\"Small World\" heartwarmer Story - Scam Reversed
I love 'Small World' stories...and the VIPER makes it a SMALL WORLD for us all.
In 2005 I sold a LARGE 5-figure order to a 'tuner' in Saudi Arabia. [He was NOT Saudi.] He ordered and paid for 5 shipments in 5 months...all paid for on 3 of his credit cards, or by wire-transfer. After 5 months, he became a slow-pay guy, always having excuses, but eventually paying. BUT THEN HE STOPPED PAYING! He ended up telling several lies, and stuck PartsRack with an even $5000 in unpaid merchandise and expensive shipping bills. [ One US 'tuner' was WORSE! ]
Now you would THINK that in a large country like Saudi Arabia, many thousands of miles and 12-hours in time zones from me, I was doomed. In fact, Doris wrote off the $5000 as bad-debt and was sure we would NEVER see a dime. Should I maybe EMBARGO sales to Saudi Arabia ? "NO SOUP FOR YOU!" Naaah.... I am blessed to have GREAT customers in 24 counttries, including several Middle-East countries and 6-7 in The Kingdom (SA)
Small-talk with 2 customers in SA this past year led me to discover WHO had gotten my parts installed by the scam-tuner. My customers told me this Viper owner was truly a nice guy who would be horrified to know the parts had been stolen. He, too had been scammed by the 'tuner' and was trying to recover his monies as well, or so the story unfolded. These TWO guys in S.A. gave me the car owners Email and physical address, and I dropped him a short Email. OUT OF THE BLUE
Understand, I had NO fore-hand knowledge of HIM....and I assumed he had none of me. But this proved WRONG on both counts.
He kindly and promptly returned my mail, and RE-INTRODUCED himself, with correct spelling and title. It seems my Arabic-translation skills were lacking: HE WAS A PAST CUSTOMER after all! He knew PartsRack well, and reads this site regularly. He sounded sincere about his regret for MY LOSS....which was also HIS...as the parts were NOT all installed on his car, altho he had indeed paid the 'scammer' for them.
So HERE is the part of the story that is truly amazing: He asked me for my Bank info so that he might reimburse MY LOSS, if and when he made good on the scammer. Being protective as a CPA should, Doris cautioned about giving out this confidential info in this case, but my gut won out and I provided him my bank data. But it TURNS OUT I misunderstood my long-lost customer's intent.
WITHIN 5 DAYS I WAS PAID IN FULL..... NO QUESTIONS.....NO INVOICES....NO EXCUSES...... just paid in full by wire transfer. By a 'stranger' half a world away who did NOT want to be a part of this wrong...so he simply made it right.
A Small World, bonded by GOOD HUMAN NATURE reaching beyond any cultural differences....threaded together by the VIPER and even by this site....
Pretty Amazing, huh?
HAPPY EASTER , PASSOVER , Allah Akhbar, etc .... JonB
I love 'Small World' stories...and the VIPER makes it a SMALL WORLD for us all.
In 2005 I sold a LARGE 5-figure order to a 'tuner' in Saudi Arabia. [He was NOT Saudi.] He ordered and paid for 5 shipments in 5 months...all paid for on 3 of his credit cards, or by wire-transfer. After 5 months, he became a slow-pay guy, always having excuses, but eventually paying. BUT THEN HE STOPPED PAYING! He ended up telling several lies, and stuck PartsRack with an even $5000 in unpaid merchandise and expensive shipping bills. [ One US 'tuner' was WORSE! ]
Now you would THINK that in a large country like Saudi Arabia, many thousands of miles and 12-hours in time zones from me, I was doomed. In fact, Doris wrote off the $5000 as bad-debt and was sure we would NEVER see a dime. Should I maybe EMBARGO sales to Saudi Arabia ? "NO SOUP FOR YOU!" Naaah.... I am blessed to have GREAT customers in 24 counttries, including several Middle-East countries and 6-7 in The Kingdom (SA)
Small-talk with 2 customers in SA this past year led me to discover WHO had gotten my parts installed by the scam-tuner. My customers told me this Viper owner was truly a nice guy who would be horrified to know the parts had been stolen. He, too had been scammed by the 'tuner' and was trying to recover his monies as well, or so the story unfolded. These TWO guys in S.A. gave me the car owners Email and physical address, and I dropped him a short Email. OUT OF THE BLUE
Understand, I had NO fore-hand knowledge of HIM....and I assumed he had none of me. But this proved WRONG on both counts.
He kindly and promptly returned my mail, and RE-INTRODUCED himself, with correct spelling and title. It seems my Arabic-translation skills were lacking: HE WAS A PAST CUSTOMER after all! He knew PartsRack well, and reads this site regularly. He sounded sincere about his regret for MY LOSS....which was also HIS...as the parts were NOT all installed on his car, altho he had indeed paid the 'scammer' for them.
So HERE is the part of the story that is truly amazing: He asked me for my Bank info so that he might reimburse MY LOSS, if and when he made good on the scammer. Being protective as a CPA should, Doris cautioned about giving out this confidential info in this case, but my gut won out and I provided him my bank data. But it TURNS OUT I misunderstood my long-lost customer's intent.
WITHIN 5 DAYS I WAS PAID IN FULL..... NO QUESTIONS.....NO INVOICES....NO EXCUSES...... just paid in full by wire transfer. By a 'stranger' half a world away who did NOT want to be a part of this wrong...so he simply made it right.
A Small World, bonded by GOOD HUMAN NATURE reaching beyond any cultural differences....threaded together by the VIPER and even by this site....
Pretty Amazing, huh?
HAPPY EASTER , PASSOVER , Allah Akhbar, etc .... JonB
Congrats and Happy Easter!
