Are you in business? A manager? Starting a business?
Always keep your head and remain calm. If you’re a hothead, realize that handicap and get an attorney to help. If you go it alone, expect things to get difficult and expensive. Here is a true story that shows just how bad things can get it you can’t control your temper.
A friend of mine does lawn care. He was having trouble getting paid for treating a client’s plants and cutting down a tree. I told him about Small Claims court and got him the documents. I offered to write a Demand Letter just to see if the client would pay without resorting to Court. As soon as the client got the letter asking for payment, he called my office. He insulted my client. He insulted me. He threatened to file a complaint with the Florida Bar. He claimed to be friends with powerful attorneys and judges that would ruin my career. No amount of diplomacy could settle down this guy. He had also called my friend with threats and insults and dared him to file a lawsuit.
All this venom over $75 of labor he agreed to pay and $300 for cutting down a tree. My friend was willing to forget about the tree cutting cost and let him just pay the $75. But after the threats and insults, that option was no longer available.
I volunteered to help because I now had to meet this hothead. The pre-trial hearing was just an extension of the same behavior. The story grew. Now he claimed to have recorded the entire conversation and ten witnesses were willing to testify. To dig a hole even deeper, he told the judge he was going to be out of the country for six months. That did not work either, and a trial was scheduled six months into the future.
At the trial, there was no video evidence and no witnesses. His ten-minute closing argument consisted of disparaging remarks about myself and about my friend. Throughout his monologue, he did admit the work was done and that he did not pay. But he claimed a justification that was meritless.
The judge ruled in favor of my friend and the Order was signed. I did not put in a claim for attorney fees and did this pro bono. The final bill came to about $500. So what did the hothead do? He called my friend and then called me at 1:00 am on Christmas to level insults and threats. Now he is going to be charged with a crime. That will cost him more money and more wasted time in Court.
Had this hothead simply called and said he had misunderstood the cost, he could have gotten away with paying only $75. But he was a hothead. He felt justified getting angry. Good for him, but in the end, he lost! If you find yourself losing your temper, walk away or get someone calm to help. If you stay, you give the other party the advantage. It could cost you time and money.