You own a large pool room - and one of your employees buys a used car from one of your best customers (six days a week for years) - X number of dollars down and balance in 1 month. Then said employee refuses to pay the balance (only reason given I can't afford) and will not give up the car. Now the sticky part -- the customer refuses to come back and I the poolroom owner am losing a very good customer. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Choose - FIRE the employee - lose the customer ?
What would you do?
- Thread starter JMB
- Start date
What about none of the above.
I don't understand why you are even involved in this to be honest. Unless you are the employee's parent and he is underage. Sounds like both customer AND employee are doing the wrong things here. Any customer that uses extortion shouldnt be welcome anyway in your room. Any employee with morals like that is a red flag of things to come. This won't be your last problem with him. You will also have the issue of all the petty jealousy that will arise if you cater to the crybaby extortionist. Every other pool player will start wanting favors and start bringing up how so-and-so borrowed money or broke their cue. It will never end. You will be defending yourself to every other pool player thats wants to be "special" too. I would probably treat employee and customer like the immature people they are and scold them and send them to their room without supper. No dessert either. If the original owner already gave him the title or didnt get anything in writing. Then not only is he a crybaby extortionist. He's also an idiot...even by pool room standards. Talking from experience....start counting your inventory and cash drawer. Employees in this situation will have a tendency to give themselves a raise. If the customer is REALLY worth it to you...then YOU pay the balance on the car. If he's not. Let him walk. Good luck with your situation.
PS> Don't ever let the patients run the asylum.
I don't understand why you are even involved in this to be honest. Unless you are the employee's parent and he is underage. Sounds like both customer AND employee are doing the wrong things here. Any customer that uses extortion shouldnt be welcome anyway in your room. Any employee with morals like that is a red flag of things to come. This won't be your last problem with him. You will also have the issue of all the petty jealousy that will arise if you cater to the crybaby extortionist. Every other pool player will start wanting favors and start bringing up how so-and-so borrowed money or broke their cue. It will never end. You will be defending yourself to every other pool player thats wants to be "special" too. I would probably treat employee and customer like the immature people they are and scold them and send them to their room without supper. No dessert either. If the original owner already gave him the title or didnt get anything in writing. Then not only is he a crybaby extortionist. He's also an idiot...even by pool room standards. Talking from experience....start counting your inventory and cash drawer. Employees in this situation will have a tendency to give themselves a raise. If the customer is REALLY worth it to you...then YOU pay the balance on the car. If he's not. Let him walk. Good luck with your situation.
PS> Don't ever let the patients run the asylum.
Hard to imagine the auto dealer signed the title over to the customer before they paid for the car. In cases where cars are financed there is a third party company that holds additional equity. If he did sign over the title ... shame on him.
Of course if he didn't sign the title over, then the plates are either dealer plates or illegal plates and the dealer can call police.
There may be more to this story than even you know about. It sure doesn't seem as though their actions make much sense, but I'm with letting your help go since its obvious they are not trustworthy and depending on how hurting they are ... you may be next.
Of course if he didn't sign the title over, then the plates are either dealer plates or illegal plates and the dealer can call police.
There may be more to this story than even you know about. It sure doesn't seem as though their actions make much sense, but I'm with letting your help go since its obvious they are not trustworthy and depending on how hurting they are ... you may be next.
Just goes to show you
How stories can change. I did not get the impression the seller was a dealer. How did you come to that conclusion?
The room owner should ask his employee on payday if he would be upset if he didn't get paid cause he just could not afford it this week.
3andstop said:
How stories can change. I did not get the impression the seller was a dealer. How did you come to that conclusion?
The room owner should ask his employee on payday if he would be upset if he didn't get paid cause he just could not afford it this week.
debt collection
I don't know why this is on the Internet.
What would you do or feel if the person you tried to help stiffed you. Would you like to go in a pool hall and see the person who stiffed you working behind the counter. You would have to feel like an idiot for trusting the dead beat even more than you already do.
I know I wouldn't like it and wouldn't want to be there. I heard the owner said he is not a debt collector. If I was the owner I would certainly be upset. I don't know how this can be resolved.
When I owned my pool hall, I had a policy that employees were not to borrow money from customers. Of course it was broken all the time. At least I wasn't blamed for the debt.
JPA
I don't know why this is on the Internet.
What would you do or feel if the person you tried to help stiffed you. Would you like to go in a pool hall and see the person who stiffed you working behind the counter. You would have to feel like an idiot for trusting the dead beat even more than you already do.
I know I wouldn't like it and wouldn't want to be there. I heard the owner said he is not a debt collector. If I was the owner I would certainly be upset. I don't know how this can be resolved.
When I owned my pool hall, I had a policy that employees were not to borrow money from customers. Of course it was broken all the time. At least I wasn't blamed for the debt.
JPA
fire the employee, if he'll cheat him edventually he'll cheat you too. wasn't there a contrac? i'd tell the customer to look into legal action if it's possable. if not just take the keys and car by force if he has to. did he already change the title?
