09/06/2024
I ordered a new starter for my boat motor from Shorty’s Marine. From past experience I generally avoid the place like the plague but I needed a starter. They ordered one then I took my boat in to get the starter put on the motor, as they volunteered to do… That is a five-minute job that even I could do. Anyone could. I went back to get it and the woman there, by the name of Rachel, presented me with a bill of 441 dollars. I blew my stack. The cost of a starter is only 120 dollars. She was trying to charge me 320 dollars for labor! She said she had to drill two holes in the motor block. She didn’t ask me if she could do it, and she could have ruined the block by doing that. I told her to take off the starter because I wasn’t old enough to be stupid yet, and was NOT going to pay her that money to do a five minute job. She said she was keeping my boat until I paid the whole bill, although she removed the starter (in 3 minutes) and kept it. I backed my truck up to the boat (which was never inside her shop) and she sat down on the boat trailer tongue so I couldn’t hook it up. (I have a photo of that). She called the sheriff and a deputy came. He talked to her for about 10 minutes and told her to let me take the boat and then take me to court to collect the money. He said little to me, but told me I could never come on her property in violation of trespass laws. As if Ianyone with a boat would want to. This was on Thursday, August 15th. On Monday, August 19 I drove to Springfield to a business that sells new starters and rebuilds bad ones. I had mine rebuilt and bought a new one. The business is known as Accurate Electric on west Kearney Street. He went out and installed the starter for no labor charge. Took less than 5 minutes! I found out that Shorty’s Marine had indeed drilled a hole in the block. To replace a 1 and ½ inch bolt, she drilled a hole nearly 2 inches. I was told that if she had drilled deeper she may have drilled into a cylinder and ruined my motor. After going to Accurate Electric, I went to Lowe’s in Springfield to meet my daughter that day about noon. I had left at 9:00 that morning and got home about 4. On Wednesday the same deputy sheriff, by the name of George, drove up to my place and walked toward me with his ticket book in hand. I will swear on the bible this is what he said, with a witness there to back me up. “I am going to have to arrest you for trespassing… Rachel said you came back to her place at midday on Monday and parked in her driveway and glared at her.” I blew my stack again, and told him where I had been and what I had done on Monday. He put his citation book up and said he was going to investigate the matter. He said he would be able to confirm if I was telling the truth by following where my cell phone had been. I have not heard a thing from anyone since. I have left two messages at the sheriff’s department and received no call. My daughter said she had received a call from the sheriff’s department and told them to check Lowe’s cameras at 12:15 p.m. No one did. I am tempted to go to a lawyer with all this. But I shouldn’t have to. It is against the law to file a false charge against someone in order to get revenge. I think that is true everywhere. After trying to talk to Sheriff Morrison for two weeks, I have been unsuccessful. But the deputy did talk to me and said that the investigation had been dropped and the law does not require for me to be informed as to the results. That deputy also said that filing a false report against me has no consequence. Lieing about someone to the sheriff’s deputy is okay. But if I do that to her, that is different. If I call the sheriffs office and say my neighbor is trespassing on my posted land and he is not… I am not going to be forgiven by the law. I am assuming that Shorty’s Marine and I operate under different liability in regard to the law. I am told, by the deputy, my only recourse is to talk to a lawyer.
