Hey guys,
In a bit of a predicament and would love some advice. My friend and I started a hospitality business a few months ago and are in the process of finding a new store. We both love people and when a new restaurant opened down the road, we went over and said hi. We were really impressed that they were able to open up their store in such a short space of time, and went over to support them and have a chat. This is kinda where the trouble started. They are two very big guys who had built the store themselves, we were in the process of securing a lease and they offered to help build our shop for 10-20k + materials. This was super cheap and we were really excited that we had met them, as this meant a huge reduction in financial stress for us.
We caught up with them twice after that, where we had a few discussions about how the store could look and when we would start building. They also did a site visit to see what they were working with. At no point was any contract signed, nor did we agree to use them. We assumed that this was all part of the scoping and quoting process, which it has been when we have spoken to other more reputable builders. They kept trying to hurry us to get the keys from the landlord, however we weren't able to, as the legal stuff takes time. He would call us everyday asking for the 20k upfront and asking when they could start, they kept trying to push our timeline up because apparently they were in the process of beginning to build another shop. However they did delay it multiple times for us. To be honest this smelled pretty fishy, given no contract had been signed and things didn;t really stack up. A few weeks after our initial meeting he cracked it and said he wasn't going to build it and was just really mad. We apologised, but there was nothing we could do about it, we hadn't got the keys yet. He calmed down, and a week later to check in with how we were going and to see if we still needed assistance with building the shop. However, when we told him we weren't sure when we were getting the keys, and that we were not going to use him anymore, (given his outburst) he sent us a build for 7000 dollars. He charged us $5000 for design advice…. and $1500 for meetings.
Since then he has threatened us with debt collectors and what not but it got really bad last week. He came into our store and confronted us. We are both pretty young and we have never had to experience this before, he started yelling at us, threatening to F us up and that his business partners would come and break our legs, it was pretty scary. We have engaged a lawyer, however they aren't willing to go through a lawyer, most likely because they have no basis for their claims. We think that they are trying to shake us down because we are young.
We have spoken to the cops and our lawyer and will get a legal barrier in place soon. However, they have also started calling our home phones, leaving us threatening voicemails, which is pretty concerning. We think we have dodged a bullet, imagine if we had of engaged them to actually do our work…
We aren't planning to pay them, but we want the harassment to stop. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and what should we do?
Really appreciate your replies!
They sound like Comancheros, align yourself with the Hells Angels or Bandidos.