Pool Contractor in Houston charged with theft of $150,000

[Wolfepack88]

if we gave the death sentence to people for doing stuff like this it wouldnt ever happen

I remember my father telling me when I was a teenager, "Don't call me if you are at the police station and did something wrong, I'm not coming" or the statement "Don't ever come home and tell me you got spanked in school because you will get it double here". Now we have kids that think their parents will sue the school the moment Johnny got a little pull on the back of the hair because he was a smart Rear to the teacher! We are teaching our kids they are special and above the rules because somehow somewhere the individual became more important than the team. You want to work at Goldman Sachs and you are complaining they want you back in the office 5 days a week. Its their rules, if you don't like it walk to a new job! If the Chinese hit the shores this generation will fold like a deck of cards because it would involve sacrifice and dedication which is sorely lacking today.

 

[littlebuddy12]

I remember my father telling me when I was a teenager, "Don't call me if you are at the police station and did something wrong, I'm not coming" or the statement "Don't ever come home and tell me you got spanked in school because you will get it double here". Now we have kids that think their parents will sue the school the moment Johnny got a little pull on the back of the hair because he was a smart Rear to the teacher! We are teaching our kids they are special and above the rules because somehow somewhere the individual became more important than the team. You want to work at Goldman Sachs and you are complaining they want you back in the office 5 days a week. Its their rules, if you don't like it walk to a new job! If the Chinese hit the shores this generation will fold like a deck of cards because it would involve sacrifice and dedication which is sorely lacking today.

Yeah and now everyone gets a trophy even for taking the L

 

[Newdude]

Yeah and now everyone gets a trophy even for taking the L

That's surprisingly on the generation that gave them the trophies. The ones that had to earn theirs.

 

[Wolfepack88]

That's surprisingly on the generation that gave them the trophies. The ones that had to earn theirs.

Yeah what happened while we were at work?? I watched a young kid get awarded a black belt and he couldn't do 5 normal push-ups and I'm not joking. Then the master gave a speech how their school doesn't just give black belts out, you have to earn it, etc etc etc. I was looking at him like seriously dude! He's a very good man and does a ton with the kids and talks to them about all the right things but at the end of the day he sold out too. Made me sad. For the kids that really did work and accomplish it why degrade it. When these kids go out into the real world there are no points for 2nd place (right viper). Then again, I kid you not I had a mother call me like 15 years ago about her son's raise. I'm talking a fortune 25 company in NYC. Seriously she called me up to discuss why she thought it should be more. The abyss started that long ago!!

 

[setsailsoon]

Doing my O B pool and house I haven't found it all that hand to pre-qualify contractors but it does take some effort. I can't understand why so few even check references.

Chris

 

[ajw22]

I can't understand why so few even check references.

Because usually it is a waste of time. Now I ask for references and if none are forthcoming that is a red flag. But references are usually vetted to be good. Or they are really his cousin Joey.

I want to find the unsolicited references by asking around and seeing what names I hear that others have used and are happy with. And I want to talk with customers where there may have been problems and hear how they were handled.

 

[setsailsoon]

True the alarm is if they don't have any. But it's surprising how many that turn out bad. I think some of the bad ones just don't think you'll check. Another good technique I used for all big $ work is to ask for a list of jobs in progress. Then show up unannounced. I did this on concrete, block, roofing, plumbing and electric. You see it all this way-good bad and ugly!

 

[dlvonde]

One thing I've learned in my almost 43 years on this earth. If someone you barely know feels the need to proclaim to you how they or their business owners are "Good People"...just know you're about to get bent over a barrel.

They will show you who they are by how they act, not what they say...

 

[JamesW]

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Crazy but not at all unbelievable. There are lots of con-men (con-women? Con-persons? … ) in this world and this guy looks to be part of the varsity squad of con-artists …

 

[JamesW]

If that’s not scary enough, he also teaches classes about how to be a successful contractor.

I checked his class syllabus and I found this brief introduction.

Step 1) Lie to the customer about how great you are and how great their pool is going to be.

Step 2) Get a giant deposit check.

Step 3) Disappear without doing anything.

Step 4) Laugh like a demented hyena.

 

[JamesW]

You know that they don’t care about the bad publicity when they post their Mugshots to their Social Media Pages.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Step 1) Lie to the customer about how great you are and how great their pool is going to be.

Step 2) Get a giant deposit check.

Step 3) Disappear without doing anything.

Step 4) Laugh like a demented hyena.

I believe ASU’s Carey School of Business offers advanced courses in each of those. U of A’s Eller College of Management is more legit …

 

[JamesW]

Part of the problem is that so many crooks today look like regular people.

Back in the 70s, criminals had a theme like the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze or Catwoman.

If you saw one of those people, you would know that they were up to no good.

Criminals today don’t have any imagination or creativity.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

What's with all the nipple rubbing on film?? Ewwwwww.

 

[Dirk]

Some industries provide services that people basically know how to do, but just don't want to: like housekeeping, gardening, etc. So the consumer knows right away when they are being cheated. But contractors provide services that people have no idea how to do. That's why it's so easy for them to be scammed. They want to believe a contractor will do right because they need him to, and because they don't know what a construction project is supposed to look like in its interim stages.

It's why I go after contractors, even if the return is not worth the trouble, and why I encourage others to. Contractors scam consumers because most times they get away with it. If they don't get carried away, their scams are not enough to bother with for most people. But some get too greedy, like this guy in the video, and eventually it backfires. Not that that helps the victims, because by that time the money is gone. Sad.