HERO RESTORATION - BOOKS NOT BEING RETURNED 20 20

[Hero Restoration]

On 6/24/2023 at 8:56 PM, ttfitz said:

To be perfectly frank, while there were jokes that Microchip was you on a second account, I would say it seems like two different people posting under the Hero Restoration name. Half of your responses have me say, "This guy has had it rough, but he seems to see what he's been doing wrong, I hope he manages to get it together" and half have me thinking, "Wow, this guy is a complete @ss."

You would do well to try and expand on the former and shrink dramatically on the latter.

I don't know who microchip is. It's not me, but be or have been a client, or has been in my shoes. 

If I had a shill, you would know it. It's not like my alter ego is going to do a better job at this. Lol I can never say the right thing no matter what my screen name is

[Microchip]

On 6/25/2023 at 1:56 PM, ttfitz said:

To be perfectly frank, while there were jokes that Microchip was you on a second account, I would say it seems like two different people posting under the Hero Restoration name. Half of your responses have me say, "This guy has had it rough, but he seems to see what he's been doing wrong, I hope he manages to get it together" and half have me thinking, "Wow, this guy is a complete @ss."

You would do well to try and expand on the former and shrink dramatically on the latter.

Everyone keeps expecting him to respond as they see it.

Everyone is NOT coming at from a position of being stressed out to max, and the likelihood of loosing everything you've worked on for the last 12 years. 

 

 

 

[Microchip]

On 6/25/2023 at 2:01 PM, Hero Restoration said:

I don't know who microchip is. It's not me, but be or have been a client, or has been in my shoes. 

If I had a shill, you would know it. It's not like my alter ego is going to do a better job at this. Lol I can never say the right thing no matter what my screen name is

Going back a year or two in previous threads, I was apparently a shill of Davidpg.   This line seems to be a common go to for some people.

[Hero Restoration]

On 6/24/2023 at 2:02 PM, wombat said:

You invest profits back in to your business. You invest personal funds. You find investors. Or do what you did. You used all the money customers sent you to expand. And here you are. If that were not true you would at least be able to offer substantial refunds to every customer. 

Disagree, you're only considering a fraction of a variable, in a group of several variables. 

[Hero Restoration]

On 6/24/2023 at 3:33 PM, quicksilver said:

So finish the Tec # 29, and send it out with the Actions 40 hours or so in…I can live with that.

You should email me so we can iron out the details.

[Steven Valdez]

On 6/10/2023 at 1:31 PM, Sauce Dog said:

Lots of stuff going on in this thread, lots of it outright bonkers wrong, so I'll try to shed some light on it. I've used Mike for restoration a few times, specifically as trade for my services as his web developer on a few projects. I've never met him in person, but have spoken with him over the phone regarding the business.

He had MAJOR issues with the staff, including some of the senior staff that was causing billing issues and racking up massive hours for work they were doing while not finishing the work on time and to quality (my book was one of the ones impacted), and thus had to be let go leaving him without key roles that he now has to also juggle personally. This all came right after he was able to expand and open the new location, which caused a countless amount of issues - both financial and stressful, culminating in his heart attack that left him unable to work for weeks. This impacted many projects, mainly the long term major restoration projects (one of which is mine that has been with him since 2020), and as a result he is no longer taking on ANY restoration work - the only work being taken on is pressing which can use to keep the lights on while catching up on everything else. The brand new equipment all purchased for the new location was a huge investment, much of it custom built for it, and has to be liquidated just to keep afloat (I know this because he offered it to me, but unfortunately while I would have jumped at the chance I live out of the country and also in a smaller apartment that can't fit a massive suction/wash table of my dreams). Likewise, due to him having to take on so many key roles and financially strapped he is unable to train new people for the roles. Between a rock and a hard place. Oh, and he also got royally screwed over by his other web developer that was hired after I did initial work (and then I later came back to help salvage the damage done)

He has already been threatened with lawsuits by at least one client wanting their book back, which I cannot get into, but will say yes it is justified to be angry but there is zero theft going on (I never hear of any other stuff like the AF15 in this thread before, maybe it was before my time?) - sure you can be pedantic and say not mailing things back in a timely manner is theft, but he is simply overwhelmed and cannot manage the planning of both pressing, packaging up / scheduling returns himself that well (there are other things impacting this which I once again do not feel I have the right to disclose - suffice to say though once I learned about them everything made sense why returns were not happening as easy as one would expect).

