2001-05-26 - 11:18 p.m.

Adding Injury To Insult

Oh, this is just peachy.

I just found out a new fact about my noisy across-the-street neighbors: they owe me money!

I previously talked about them here.

Anyway, a few weeks ago they stopped in at the store downstairs and bought some toys and comics. And they paid for it with a check.

You see where this is going, don't you?

And a couple days after that they bought some more books and they paid for it again with a check.

And both the checks bounced - the account was closed.

Even though the checks were lower number than I would usually accept, I don't blame Skippy or The Manager for accepting them - after all they live right next door.

After the checks bounced, the Manager talked to the people and they gave him a sob story. Apparently the account belonged to the sister of the female of the couple> This sister had a boyfriend who was a crack-smoker who stole her checks so they had to close the account. They then promised to make good on the checks by the end of the week.

I may be getting a little mixed up on the chronology here. The next time the Manager talked to them they reluctantly agreed to return the merchandise that they bought with the first check. This still left me out the $10 bounce fee that the bank charged for the check being returned.

Since then he's managed to corner them a couple times. Each time they'd promised to get the money to him within the week. So far - no money.

The check that still outstanding was written on March 24. It's now over two months old, and today the Manager reminded me that the check is still unpaid. He also mentioned that a van was Rent-A-Center was unloading stuff at the house today so they obviously have SOME money.

It looks like we are going to have to change tactics. Being nice hasn't worked, so now we'll try being mean. The next time I can catch them I will tell them this: I want my money in a week, or I will protest the check. This is the beginning of the process that gets the law involved with a bad check. I'm not interested in hearing their sad stories, I want the money they owe me.

I know that life can be tough, but rip-off artists seem to be the one that tell the saddest stories.