metaladdict
Elite Member
As Tom and TP said give it all to them and move on. It's not worth your time dealing with people like them. Life is too short.
This is what I would do.
As Tom and TP said give it all to them and move on. It's not worth your time dealing with people like them. Life is too short.
I detected a home in an historical neighborhood with the agreement I keep what I find, but show them.
Ended up with a mercury dime, a wheat, a war nickel, 2 buffaloes, and a few odds and ends. Coins were common/average. Search was two visits and confounded by landscaping and EMI and iron. I was interested in one more visit, as I'd discovered I could find targets in the section with the heaviest interference near the end of the day - and there were several that were promising.
The owners asked if they could purchase the finds, but refused to be specific about which finds or make an offer. And they went from saying they were asking neighbors to let me detect to saying that if I cooperated that they would ask a neighbor.
They even suggested that most of the neighbors would be interested and I could write a book with a grant and they would facilitate the grant process. A mutual acquaintance (grant writer) whose yard I'd hunted made exactly the same suggestion.
At this point, I'd worked two days, researched and cleaned the odds and ends, and a realistic value of all the finds was oh - $6.
I dropped off some odds and ends (including a shotgun shell from the 1880's and a button from some overalls made in 1900 - local brand - hard to come by), the 1919 wheat cent, and I gave them a detailed description of the items.
They wrote back still wanting to know if they could purchase the rest and mentioned wanting the coins (at the end of their note they also said and other finds).
I let them know I'd be willing to trade up on the coins and that they had little numismatic or bullion value. I also suggested that if I had a place nearby to search, I could spend my time more productively by searching their property when there was less interference.
They didn't respond. When I heard from someone who lives across the street (an acquaintance for a decade who had seen me detecting there and gave me permission) - I wrote and let them know I'd be in the neighborhood and asked if they still wanted me to return to search. They'd previously requested I continue.
No response.
And then my acquaintance informed me of a change of heart and not to come over to detect. I've never had anyone back out.
In fact, I've never had anyone want to buy finds, or go to these lengths for a few common finds.
So - no introductions, and a mutual friend who was originally excited backs out.
Any advice?
This is so uncomfortable.
I had lawn services in addition to my regular job.I will say that I have some experience working with people who live in "Historic Districts" (not in the Detectorist sense, house painting and traditional carpentry) and there have been a couple of folks who really rankle me.
They use my services because they want the "Authentic Historical Accuracy" and they are willing to pay for it. That being said the VAST majority of the folks that I have worked with over the years have been wonderful. There have been 4 people that truly got under my skin because they weren't in the homes to live in them, they wanted the homes so they could project a certain image within the community. These people were the ones that would cheat, not pay, and complain about imaginary problems in order to wrangle a "concession" or a some sort of cost reduction.
It got to the point that I would just double my prices on my estimates and then the folks that didn't give me headaches got "refunds" and the people who argued me down about every little thing thought they got "wins" for themselves.
All of this is to say is that Historical Society People attract a certain kind PITA that we all need to aware of develop tactics to deal with.