I don't see where one has to do with the other. The employee has a deal with a customer--you the owner are not involved. My guess is the customer is probably a horses ass to begin with (by trying to get you involved) and you are not responsible for your employee's personal business.
Let the two of them work it out and you stay out of it. If the customer chooses not to come in Say la vie!
Let the two of them work it out and you stay out of it. If the customer chooses not to come in Say la vie!
maybe you can pay the debt off, and take it out of your employees pay until it is paid in full. if all parties are satisfied , that would end your problem. although i imagine there still will be hard feelins between them.
My personal opinion...
You don't fire the employee over something that happens outside of the place of work (outside of him being convicted of some felony offense). Would you fire him if he got in a fist-fight with one of your customers when they bumped into each other in a movie theater?
Your customer can settle this dispute in the courts or on the streets. If he decides that he is so uncomfortable being in your pool hall because of something that happened with your employee then you just caught a bad roll, and I think you just have to eat it.
I understand your delema, it's not an easy dicision, and I'm not saying that I wouldn't give it some thought if I was in your shoes. Obviously (from the way you discribed the story, I don't know exactly how it happened) your employee is in the wrong - but I really don't feel it's in your hands to delivor punishment to him.
You don't fire the employee over something that happens outside of the place of work (outside of him being convicted of some felony offense). Would you fire him if he got in a fist-fight with one of your customers when they bumped into each other in a movie theater?
Your customer can settle this dispute in the courts or on the streets. If he decides that he is so uncomfortable being in your pool hall because of something that happened with your employee then you just caught a bad roll, and I think you just have to eat it.
I understand your delema, it's not an easy dicision, and I'm not saying that I wouldn't give it some thought if I was in your shoes. Obviously (from the way you discribed the story, I don't know exactly how it happened) your employee is in the wrong - but I really don't feel it's in your hands to delivor punishment to him.
Sticky situation
I would have a private talk with the employee, and tell him his business is his business UNLESS it affects your business and livelihood. Surely, you have something in your employment application, or employment agreement that mentions morals, ethics, or something about being a stand up type of person.
If so, he may have already violated that agreement. He is the one that violated the agreement between him and the seller (customer), I would STRONGLY suggest to him that a 'man's word is his bond', and that anyone not keeping their word will not be an employee of yours for long, and just say it is a matter of TRUST.
I would have a private talk with the employee, and tell him his business is his business UNLESS it affects your business and livelihood. Surely, you have something in your employment application, or employment agreement that mentions morals, ethics, or something about being a stand up type of person.
If so, he may have already violated that agreement. He is the one that violated the agreement between him and the seller (customer), I would STRONGLY suggest to him that a 'man's word is his bond', and that anyone not keeping their word will not be an employee of yours for long, and just say it is a matter of TRUST.
Ordinarily...I wouldn't consider anyone's business outside of any establisment I owend...my concern. However...this situation has dual impact. Not only do I lose the business of a long time customer...but I have an employee that can cost me even more if his actions are the tip of the iceberg where his behavior is concerned. A man's word is indeed his bond. I won't have people working for me that can't be trusted. Not only will I lose THAT customers business...but any other customer that knows I keep a clown like that behind the counter.
sticky situation. Did the customer actually say something to you about firing the employee.....or is he just not coming in because the employee works there and hes pissed at him.
Just because youre his boss, you have no rights to intervene in the action....taking the car from him......paying the debt for him and taking it out of his check.....both would get you in trouble with the law or possibly sued, you have no stake in their deal. Plus like someone said, youre opening up a whole pandoras box.......you going to police every situation (outside of the poolroom) where one of your employees does something that pisses off a customer? I think youll end up getting more than you bargained for. Your employee is a jerk for reneging on the deal. The customer should have protected himself better, and should just take the guy to court and reclaim his property. I dont see the customer as a jerk if he doesnt want to come in and be around the guy, its purley his right......i probably wouldnt want to be around somebody like that either. If it was me, and i didnt need the guy terribly, id either find an excuse to fire him or lay him off....but not make it have anything to do with the customer and the dispute. The customer can come back on his own if he likes when he finds out
Just because youre his boss, you have no rights to intervene in the action....taking the car from him......paying the debt for him and taking it out of his check.....both would get you in trouble with the law or possibly sued, you have no stake in their deal. Plus like someone said, youre opening up a whole pandoras box.......you going to police every situation (outside of the poolroom) where one of your employees does something that pisses off a customer? I think youll end up getting more than you bargained for. Your employee is a jerk for reneging on the deal. The customer should have protected himself better, and should just take the guy to court and reclaim his property. I dont see the customer as a jerk if he doesnt want to come in and be around the guy, its purley his right......i probably wouldnt want to be around somebody like that either. If it was me, and i didnt need the guy terribly, id either find an excuse to fire him or lay him off....but not make it have anything to do with the customer and the dispute. The customer can come back on his own if he likes when he finds out