So, now that I've had time to calm down and count to like 10,000, I can write about what happened with those custom cages. In case you missed it, this whole thing blew up on the NWI facebook page, when I eventually posted the cages for sale, and the people tried to "defend" themselves. Ok, but from the beginning:
2/1/18 -- I get an email from this person. It reads:
I was wondering if I bought the 3 cages from you could you transform the cages for me like you have for your chins where it's all wood inside. We are waiting to get our tax return back so that's when I would be able to pay for them. I was wondering if you could make one of the cages a little more handicap friendly for peanut since she only has three legs, one of them will be shared by 2 females Mia & Eve and then I have Daisy. I'm hoping if you can't that's fine I can buy them from eBay I would like all three cages to have a swing, some kind of rectangular boxes or square boxes at the top of the cages but honestly however you have free creative range over this. I also needed fleece liners for the bottom of the cages. I'm just trying to stick to a budget of 1300.00. I looked everything up on eBay and Amazon and with cages I'm going to spend 1600-2900.00 and I really can't afford that. So I was hoping you could me and the girls. Talk to you later.
We talk on 2/11 on facebook messenger, where I ask her about some specifics for the cages. She says what I'm talking about is fine, and asks how much we're looking at. My response:
I don't know, and honestly, I won't until I start putting them together. It is almost impossible to like plan out a cage on paper. When I try, most times all the stuff doesn't even come close to fitting into the actual cage. Less than $1300 for sure, but I mean, the three cages you sent pics of were so different, that was another thing I wanted to ask... one has larger shelves, one has more of the houses hanging up in the air, one has more like stepping stone shelves... I mean, I'm happy to mix it up and I figured you probably didn't want all three cages identical, but you gave me enough ideas to do about 20 cages
Her response included this:
Before you start working on them I can text you when we get our taxes back then that way I can pay you right away for them.
...and that was the last time she ever talked about paying that didn't involve some sort of delay (remember this, this is important later).
We continue talking about cage specifics, and that same day, I send this message:
Ok. Are you able to let me know when you like officially want me to start on these, like say two weeks-ish from when you want them picked up? The reason I ask is cause I don't keep three in stock like ever (too much money tied up in cages), so I'll have to order three and have them off to the side for you, and I don't want to do that too much in advance. Does that make sense/
So, this should not be a surprise later, when I complain about the cages tying up too much money and stock, because they've sat around forever...
Her response 2/18:
I just looked it up. We are supposed to have our taxes back by the 22nd so I can text you as soon as I get the email that they are there. It's up to you but I can get a money order for however much you would like and send it to you or if you send me a PayPal I can send the money to you that way. We are having our son in law follow us up to your house when they are ready to come get them
My response 2/18:
Ok. Once I have the cages together, I can let you know the cost, you don't have to pay ahead of time or anything. I'm a bit backed up on orders at the moment, so it may have to be a bit more time before I can start on them, because otherwise the orders stay backed up, I'm sure you understand...
Her response 2/18:
I understand. Just let me know of about a time frame and i will make sure to have money put back for you. So i have an idea are we thinking under a 1,000.00 for the job. And yes i completely understand you do have a lot going on and making 3 cages is time consuming. Thank you for giving me heads up
So, somewhere in there, we must have texted (because I don't have it on messenger), but I remember talking back and forth, and asking about if it was a good time to make the cages. This was in late May / early June... and the reason I texted asking if it was a good time, was because although she had said that she would let me know when she was ready... she never had. She said yes, good time.
Fast forward to June 7th. I get a message from her asking if I'm working on the cages. My reply:
Yes! I actually built the third one (just the cage frame so far) yesterday so I’m hoping in the next week or two I’ll have the cages done. I’m out of town mon- wed I don’t anticipate this upcoming week but soon!
Her reply:
Ok I can pay you at the beginning of July or August. Which ever one. I will have to rent a truck to come up there and get them.
Thank you for doing this for us my girls will be so happy in their new homes
My reply:
No problem. I will let you know as soon as I have them done for you
and whenever you can get up here is fineHer reply:
That's fine thank you
Fast forward to June 9th. I send a message:
I’m about done and didn’t end up putting wheels on cause i figured I wasn’t sure how exactly they were going to be in the truck on the ride home and if they’re standing up on wheels the bouncing Could possibly break the wheels. I have the wheels for you, I think it’d make more sense to stick them on when you get them home. Few more days for sure and they’ll be done. Just waiting for some stuff to dry
Her reply:
Ok thank you. How much do I owe you. I can come get them Saturday September 1st. I just can't do it in August because I have to get all three kids school clothes and supplies.
