My buddy and I just had a terrible experience with a woman regarding an auction item that she had donated, we bid on and won, and then she reneged on.
It was a funny thing because I guess I forget what its like to deal with people who say one thing and do another.
Years ago, the contractor who built our house defaulted on paying the insulation sub-contractor. The sub called me waaaay after the fact and asked me if I would pay the bill. It was over $5,000. It was clear that it was not my legal responsibility to pay it as the time to file a lien had long passed. I felt bad that they did the work and didn't get paid. The general contractor had long since filed bankruptcy. At the time I told them that I was planning to list my house for sale the following month and as soon as it sold I would cut them a check. My house didn't sell and they never called me.
A few years after this we actually did sell our house. We didn't profit on the house as the market tumbled, but we did have a little equity from paying down the loan. Guess who wrote a check for the 5k? Right. Could I have found another place for the money? Would they have EVER expected a check? Was it my "fault" that they didn't get paid to begin with?
This is one of the 1st times I've ever mentioned this story come to think of it. It just seemed like the right thing to do, honor my word. I struggled with the idea of even paying them at the time they 1st called me, but after discussing it with Kathy and the idea of how much money we thought we would profit from the house, we decided we would just pay them when we sold the house. Once the decision was made and I gave them my word, it was made. It was only a matter of time until we finally did sell the house.
I sure hope that the lady we dealt with in this auction figures out that in this world the only thing you truly have is not material things or stuff, but your word. And once that becomes not worth a damn, then you really truly have nothing in spite of what you think.
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