bunyip
Elite Member
Or horse trading as we more commonly call it, another post reminded me of a friends experience.
We pay a goods and services tax on most things of 10% but most tradesmen will do a better deal for cash or a trade with no paperwork involved, a friend of mine is a trade teacher and bought some new carpet at a garage sale which was good quality and cheap, he called a carpet layer for a quote and the usual pleasantries took place and in short a deal; was struck were the carpet was layed and his van was serviced and tuned with no cash or paperwork.
The carpet was laid and a date set for the service, the van arrived and my friend went about an oil and filter change then did the tune up, all was well and he took it for a test run.
He lives a few miles out of town on a dirt road and he took off out of his drive onto the road, van performed well but he decided on about a 5 mile run just to make sure, he approached a T intersection travelling at about 50mph and applied the brakes only to be greeted by his foot going straight to the floor, the usual expletives let loose and the pedal pumped three times and he had brakes.
He then nervously drove home much slower, put the van up on the hoist and bled the brakes and changed the fluid.
Later that day the owner came around to pick up the van, it was explained that the service went well with new filters, oil, plugs etc then the owner volunteered 'I should have told you about the brakes, you have to hit them three times before they work', at the conclusion of this sentence he laughed and jumped in his van and took off down the road, my friend went out and watched him as he approached the T intersection at speed, he saw the brake lights come on and the almost stand on its nose, at this point he went back inside chuckling uncontrollably.
We pay a goods and services tax on most things of 10% but most tradesmen will do a better deal for cash or a trade with no paperwork involved, a friend of mine is a trade teacher and bought some new carpet at a garage sale which was good quality and cheap, he called a carpet layer for a quote and the usual pleasantries took place and in short a deal; was struck were the carpet was layed and his van was serviced and tuned with no cash or paperwork.
The carpet was laid and a date set for the service, the van arrived and my friend went about an oil and filter change then did the tune up, all was well and he took it for a test run.
He lives a few miles out of town on a dirt road and he took off out of his drive onto the road, van performed well but he decided on about a 5 mile run just to make sure, he approached a T intersection travelling at about 50mph and applied the brakes only to be greeted by his foot going straight to the floor, the usual expletives let loose and the pedal pumped three times and he had brakes.
He then nervously drove home much slower, put the van up on the hoist and bled the brakes and changed the fluid.
Later that day the owner came around to pick up the van, it was explained that the service went well with new filters, oil, plugs etc then the owner volunteered 'I should have told you about the brakes, you have to hit them three times before they work', at the conclusion of this sentence he laughed and jumped in his van and took off down the road, my friend went out and watched him as he approached the T intersection at speed, he saw the brake lights come on and the almost stand on its nose, at this point he went back inside chuckling uncontrollably.
