I will try to put together a more thoughtful reply when I have time later tonight. But here is the short short version:
Moe always delivered on everything I ordered (D&D protos, Popeye Proto). He was always responsive and on top of the entire process. Very helpful and an overall nice guy.
He wanted everyone on the D&D list to pay in full. I suggested a deposit of $20, he suggested $100. I advised him that it's a bad idea to charge people up front for something they have yet to see (at that point, we hadn't even produced a proto) To get the project going forward because I had hit a few dead ends with tailors, I paid the deposits for everyone. 30 x $20 = $600. I expected to get credited back at some point but I didn't put any rush on it. I figured he would be good for it. The D&D proto was shown and it gave people enough confidence to pay Moe for the outfits. he took the money but only delivered about half the orders. At that point, I was in the middle of developing Popeye. I kept receiving emails from Moe asking 'when' 'when' when' are we doing Popeye? It was the kind of urgency you get from someone who is depending on that release for something. Popeye hit some snags and it was delayed. Meanwhile, the D&D tuxes continually get delayed. So I start to question why all the delays. I never could get a good response other than he had some personal stuff and was just getting back to good health, etc. I think at some point, he made a few more tuxes and sent them out. So I'm back to trusting Moe again and I ask him to make me a Roger Federer prototype. He asks that I pay for the 5 outfits in full because the tailor is demanding that at least a minimum of 5 be made. I send him the money and get one back. He then emails me and says the rest will be done when we do the Popeye outfits. I noticed that shortly after, he received 4 more orange tuxes and a blue tux. I start to question everything at this point. I asked myself 'did he just use the money I sent him for Federer to pay for those Tuxes'? So I start asking more questions and then I get a reply from his brother Tony. His brother tells me that Moe is in the hospital with heart related issues. Over the next several weeks, the brother says Moe needs surgery. A week later, he needs one more surgery. A week after that, he has several surgeries. Sadly, I hope that this is true and Moe is laid up in a hospital awaiting the 3rd surgery on his heart. If not, then he just screwed me over and is pretending to be his brother. I'm not sure which scenario I should be hoping for here.
So anyway, I start reaching out to people just asking questions and trying to figure out who is owed what. In the meantime, I have a conversation with Mightyq and he says Moe owes him $1800. I think I was shaving this morning when I read that. So I thought to myself...oh here we go. All day long I have been going back and forth with the board, the tailor, Moe's brother, Marty and a few others.
Marty and I talked about getting this out in the open and discussing the facts and letting everyone else come to their own conclusions.
Maybe this isn't the short short version. I'm in a rush to leave work so I can drive up north tonight. So I'm just rambling a little but wanted to get this out there.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope Moe comes through. I hope the $7000 that he owes everyone will someday be paid. What I do know is that his brother told me today that Moe has no money and that he is helping him pay his medical bills.
