FP: One particular vendor at TDH comes to mind - who posted a years worth of personal updates crying out loud that he can't finish his orders because he couldn't afford his apartment anymore because he didn't have a car to get a real job (while his wife worked her ass off)
First and foremost, my wife is on disability, she doesnt work, she does random website jobs freelance, and gets her disability check, so i dont know where he got "while his wife worked her ass off" from. I pay everything. I pay the rent, the car insurance, the cell phones, food, etc. Well over $1000 a month. Im busting my ass to make this business work, and put food on our table.
Yes, i moved to my inlaws house, but there was never a "cant afford my apt anymore" We were supposed to move from brooklyn in June 2014, i put in my notice for June at my "real job", then the inlaws changed it to October 2014...at that point i had no outstanding commissions. I took a few helmet paintup commissions to get by the for 3-4 months i wasnt working and that was that. Nothing was delayed and everything got done in a reasonable amount of time. The have no car thing that i will interject shortly, that was when i already lived here on Long Island so the facts are mixed up as well as incorrect.
Out here on Long Island, you NEED a car. Unless i wanted to work at 7-11 for minimum wage, yes i needed a car to get anywhere. There are no good jobs in walking distance, and the bus system sucks here. Im not taking 2 buses and car service every morning with over 2hrs of travel to go to work, likely at some minimum wage job i hate...when, again, i can make money right here at home doing what i love to do. Believe me NOTHING is being handed to me...this whole journey has not been easy, but im working hard to make it work for my family. We now have a car..since June.... and i also had got a job too so i guess i did "get a real job". However, I recently left there as well because i was doing better making props full time.
Now, none of that was crying out loud, or whining, or making excuses...that was telling people what was going on, just like FP told people about his issues through the years and most recently, his mom ...whom i wish all the best to BTW. I cant control the fact that people can see im being honest. No reason to pull me into this, even if he never said it was me. Anyone who knows me, knows who he's talking about because i had stated just about everything he said publicly ..just more correctly and i left out private/personal details the public didnt need to know ....that now he brought out into the open.
FP: ...and was disgustingly pissed at his father in law for not spending his own savings to convert / remodel his back yard shed into guest house / apartment so he can live in it for free -
Again...wrong. First of all, i was pissed because we werent getting what were were promised in exchange for moving here, not " for not spending his own savings to convert / remodel his back yard shed into guest house / apartment so he can live in it for free" ...again he's pulling this out of his ass, i never said anything of the sort and am certainly not living here for free ...WTF!...second, it was NOT his savings or his money. Again we moved here to help them pay the mortgage with our rent. They dont have a savings. His mother is a multi millionare, and she wanted to fix the place up for my wife so we could live here. I was a little annoyed (not disgustingly pissed) that he took a lot of that money and spent it on their own stuff when it was specifically supposed to finish making this place livable in a reasonable amount of time, and instead it went to a new staircase for them..while we went on for months with no working kitchen...now THAT is self entitlement. Are you telling me this wouldnt bother anyone if they were in this situation..give me a break. Personally just cleaning the place up and insulating it would have been enough for me, but grandma-in-law wanted to fix it up for us, who am i to say no?
Some of my frustration also had nothing to do with money, and just the fact that he wouldn't do the work cuz he didnt feel like it, but yet wouldn't let us do it, or get someone else to do it. He HAD to do it himself. INSISTED on it even. The place STILL isn't done, BUT it is done enough now that it is livable comfortably so im content. I had to live well over a year without a working kitchen and am STILL living with my in-laws walking through my apt to take showers at 6AM because they still haven't finished their own master bathroom. All that said, these things that were brought up are all water under the bridge now from over 2yrs ago. Totally irrelevant to my business dealings NOW. BTW, more misinformation..it was not converting a shed/guesthouse..it is the rear apt (mother-daughter) in the house that just hadn't been used in 10yrs. Like i said, that remodel was offered to us..i didn't ask for it..i didn't ask to move here...this was what my wife wanted to do and my father in laws mother offered to fix the place up.and most importantly..i am NOT living in it for free, i pay rent, $1,000 a month.