Notice, we went from where she would pay at the beginning of July or August, whichever I preferred, to the beginning of September... almost 2 months from July 9th, when the cages were about done.
My reply:
I would not have gotten them ready anywhere near this early, if I thought you didn't want them for a month and a half
I have no idea what my schedule is that far away
I'll send you a message when I know my schedule better closer to then
Her reply:
Ok that will work
I then send pics of the three cages. Her reply:
They are awesome I can't wait to get them. I super sorry I can't come until September 1st. Its truly because Andy's wages are being garnished and I have ssi but the 3 kids start school August 2nd and I have to use all of Augusts ssi to pay for clothes and shoes for the kids plus book fees. How much so I owe for the cages
My reply:
there's always some expenses, I get it! I'd have to look for the exact amount (I have it on a sheet downstairs) but it was around $700. Under $700, but around there
So, then we continue to talk a bit about the cages and whatnot. Fast forward to middle of August, and I try to message her. When I hit "send" on the message, it shows up "this person is not accepting messages at this time." Well, I thought that was odd, because that's what shows up when someone blocks you. Ok, whatever, so I have this person's phone number, so I call and text her. A few days go by, no response. I'm thinking this is highly weird, but I keep thinking to myself, no, I know these people, they wouldn't do this crap, and so I also have the daughter as a fb friend, so I message her and I tell her, I can't get a hold of the mom. Long story short, turns out, the mom says she accidentally blocked me when trying to block another Ashley G. Possible, but, eh... not sure I believe it.
So, the immediate order of business, why I was messaging her in the first place, was to set up the pickup date for the cages, September 1st like she said. August 20th, message from her:
Um please dont be mad I have it figured out it's just going to take me a couple weeks longer. On August 31st I have to get my back breaks and my lower sway bar replaced and it's about $900.00 to fix so what I was going to do is on September 9th we make a pretty good amount of money on parking cara for brickyard so I was going to use that money to pay you for the cages. So any weekend after September 9th let me know what works best for you and I will rent a uhaul for that weekend and we will come up there on a Saturday mid morning early afternoon. I'm sorry for the delay I didn't know when I took my car in for an oil change they were going to find things wrong
*sigh* We end up settling on the 15th, at 5 pm. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they never show. And what's the kicker of all of this, my entire night was filled with appointments, AND I had someone call and want to come by at 5 pm. I told them, sorry, no can do, too busy with appointments (and with three cages to haul up the stairs and into a u-haul, it would take all the time I allotted). They've never called back. So, I potentially missed out on an adoption that I potentially could have had... had I known these people weren't going to show.
So I reach out. September 16th:
Hey there. Looks like you missed your appointment yesterday. I wanted to first make sure everything was ok? Secondly, I want to honestly ask if you still intend to purchase these cages that I've completed for you. We had an agreement about a certain timeline, which has already been pushed back several times. I would very much like to gain the valuable space back in my work area that they have been occupying for quite some time, as well as the financial resources tied up within them. I did not expect them to be here this long, so I would appreciate some honesty. If you still want them, we need to arrange a pickup as soon as possible.
I also texted her. Called her. No response.
September 17th, in the morning, I send the daughter a message on messenger. Also no response. Later September 17th, I send both mom and daughter messages that ask, are you getting my messages? No response.
Fine, time for the big guns. Later that day, I post on the mom's fb page and tag her in it, how we need to reschedule the appointment that she was a no-call no-show for, for the custom cages that were ordered but not yet paid for. In so many words (now I'm officially blocked and can't see it... and I'm sure she deleted it).
OH ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY KNOW ME!!
Within two freaking minutes, the kid messages me:
Hey Ashley, my mom is currently in Michigan because my sister is in a serious situation so I called and talked to her and she wanted to know if we could set up a payment plan for $58 a week for 12 weeks. We got financially hit with several bills because my grandma switched them into our name without our knowing.
Um... no, she's not. And I don't say that to be an ass, but let me explain how I know that. In the days prior to the 9/15 pickup appointment, the mom had posted NUMEROUS times about the one kid having dental work at a place where they live (central Indiana, not Michigan). The place was tagged in the posts, and when I saw those posts, my initial thought was, "I wonder if they're going to have the money for the cages." But... I didn't want to be nosy and whatnot, so I let it go, figuring, they would let me know if they weren't going to make the pickup appointment (ha ha, I know, hindsight is 20/20). So, unless the mom dropped everything and went to Michigan that morning (2 days after missing my appointment and seemingly intentionally ignoring me...), no, she wasn't in Michigan.
