# Gahhhhhhh - Freaking Deadbeat Customers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gahhhhhhh-freaking-deadbeat-customers/187669 "2003-07-11T07:27:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gahhhhhhh-freaking-deadbeat-customers/187669/21 "2003-07-13T15:23:02Z")
Well, I just turned away another potential deadbeat. I arranged to meet her last Thursday evening and she called and said her boyfriend didn’t show up and give her a ride as promised so she couldn’t come. So I rescheduled our meeting for this morning. She calls and says she missed her train and she can’t make it today. She wants to meet next week the morning of her hearing and I tell her “no, I’m not helping you. I depend upon my clients to cooperate with me and you’re not cooperating.” Then she gives me some lame excuse about why she missed her train. But if she can’t freaking make it to my office to meet, I seriously doubt she’ll do anything but offer lame excuses when it’s time to pay. So I blew her off. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*You’re the 100th, then, and I wish there were more like you. It’d make my job a little easier and me a little less cynical. > \*\* It’s a shame that decent people get painted with the same broad brush as the lame-o’s. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gahhhhhhh-freaking-deadbeat-customers/187669/22 "2003-07-13T15:50:32Z")
I agree. It is a shame. And I try not to. It gets hard, though, to sort out the actual decent people in actual need from the losers. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gahhhhhhh-freaking-deadbeat-customers/187669/23 "2003-07-13T16:04:16Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\* But if she can’t freaking make it to my office to meet, I seriously doubt she’ll do anything but offer lame excuses when it’s time to pay. So I blew her off._\* That’s what my gut tells me, too. It was bad news when she was depending on her b/f for a ride, and he didn’t show. What kind of a lowlife stands up his g/f like that, especially when it involves something so important? I think it’s stuff like that that separates the losers from people like UDA and I. We are fundamentally dependable and it shows in the way we run our lives and relate to each other. Simple things, like being where we said we’d be when we said we’d be there. Like not getting hysterical at the drop of a hat. Like talking in a straightforward way. I think that if I had gotten all hysterical with the Credit Lady and tried to feed her some lame, drama-queen excuses, she would have had every right to deny me a second chance. But I was upfront and just said; “I don’t have all of the money right now, but I can offer some of it. Can I make an alternative arrangement?” I would be suspicious of anyone who employs dramatic antics to try and get a break. That’s how I separate the deadbeats from the people who have fallen on hard times. The latter have dignity. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gahhhhhhh-freaking-deadbeat-customers/187669/24 "2003-07-13T16:23:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kung fu lola \* > **That’s what my gut tells me, too. It was bad news when she was depending on her b/f for a ride, and he didn’t show. What kind of a lowlife stands up his g/f like that, especially when it involves something so important?** Sure, but I doubt it was his fault. More likely, she missed the appointment due to her own malfeasance and blamed it on someone else. Anyway, I’m glad that you were given some leniency and didn’t take advantage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gahhhhhhh-freaking-deadbeat-customers/187669.md?page=1)