FP: ...all of which equated to no workshop to finish orders because he wouldn't man up and take a f**king bus to get a job.
i had no shop for 2 months because i moved and we didnt set up the garage yet. I didnt fall that behind and i kept everyone updated...i wasnt making excuses, or whining..i was keeping folks in the know, before anyone became concerned. Noone complained and everyone got there stuff a couple of months late at the most. How would taking a bus to get a job help getting my orders done? it would delay them moreso....and DVH IS my job!!
FP: ...And went as far as starting a GoFundMe to finance his continuation in props, still avoiding getting that job. Those, friends, are excuses. Self entitlement at it's best.
Again...DVH IS the job. Self entitlement? Again...No, try i was promised something in return for moving here and aying them rent, and then didnt get it. I am the furthest thing from entitled. I also did not have to move from where i was, i was doing just fine thank you very much. Once i was settled here on Long Island, I was making just enough doing DVH props and commissions to live, it was just proving difficult to get the extra funds to build the proper shed and get me more room. if i "got on a bus and got a job" it would pretty much be like giving up my desire to have DVH a legit full time business...because then I would have practically no time to fill orders, doing what i enjoy.
The gofund me...i knew somewhere id get **** for this... ...the gofundme was suggested to me by customers actually, i was actually quite hesitant to do it. I never liked asking for handouts, but my customers and some friends...some i consider both actually, said if i offer things for the donations, its not hand outs, so i reluctantly did it and hoped for the best. Again, I wasnt "avoiding getting that job",i was and am trying to make a living doing what i love to do..i didnt realize only other people can do it but not me, who knew! Again...if i got a "regular"job i couldnt finish my orders..and why do i need a regular job, ive been doing just fine with DVH.
FP: ...All circumstances within one's own personal control to CHANGE. And he is loved and praised for his honesty and 'transparency' on the forums. And continues to operate there to this day.
We are here because my wife wants to be here. i cant just say "hey we should leave/ im leaving i dont wanna be here" because we have a few bumps in the road. I have to make it work, because she wants to be here. It may not be easy but i am fine with it so that she is happy and maybe i can make a living doing something i like. If it works out well enough, Sure we can move, but not there yet.
yep..I update my customers on a regular, and when i post things, im not posting them because someone complained..im posting them so that people dont need to wonder what the hell is going on. None of it is whining, or a sob story, i am being honest and as transparent as possible. Life happens as we all know well and good, i just am more open about what goes on in my life as i feel it helps my customers understand whats going on here on my end. I dont have anywhere near as many orders as FP nor do most customers wait much longer than the time i tell them. I had some hiccups when i moved, but before the end of the year all backlogged orders will be done and out... there is only 3 or 4 and they involve painting. Whatever i have left are not past deadlines. I am also already switching to selling only what i have on hand because i saw it getting to be too much build up and decided to nip it in the butt before it became a problem. I would guess THIS is why my customers like me.
FP: ...When people like myself who are ravaged by life, are just short of crucified.
Well, see thats because i communicate with everyone on the regular so they know ahead of time..i dont wait for 20 people to complain, and then post a heated post about whats going on and how everyone needs to stop complaining and just wait. My product is also moving...i ship at least 4 things within every 2 week period, if not more, and i notify the customers, and my general followers that i am doing so. i also likely have less people i owe stuff to and hence, less money involved.
Even after this unwarranted inclusion in FP's rant...i still think he got the ****** end of the stick .....a lot. Some warranted, some not. But, in the past year ive said nothing but good things about him personally to anyone who has asked me, saying that he is working on it and they will, in time, get their stuff and be very happy with it.....and then for no reason he deleted me off facebook and dragged me through the mud with a bunch of misinformation taken from conversations we had in confidence to use as an example
We all have life issues, and no,ones issues are less relevant than anyone elses.