Back to the story, but first I want to thank everyone for the supportive comments. it's tough writing this, I usually fall into a depression after, but one of the reasons for this thread is to educate anyone who's thinking about owning a tool truck, this is the reason for the lengthy time gap. So, I had 10 days to return tools. The first 3 days were spent trying to design and set up some kind of invoice system I could use that included the info. Cornwell wanted. Talking to another dealer, I found that I could use a part of the MM1 program (The main dealer invoice program) that would do all the descriptions, quantities, etc. that I needed. Would have been nice to have been informed of this. I now had 7 days. I thought I might have gotten lucky after finding shrink wrap at the local Michaels hobby store, but unless it's done with a shrink wrap machine it just looks like **** and I knew would be returned. Another half day wasted. The next few days and nights are a blur. I kept it all in classes, sockets in one group, pliers in another, hammers in a group, etc. When I finished, there were a total of 12 cases of tools, costing roughly $640.00 to ship. I sent back about $500.00 more than the amount owed to cover anything that they would send back (hopefully). I didn't even think about shipping time and by now, really didn't give a ****, shipping out on day 10. I did call them to let them know it had been shipped. This began the nervous wait. Will they accept everything? Will they send it back for whatever reason? Will they even let me know? 2 weeks later I received a statement showing my account total as -$525.00. Cool a negative amount they should be sending a check soon. A week goes by, 2 weeks go by, now its a month and no check. A lot of companies won't issue checks for 30 days so I waited. 6 Weeks have gone by so I call finance dept. and explain that the statements they send every week show a negative balance, where's my check? Their reply, " Yes, we do owe you that amount, but in order to receive a check you must first request it" Your ******* kidding me right?, Ok, I'm requesting it!!!. "Sure Mr. H, I'll send it out, you should see it within a week" Cute huh? Those bastards were going to sit on it hoping I would either forget or give up on it.
Now when a dealer go's out of business, there is usually an incoming new dealer that the route and customers can be sold to. basically the next guy would pay me what my accounts owed me, leaving me to walk away. This time though there isn't a replacement driver (To this date, 7 months later there still is not a replacement) meaning if I want what my customer's owe me, I have to continue my weekly collections. I still have tools left too, but Cornwell has said once my contract has been closed, I can no longer 1. Drive my truck, 2. Wear my dealer shirts, 3. Use any business cards, letterheads, anything with the Cornwell name or logo or I will be sued. They even told me I couldn't park the truck in my driveway unless the Cornwell graphics were removed or covered. This meant having to put all the tools in my pickup and hitting the shops like that, which also meant loading and unloading every morning and evening. I still have $20,000 on the streets to collect, a truckload of tools to sell and 1 $3500.00 scanner to repo...if I can find the guy. So much for finding a job.
Next: Selling a tool truck, collecting and Carlsbad Police