It sucks lots of our books are super late and delayed, but he is actively trying to do right and get books done and back to clients. Nobody has lost their books or been ripped off, they are just stuck in bog of someones worst misfortune of their lives. He is trying to restructure the business in order to only pivot to pressing (this is where I come in, I have been helping Mike with web work for years now) but even that is a slow grind due to just trying to keep his head above water (he also has another surgery coming up which he has been prepping for and delaying things...so big major work has been pushed to be picked back up this fall)

The dog eating chickens most likely is true, I know he raises chickens as well as a hobby...and my parents lost many a chicks as well to the family dog.

 

If he "can't" do the work, what's stopping him from returning everyone's books AND refunding the upfront money they paid him?? This is reprehensible.

[Steven Valdez]

On 6/10/2023 at 11:38 PM, Sauce Dog said:

When I submitted one of my first book he was clear it could take several years for restoration ...

Uh, no.... it takes several years to build a new office block or to wage a war with a foreign power. Restoring a comic book takes a few hours.

[CAHokie]

On 6/25/2023 at 6:30 AM, Steven Valdez said:

If he "can't" do the work, what's stopping him from returning everyone's books AND refunding the upfront money they paid him?? This is reprehensible.

It’s complicated (not excusable) because the work has not been done but the money is mostly gone.  
 

On 6/25/2023 at 6:42 AM, Steven Valdez said:

Restoring a comic book takes a few hours.

I asked this to people in the know and there are stages that may require drying time or creation time but it sounds like weeks or a few months would be sufficient. I don’t pretend to know how to restore but 5 years seems excessive. Apparently it’s the time it takes to get started on the book that is the main issue. That’s why I like the person’s comment who suggested not accepting the book until closer to when you can start on it. 

[HotKey]

On 6/24/2023 at 10:54 PM, JT307 said:

The problem is that company profits and or outside investments should have funded that. You don't take funds allocated for production/materials. If you have no money to produce, you stop generating income.

"I wanted to be the biggest business". That's a problem when that is the company agenda; it should be providing a quality, timely service. 

The company will scale as production cycles are consistently completed.

 

 

This really is the main problem it seems. Instead of growing the company naturally, HR decided to go well beyond what normal growth would be, which would in most cases be adding one or two employees first at the main location, training them and after they started work, re-evaluating for more expansion. HR deciding to go "all in" and go from a single owner LLC to a multiple location business with 10 or so employees and tens of thousands of dollars in new custom equipment in 1 step during a peak market that most seasoned collectors recognized as artificial and expected the current correction, was taking an enormous risk. I've started and helped start several small businesses and even when they were doing good initially, a step of that size and magnitude was never even considered as a viable option. You never go more than double your current size in 1 step unless you have a new investor or other forms of outside financing that don't put customers funds at risk.

Using all the funds that should have been safely held for each customer account and only drawn down as work was performed was very irresponsible and while it may not be a legal violation of fiduciary duty, it was definitely a moral violation of it, and directly led to the current situation. 

Had HR sat down with any informed business professional and gotten their opinion on such an expansion before doing it, they very likely would have been informed of this potential worst case scenario and advised against it, especially when it required using customer funds.

[Steven Valdez]

What kind of business takes a full fee upfront anyway? When I put my car in for a service, I only pay when the work's completed. Likewise for medical, dental, plumbing, electrical etc etc.

This guy had nothing to lose by waiting for payment until completion of service. The worst that could happen is he'd end up with free mega-valuable books if an owner defaulted on payment -- not that anybody would, considering the books involved.

[skypinkblu]

On 6/25/2023 at 6:56 AM, CAHokie said:

I asked this to people in the know and there are stages that may require drying time or creation time but it sounds like weeks or a few months would be sufficient. I don’t pretend to know how to restore but 5 years seems excessive. Apparently it’s the time it takes to get started on the book that is the main issue. That’s why I like the person’s comment who suggested not accepting the book until closer to when you can start on it. 

It took Michelangelo 4 years to complete the Sistine Chapel, he had to lie on his back on scaffolding the whole time. Paints were not available in stores back then and there were no fans to dry sections. 

If you have seen the room in person, you know it's a pretty large ceiling.  Comic book covers are not that big, and the entire face of the cover is not usually missing, just small parts that need to be painted after leaf casting (if that is the method that is being used to restore). 

