penny for you thoughts

[metalspinner]

I agree with Jimbuis.

After he got started then saw the potential of $$$, he should have come to you.  You offered him some logs for his personal use.  You did not agree for him to bring in a commercial rig to grab all they could get. 
Nobody mentioned any possible liability damages of a commercial truck working on your property unannounced.  If something had gone terribly wrong and someone had gotten seriously hurt - remember what industry we are involved in - who would have been left writing the check?

[Tom]

Looks like I'm a little late but I think you were taken advantage of with half-truths.  He told you only as much as he needed to tell you to take advantage of good heart helping a friend.

I've had it happen to me.

A man came to my house and ask me for cherry and oak boards.  He was in the Navy and had a quadriplegic son.  The boy is brilliant and he was trying to train him in trades that he felt he could do.  To make ends meet he was making flag boxes for the flags used at military funerals.  He had other children lots of bills.

I told him I would sell him the wood at sawing costs to make the boxes if it would help.  He loaded his trailer and I sold it to hem at 10 cents a board foot.

Two weeks later he called me on the phone and asked for more.  It leaked out of his conversation that he had "sold" all of the other.  It seems he had found cabinet makers who would buy all he could get and he wanted more.

Well, not for a dime a foot!!!!  by golly!!!  He acted like I was a mean old man, charging him for the lumber.

I saw his house about a year later.  He was living in a huge upscale house in an upscale neighborhood on a 3 acre lot where others had 1/4 acre and more modest homes.   I wonder how many people he took advantage of with his cock and bull story before me. 

Another customer of mine, I found out later, had been taken advantage of by this guy and had let him use his shop and tools.  Many of the tools never made it back home and his planer was almost worn out before he realized that the lumber was being planed and sold to a lumber outlet, not being used.

Half truths are as good as out and out lying.  You are well within your rights for being miffed. You were deceived.

[TexasTimbers]

I don't understand it completely, but if there was deception involved I can't stand being decieved.

I premised my opinion from the start and it's pretty clear to me now having re-read stu's tale, NOT at nearly 1:00 a.m. I think we are all on the same page here. There was deception involved and friends or not, deception is never acceptable, even in an everyday business transaction wit a non-friend.

[TexasTimbers]

Tom, sounds like your man probably didn't even HAVE a quadriplegic son or  do you know? Not that it would matter of course he is nothing more than a con either way.

[flip]

When you get money involved in a friendship things go bad.  The right thing to do on his part was to say, "hey, if you're gonna burn that stuff, do ya care if I can make a deal and sell 'em"?  You cover your time, fuel and saw maint. stuff and get the mess cleaned up and get a few $$ in return, he makes a few $$ for being a opportunistic business person.  It's the deception thing that makes me >:( >:( >:(.  I'd be mad at him for a while and decide if he is a friend worth keeping.  Call him up in a few months and explain the situation and make sure he knows that deception will NOT be tolerated if he wants to remain in your good graces. 

I know this all too well first hand.

Flip

[Cedarman]

It's all about being straight up and forthright.  I expect my friends to have my best interest at heart the same as I have theirs.  If I help a friend make money by giving advice, then I havn't lost any money.  I've been in deals where someone pointed out I could make money if only I did "whatever".  Most of the time, I just say, well if you can make a million dollars off of it, go ahead, I don't have time to fool with it.  But, my friend gave me options based on good knowledge.  So we stay good friends. I want my friends to give me good council on all types of things. Having people that you can trust is such a good feeling.  Good friends bring happiness, money can only bring pleasure.  Pleasure is short term, happiness lasts a long time.

If a person only has one or true really good friends they are lucky.  Too many people only have friendly acquantances.

I have waxed philosophic long enough. Time to wane on out of here.

[DWM II]

You know, the more I read about this the more I stew about it. It just DanG sucks to be lied to there aint no two ways about it but we just have to live and learn when to recognize the con men out there.

[farmerdoug]

Real friends are ones that you can trust.  I do not blame you for getting mad.  Personally I would have run that truck out of there without the load.  Let him count that as a good will gesture you made letting him have that last load.

Farmerdoug

[Polly]

 8)this thought just came to mind i heard it somewhere if a person burns you once shame on him if he burns you twice shame on you  alittle off subject but good advise anyway :D :D

[stu_307]

thanks for all the responses, its much appreciated....I was talking to my step dad about this a couple of nights ago and this is what he told me...Well, when you die son, you will probably be able to count your true friends on with all the fingers on your hands.   The more I think about it, the more true it gets.