ROB BY NAME...
Nice Holiday? Rob was generally a nice guy but basically couldn't help himself when it came to trying to pull a fast one. Even though his rent was paid by his firm in the form of 'lodge allowance', he was not very honourable when it came to handing it over. His tactic was to gradually get into arrears by making excuses and avoiding payment and then leave still owing money. The first time he lodged here it was with his roommate, Carl Young. They were both in arrears when they left and I had to chase Rob to try and get the rent he owed. He eventually paid some of what he owed but I never got it all and Carl never paid any of what he owed as I couldn't get hold of him. While they were here they had a nice holiday in Majorca, no doubt part paid with the rent money but neither seemed to think that this was unreasonable.
Chalk and Cheese? Rob was one of two brothers who stayed here, both very different in the trust department. Rob's older brother was always completely honourable, had considerable self-respect and didn't like owing anyone anything. I never had to chase him for his rent and he was always up to date apart from once when he was between jobs and asked if I could wait a couple of weeks for his wages to come through. True to his word, as soon as he was paid he was back on top.
Fair? Rob turned out to be nothing like his brother when it came to being honourable. He came back up this way to work again at a later date and rang to ask if I would consider him staying here again with one of this friends, giving me his word that he would not to let me down again. After a couple of months, Rob's roommate moved back home to Wales, but, at a loss to myself, I allowed Rob to stay in the double room he occupied for £70.00 per week and he said he would try and find another room mate to share with. However, after two months he hadn't found anyone and I asked him if he would move into the small loft room. He said he would rather stay in the double room, so I asked him, still at a loss to myself, but thinking I was being fair to both of us, to up his rent to £80.00 per week. Still a good price for a double room.
Irritated Response: Eventually it came the time for Rob to move on with his work. He had been behind in places but generally when prompted always paid what he owed. However, he was always dragging his heels and was always a bit behind rather than in front and he consequently left still owing me a week's rent, which he promised me he would pay. However, he didn't pay it. He then ignored my texts and my attempts to phone him. It became a point of principle as he had given me his word and so I eventually changed tactics and asked his brother to relay messages to him for me.
Shamed? People generally don't like others knowing about their deviant and underhanded behaviour and after sending a few explicit messages to Rob via his brother, who was a really decent guy, I soon got an irritated response from Rob saying I should communicate with him directly. Well, I had tried and he had blatantly ignored me. Now communicating with Rob directly and after even more texting hassle he eventually and begrudgingly paid me £50.00 of what he owed. In Rob's case the outstanding amount this time was only £80.00 and he eventually paid £50.00 of that, leaving just £30.00 owing, so not a massive amount of money, however, he did give me his word and my view is that if you are going to give your word you should stick to it and not go back on it. I had been very fair with Rob and helped him out significantly with a good price for his rent, the least he could have done is honour his word and pay it!