However, juggling clients, money, many multiples of books at the same time...going back and forth...I'm sure that spreads out the time frame and if you are not super organized, nor a highly trained artist...it can extend the time too.

But 6 years to restore a small comic book cover? That's because there were things that were not organized correctly, has nothing to do with the art.

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by skypinkblu

[Buzzetta]

Here is the documentation that submitters would have had to fill out circa 2015-2016.

Note that nothing was proprietary or confidential either inferred or stated in the email or documents pertaining to the contract itself that I was provided during this timeframe.  I retained the email and the forms.

There are a few board members that would have probably submitted under these terms. 

At the time, the personal contact information was well known but even though it is a business contact, I have redacted it.  

Edited June 25, 2023 by Buzzetta

[Steven Valdez]

On 6/25/2023 at 6:11 AM, Hero Restoration said:

Label is included. If I regain control, I should have only the amount of work I can handle. I have made changes already , but it was too late for the older clients.and trust. I'm still willing to do your book. Or find some other way to make it right.

About 3 years ago, I realized extensive page work on 64 pages was jamming me up. Not long after that, I stop accepting those, even partial page work. and cover work only. I kept making changes like that, but it was too late. The help I trained was expected to accelerate production of resto exponential failed, right when it was suppose to succeed.

Others have mentioned this, so I will say that I just had a dream.... .blah blah blah

 

The people you've defrauded don't care about your problems. They have their own problems to worry about, such as being ripped off and stuffed around.

[wombat]

I think this is the case, but is Hero saying he is taking on current pressing jobs and doing that work before finishing up resto jobs that he has had for years?

[Sauce Dog]

On 6/25/2023 at 11:23 AM, wombat said:

I think this is the case, but is Hero saying he is taking on current pressing jobs and doing that work before finishing up resto jobs that he has had for years?

I think that is the case, as it sounds like the immediate pressing jobs are keeping the lights on and between those he will try to find time for the restoration jobs (I've been told he will start back on my book in the fall after his surgery and more of the backlog has been addressed).

Though I think mailing back books not yet complete will still happen alongside pressing (as it should ASAP), but when it comes to these potential returns it sounds like one issue is that those that already have work done on them are in disassembled states and can't just be put in a bag/board and mailed out securely (I assume each book will have to be discussed with clients on a case-by-case basis, especially if you have an incomplete job that was just leaf casted but not trimmed/folded/assembled as I know I would want my book shipped correctly and safe)

[Old Fashion PB and J]

On 6/25/2023 at 10:23 AM, Steven Valdez said:

What kind of business takes a full fee upfront anyway? When I put my car in for a service, I only pay when the work's completed. Likewise for medical, dental, plumbing, electrical etc etc.

This guy had nothing to lose by waiting for payment until completion of service. The worst that could happen is he'd end up with free mega-valuable books if an owner defaulted on payment -- not that anybody would, considering the books involved.

If you wanted a car frame off restoration you are paying a large chunk up front. Comparing this to a brake job is silly at best.

 

Plumbing, Electrical, etc all require a deposit of usually 50%. And the balance paid upon completion.

[Steven Valdez]

On 6/26/2023 at 1:40 AM, Old Fashion PB and J said:

If you wanted a car frame off restoration you are paying a large chunk up front. Comparing this to a brake job is silly at best.

 

Plumbing, Electrical, etc all require a deposit of usually 50%. And the balance paid upon completion.

Not in my country.

[Steven Valdez]

On 6/26/2023 at 1:23 AM, wombat said:

I think this is the case, but is Hero saying he is taking on current pressing jobs and doing that work before finishing up resto jobs that he has had for years?

Don't know, he's not very good at expressing himself.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

On 6/25/2023 at 12:09 PM, Steven Valdez said:

Not in my country.

So you are telling me people go out and spend 10-15K on supplies on a handshake? I call BS, I dont care where you live.

[DeadOne]

On 6/25/2023 at 12:53 PM, Old Fashion PB and J said:

So you are telling me people go out and spend 10-15K on supplies on a handshake? I call BS, I dont care where you live.

I had 2 bathrooms remodeled in 2022 for a total of 13K and didn't pay a dime up front.
I had my roof done in 2020 (including 3 skylights, and a shed re-shingle) for 8K and, again, paid in total at the end.