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Cars & Coffee Killer
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: State of Failure
Posts: 32,246
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Austin US GP: Screwed by Friend
So Thursday night last week my friend (who lives in San Jose, CA) and I decide to purchase tickets for the US GP in Austin this November. We decide on a hotel and general admission tickets. I trust him, so I offer to take care of everything.
I order a pair of tickets from the COTA website and then go to book the agreed-upon hotel. Hotels are ridiculously expensive--in the$500 a night range--and I discover that the agreed-upon hotel is requiring a 4 night booking instead of the agreed-upon 2 nights (Friday and Saturday). I immediately call my friend and explain the situation. I ask him to find another hotel as it is now late for me (past 10:00) and I need to go to be for work. When I get to work Friday morning, I discover that he has written me an e-mail. In it he explains that because the shuttle schedule and support race schedule has not been published (that either of us could find) he wanted to back out of the race. He offers to pay for his race ticket, and also explains that he has a room on hold at an Embassy Suites 30 miles from the track for the agreed-upon nights for $500 a night. He also explains that he lost a lot of money on a recent trip to Italy due to his reservations not being as firm as he was led to believe, and he is nervous about losing more money on this trip. I type a response saying that I'm not at all nervous about this, I will give him a call to talk it over. I further state that because I plan on driving down, I expect that having a vehicle on hand can smooth over any transportation issues. I call him Friday after work and leave a message. I call him twice on Saturday and leave two messages. I get an e-mail early Sunday morning explaining that his girlfriend's parents are visiting and he will call me on Tuesday. I call him on Tuesday before I go to bed, and get hung up on. I type an e-mail Wednesday morning that explains that I am going to the race, I have booked my own hotel closer to the track for half the per night cost (though for the required four nights), and he is welcome to join me for whatever time he wants. I also say that I am disappointed that he waited until AFTER I booked the race tickets to back out, and I felt that it was a pretty crappy thing to do to a friend. Time will tell, but I'm pretty sure I lost a friend over this. He was the best man at my wedding. I expect never to hear from him again as I don't think he will ever overcome the shame from screwing me out of money and contact me. I also think the fair thing to do would be to offer to pay for half of the hotel. I know that if I backed out, I would consider let the other person continue to the race at the same cost to them to be the right thing to do.
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Some Porsches long ago...then a wankle... 5 liters of VVT fury now -Chris "There is freedom in risk, just as there is oppression in security." |
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06-21-2012, 06:22 PM
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Non Compos Mentis
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Off the grid- Almost
Posts: 10,612
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I hope the friendship stays intact.
Bummer to loose it over a few bucks. |
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06-21-2012, 06:27 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,448
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I wonder if it could have been a communication error of some sort. Maybe you were more keen than he was?
It would be great to go to the event. Hope you find someone else to take.
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1970 911 t (sold) 1985 MR2 (sold) 2011 GT 5.0 2007 CRV |
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06-21-2012, 06:43 PM
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Checked out
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: On a beach
Posts: 10,127
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sounds like he wasn't really a friend.
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06-21-2012, 06:55 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Posts: 2,497
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He doesn't have the money or his wife said no and he is embarrassed to tell you..
Go with someone else and talk about it over a beer at a later date.
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'87 Carrera - 2400 lbs of Track Beast!! '88 Carrera Cab - Too nice for the track. '85 Targa - Salvage title that was not caught! |
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06-21-2012, 09:21 PM
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Now in 993 land ...
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Never plan stuff with people that aren't on the same level (be it $, time, ease to get a kitchen pass etc.) Of course this is the end to a friendship. A friend will tell you right away when he can't make it and offer to make good for the monetary loss, even if he can't do so right away.
G |
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06-21-2012, 10:31 PM
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Run smooth, run fast
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 13,450
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Quote:
 "A few bucks" would be a hundred or less. More appropriately it would refer to less than fifty. This is more than "a few bucks." Sorry to hear about this, Chris... I hope you can find someone else to step up.
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- John "We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline." |
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06-22-2012, 01:09 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: outta here
Posts: 54,024
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Take him up on his offer to pay you for his race ticket. Don't ask for money for half of the cost of the hotel room that you booked after you knew he wasn't going.
Don't make a bigger problems from a smaller one. JR |
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06-22-2012, 06:21 AM
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Cars & Coffee Killer
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: State of Failure
Posts: 32,246
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Quote:
I don't know his new girlfriend well, but it is possible that she told him he can't go. I met her once two years ago when he was in state to visit family. I haven't seen him or her since. She is Chinese, so she may be conditioned to quietly run the household. I'm not asking for anything, but if I backed out on someone else, I would make it right by making sure the other person could continue on at the same cost to them. As it stands, at the very least I was out the money for my ticket because he backed out (assuming he does pay me for his ticket). The hotel I booked was cheaper than the one that he had on hold.
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Some Porsches long ago...then a wankle... 5 liters of VVT fury now -Chris "There is freedom in risk, just as there is oppression in security." |
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06-22-2012, 09:06 AM
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Did you get the memo?
