come back. Was soo tempted to text a price to him :p, but i dont want to expose the guy as having called an escort if it is all a genuine mistake....

So, im in a conundrum. It sounds vaguley plausible that his mum was in hospital, especially given the flatmate proffered this information without promting. Yet, who would organise an escort to come over if their mum was about to die. And why draw the flatmate into it, why not text me a sorry himself.

Im not sure what to do. It might be genuine. But even if it is, it still cost me money. I could ask him to send me the cost of the cab via paypal or something, but dont want to call so soon after his mum passed away, if indeed she did. And i dont want to post his details on escortwatch incase it totally is all real, and was just an unfortunate seet of circumstances.

What should i do? Any suggestions

Added on: 03/20/06 19:34

Comments


Anika Mae
03/20/06 21:47
It sounds like the "wrong number" texts that turn into "oh sorry so what's your name where do you live?". I don't believe it at all, unless you're sure the guys' voices were different, I say it was all just one guy who wanted to meet and try to woo you. Even if it's two guys, I don't believe they're genuine. No-one died, that's just to stop you asking questions. I'd save the number as "timewaster" and forget about it.


sarah
03/20/06 22:07
Hmm, i thought it might be the same guy, but the voice is soooo different. Different accent, different intonation. Plus the flatmate called me lisa (not alicia)!!

Overall though, i think your probably right.

Thing is, im sure there must be something that can be done about guys that do this. How about registering as a ltd company (which might be tax beneficial anyway, depending). Then timewasters could be sent letters from a 1 pound a letter solicitor, with the jist that if they dont pay, legal action will be taken to recover debts. I mean, what, at the end of the day, is the difference between me calling out a dishwasher repair company, then refusing to answer the door to them, after they have travelled, and set aside time at their cost, to a guy wasting an escorts time. I bet the dishwasher company would seek to recover lost revenue. So the issue would be is a verbal contract for service binding. I would imagine, that a conversation with the terms, this is a confirmation in it would be somewhat binding.

Thing is, we are doing nothing illegal, these guys are. And i bet they would be quite scared of legal action against them. If they dont playball at that stage drop it. not worth the recovery effort. But a simple soclicitors letter?

Hmmmm.


Anika Mae
03/20/06 22:19
I'm not convinced that the 'phone conversation counts as a verbal contract, and even if it does you have no proof, in which case the guy is as legally safe as you. I don't think there's a legal recourse against people who don't turn up/answer the door/etc. unless perhaps you got legal advice first to find out exactly how to set up the contract so it's binding. That doesn't mean you can't try to scare him if you can get something official-looking together.


sarah
03/20/06 22:40
Mmm, there must be someway to create legally binding contract by phone, because you can take out a mobile phone contract without ever signing a piece of paper. Or sign up to an internet provider, etc.

I think the biggest problem would be how would you extract the money. You dont exactly want to be asking for a cheque to be sent, made payable to yourself in a name other than your working one, for security. And asking for cash to be sent (even recoreded / special delivery) is just screaming, im a scam.


Anika Mae
03/21/06 05:14
It's true, but that stuff's a lot more organised and maybe the calls are recorded? I don't think it's worth the effort, really. A client of mine who doesn't have an account here said,

IMO Sarah should call it a day and put it down to experience. Sure it rankles but not worth wasting time and effort on. Relating it to my business experience, WGs need to accept that a small percentage (say 1%) of any booking fee be set aside as a contingency against expenses incurred by Timewasters. Treat it as just another business expense. That way they can take it in their stride without beating themselves up over it. My experience is that even if you got a court judgement you very rally got paid. No, forget it and move on.

I agree with him. It's a sad fact that people do this, and not just to us, but you do learn to protect yourself. You had a bad feeling about this one, which you won't ignore next time, and you're still pretty new so your instincts will probably continue to sharpen. In a year and a half of work (blimey) I've left the house four times for timewasters. Only two cost me money, and they were also the cases in which I should have known better. So only two that, with the experience I have now, would cause me problems (and I could eliminate one of them if I was more strict with my checks), and I didn't have to pay to be messed around by them.

If you haven't had your account closed, Nochex is great for accepting remote payment. You need to be discreet, but sign up for a seller account and you can accept instant credit card payments without your real details being shown.


Kimberley
03/21/06 05:29
Sarah,

Sign up for the electoral roll, it cost me £7.25 for the year, also BT 192 to see if landline is registered to them. You can also buy death records online!! If he wants to go down that route! I go down the scaring them route. Last run around outcall was a few streets away, double checked with me several times he was attending. I got all his details and checked them out. Everything tallyed up, you can see on quite a few records if it is rental or purcahse and how much, that is a good way to scare them! Anyone I turned up and no reply. Rang his mobile several times, ignored my calls, I have seven numbers so tried from a few others. No response.

Anyway, I invoiced him a few days later. Would of paid to see his face when he got it. Internet is a dangerous thing, so is an angry Essex girl!


Ryan
03/21/06 06:08
You're really scaring me now. God help the hapless punter whose mum really has kicked the bucket suddenly!


Kimberley
03/21/06 06:42
He asked her to wait for him??? You would not do that if your mum was on deaths door. I have only taken these steps due to the increase of these cranks, 70 no shows this year out of 6/7 weeks working.


jono
03/21/06 06:42
lolol

In fact what you really need is some high tech spook tracking gear .. locate their whereabouts from the tranmission of their mobile .. get an observer .. wait until they are in Marks and Spencers at the till ,.. then pounce and say Hi !!! I'm the wg you let down yesterday

Even better .. when they ring tell them you know where they are ! aaaaaa


Kimberley
03/21/06 06:50
Many guys try to book fake outcalls, checking the electoral roll will tell you who is registered there, if new then you can check a sales of property register. I only found this out when an ex's ex wife discovered how much I had sold my house for and who to. It shows private sales and if it is a rental. Interesting site. At least you will find out if the person is genuienely there, which is at the end of the day what you need to do. Take it from the person who was BEATEN ON AN OUTCALL SO BADLY I NEEDED SPINAL SURGERY!!! Have checked online since and guess what he was not registered there, could easily of been a fake name. You always need to make sure they are who they say they are.

Personally I would never of gone inside and waited, more than likely a wind up.


Anika Mae
03/21/06 10:10
Apparently US prossies noticed an increase in business right after 9/11. Stress does funny things to people.

Still bull, though.

(I did know why you needed surgery, before. Shit, I'm sorry you've had such a bad time with the whole thing. I admire you for sticking at what you want to do.)


Anika Mae
03/22/06 05:42
I just remembered something about the electoral role.

You've probably noticed that as of about four years ago, there's an option to opt out of the public version of the roll. A lot of people use this option, which means the various websites that use the data can't access it. In that case, they use the last available data, which is getting pretty out of date now.


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