Now, the grandma switching bills into their name. You can't just do that willy nilly. So, that sounds like another excuse to me. By the way, if there is a way to switch bills into someone else's name without their consent (which there isn't, but for discussion sake...), someone needs to let me know, so I can get someone else to pay MY bills. I mean, I'm not THAT stupid.
And finally... the payment plan. If you read this whole post... you probably can gather why that didn't sound like a great idea to me. Every time they needed to pay or money was mentioned, more excuses came up. Every time pickup was mentioned, excuses came up, and they needed to pick up later. So, in my opinion... how was I to know they'd pay the payments? How was I to know they'd pick up the cages? From September 17th, 12 weeks is the middle / end of December. You're going to tell me that when there's very possibly snow on the ground, that wouldn't be a potential excuse for why they couldn't come get the cages?
My response:
Sorry, no. Your mom told me back in February she wanted the cages. I thought that meant that you all had the money, and I even checked with her before I started on them in June. In July, when I was done, she said sorry, wait until September 1st. Then, September 1st didn't work, but for sure she said she'd have the money after September 9th. I understand things happen but I have already held onto these cages, and consequently, am $700 in the hole and struggling paying MY bills because those cages should have been picked up months ago. I can’t wait another 3 months for pickup, and honestly, I’m not sure that I believe they would be picked up, because then who knows what the weather will be like, and if it’s snowing, I’m not sure whether the effort would be made to come get them, paid for or not. I do not have the room to endlessly store these things. You guys have been here, you know that. I am going to list them for sale. Should they happen to be here in December when you have money for them, you are welcome to buy them, but I am no longer holding them for you, as it has been one excuse after another why they cannot be paid for and picked up.
Her response:
Then sell them. I’m sorry that our financial issues have been such a burden for you. I guess we will be finding business elsewhere. Have a good rest of your day.
...and so I posted them for sale. I really wanted to reply and mention how it didn't seem to matter to them, that I had all the money tied up in cages for them, and MY financial situation was of no concern to them...but I refrained.
I nicely let it be and posted them for sale. Someone asked what happened, and I posted about how someone had ordered custom cages, kept delaying payment and pickup, and now offered a payment plan that I wasn't happy with, so they were available. I never named names or anything.
Well, they apparently couldn't hold back, and the previously so silent people posted on my post about how horrible I was for not accepting their payment plan. How dare I not work with them! Wtf? I'd worked with them since the beginning and held these cages since middle of July with no payment, and I was supposed to wait until almost Christmas? No. Sorry, not sorry. NOT HAPPENING.
Then, and this was an absolute hoot, they literally posted (and this is still in the fb post, you're welcome to read it if you'd like, it's funny), that they offered to give me $800 and I wouldn't take it. I can prove, with screenshots, that NEVER HAPPENED. They asked twice what the cost would be, twice I said I'm not sure. When I officially had a price for them, they never had money from that point on (even though, it was SIGNIFICANTLY less than their budget of $1300). The best part was that they posted saying, "oh, if it had been under that amount, we would have just donated the rest." Someone on fb went on that comment and called bs on that, saying yeah right, they're gonna have all these money troubles, yet donate all the spare money? Not likely.
Anyway, they had a huge hissy fit, and made it sound like I'm the bad guy. Of course, you can make your own opinions from this, but to me... I ordered these cages only after confirmation that it was a good time to begin. A month later, they were done, and payment was supposed to be that month or the next. Then when I tried to contact, magically, I was blocked. Then when I did get through, oh they had to wait until the following month. Then when I reached out about a time, oh, later that month, sorry sorry. Then they missed that appointment, and only contacted me back after I went to extensive lengths to reach them (oh, I should also add... they were active on facebook and messenger, and POSTING on fb for the entire two days they ignored me). Excuses excuses, so to me, it makes sense to not mess with payment plan, which I feel would have been JUST as iffy as all of this, as far as whether it would have been actually paid, or what. Or maybe they would have paid, and then delayed pickup forever. But personally, I feel like I was plenty understanding of their situation, and at the point that I'd decided I was done, was a reasonable point. At least in my opinion. So, that's that.
Two of the cages sold pretty quickly. I still have one custom cage left, and I'm sure it will sell eventually. Now, I have written up a custom item contract which requires half down of the estimated cost at the beginning, and approximate pickup dates and all, and even what happens if they don't pick up. So, in the end, this was a useful learning situation. Still a maddening one, but I did learn from it.
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