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 32,775
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A good friend is worth far more than $500, if it were me my check would be in the mail.
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‘07 Mazda RX8-8 Past: 911T, 911SC, Carrera, 951s, 955, 996s, 987s, 986s, 997s, BMW 5x, C36, C63, XJR, S8, Maserati Coupe, GT500, etc |
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06-22-2012, 09:35 AM
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Registered User
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Quote:
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-Mat 78 911SC |
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06-22-2012, 10:06 AM
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Cars & Coffee Killer
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: State of Failure
Posts: 32,246
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My friend called today. Before I get into the details, I want to say that this is the kind of friend that if he showed up at my front door with a dead body, without a word I'd grab a shovel and follow him. I think that's why it burned me so much that we weren't resolving this and he was avoiding me. We've never had an issue we haven't worked through in a couple of days, and I couldn't believe after all the crap we've been through, this was going to be the thing to get between us.
Anyway, the first words out of his mouth were an admission that he'd been avoiding me and an apology for doing so, along with an apology for leaving me hanging with the tickets. I have a lot of respect for someone who can call and say that. Next he explained why he had been avoiding me. He said that over the past week, he has been more pissed off than he has ever been in his life, and that it had nothing to do with me or the race. Given that his girlfriend's parents were in town, I have a strong suspicion as to why. He said that he wanted some time to work through that issue before talking with me, but he didn't want to talk about it yet because he was still working through it. Finally he said that he was going to try to make the race, and we discussed some options for making that happen. He apologized again and said that his "personal issue" hit right in the middle of us booking the race/hotel, and he really just wanted to take a step back and deal with the personal issue first. I told him that I completely understand, but next time to tell me that is what is happening even if he doesn't want to explain the issue. Anyway, I think I'm on good terms with my friend again. Like many of my threads, this was more about allowing me to ***** anonymously to strangers than a desire for advice.
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Some Porsches long ago...then a wankle... 5 liters of VVT fury now -Chris "There is freedom in risk, just as there is oppression in security." |
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06-23-2012, 04:00 PM
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Ulm, Deutschland
Posts: 443
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I'll be in austin, I have a group of friends that I only ever see at F1 races, some not since the last race at indy, but we have a very competitive F1 fantasy league so we get to keep up with each other. we ended up just reserving a condo in austin, that way we can be close to all the parties and the shuttles. you are welcome to hang out with us, if you have no one to hang out with.
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06-23-2012, 04:35 PM
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You do not have permissi
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: midwest
Posts: 40,094
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Stay the course.
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06-23-2012, 05:08 PM
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závodník 'X'
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Legion-
Is your friend a contestant in this? Due to the popularity of the "Survivor" shows, Texas is planning to do one entitled: “Survivor, Texas-Style!” The 8 contestants will all start in Dallas, drive to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, then over to Houston and down to Brownsville. They will proceed up to Del Rio, El Paso, Odessa, Midland, Lubbock, and Amarillo. From there they will go on to Abilene and Fort Worth and finally back to Dallas. Each will be driving a pink Prius with bumper stickers that read: 1 “ I'm a Democrat” 2 “Amnesty for Illegals” 3 “I love the Dixie Chicks” 4 “Boycott Beef” 5 “I Voted for Obama” 6 “George Strait Sucks” 7 “ Reelect Obama in 2012” and... 8 “I'm here to confiscate your guns” The first one to make it back to Dallas alive wins.
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“When these fine people came to me with an offer to make four movies for them, I immediately said ‘yes’ for one reason and one reason only… Netflix rhymes with ‘wet chicks,'” Sandler said in a prepared statement. “Let the streaming begin!” - Adam Sandler |
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07-07-2012, 09:23 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fla panhandle / Roaming in my motorhome
Posts: 4,332
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^^ ROTFLOL!! That is twisted :-)
Glad to hear your friend came around Cheers Richard |
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07-07-2012, 10:05 AM
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Back in the saddle again
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Central TX west of Houston
Posts: 56,371
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#2 will probably get you elected to office and "protection" in the border cities.
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Steve '08 Boxster RS60 Spyder #0099/1960 - never named a car before, but this is Charlotte. '88 targa  SOLD 2004 - gone but not forgotten
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07-07-2012, 01:50 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: So. Calif.
Posts: 19,910
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Sherwood |
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07-07-2012, 04:51 PM
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Now in 993 land ...
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Top Gear: Alabama | MilkandCookies G |
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07-07-2012, 05:00 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Austin
Posts: 1,631
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Quote:
Out of Austin? Out of luck... 
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Warren Hall (Early S Man), 1950 - 2008 ------------------------------------ 2006 Tri D675 Scorched Yellow 2006 Ducati Sport Classic mono SOLD 1979 SCWDP #0020 Talbot Yellow SOLD |
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07-08-2012, 06:35 AM
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1978 Porsche 911 SC Targa
