Bail Bonding is by its very nature, somewhat 'shady'... somewhat difficult to define as to exact activities or how to proceed in a given scenario. Interaction with others in the business is an every day occurrence and competition in our business is most often fierce and in your face. We deal with difficult people on both sides of the law and in many instances the rules of the trade do not even exist. Many state regulations are often cloudy and difficult to decipher.
Our group as a whole is made up of a tremendous array of different people... from the worst to the best; the most highly trained to the 'wanna-be' novice; from the very successful to the "holding on by the skin of their teeth"... and our interactions with each other and our clients is almost impossible to say the least, but I am of the opinion that there needs to be a "code of business ethics" between us... 'honor among thieves' if you will... because without it we loose much and gain little and with it, we gain self respect among the group and self respect with all the many other professionals that we deal with daily...
... so, having said all that...... here is where I am going with this........
Yesterday morning, around 2am, I got a call on a $7500 bond in one of the jails I work... the lady wanted to get her husband out and I was the only bondsman she could find 'that would answer the phone'... she had called two others with no answer, so I put it together and she said she wanted to do it in the morning around 9am. I told her I had another bond to write at 8am and it would probably be 11am before I could meet her but would call and let her know the time. She agreed. She called me again at 6am to verify that I was coming.... I said yes and I would call and let her know I was on my way when I finished with the first bond. She agreed.
I finished the first bond around 10am and headed for the other jail. I called the lady and told her I was on time and headed for her and would be there in about 20 minutes. She informed me that there was another bondsman at the jail that "told her he could do the bond right then"... I said that was up to her but I would appreciate it if she would do business with me since we had made the arrangement earlier and I would in fact be there shortly. She agreed.
Now the other bondsman is a long time acquaintance of mine... in fact, we got into the business together some 11 years ago. He formed his own organization and I did the same but we have remained "friends" and occasionally will split a bond. I also run his credit cards for him since he has never set up a credit card authorization line and I have... so we have had a personal and a business arrangement for some time and in fact, I have known this man for over 35 years. We partied together when we were younger... and our wives are best of friends.
The other bondsman, we will call him Sam, knew exactly who this lady had been talking to and also knew that I was on the way to do the bond and would arrive in a short time. Regardless of what the lady said to him and under the circumstances, I personally would have called the other bondsman to see what his plans were... but Sam wrote the bond and got out of town before I arrived... I passed him coming out of the little town... I called him and we had some words to say the least.
Here in lies the point of this thread.
This situation happens all the time as we all know. Bondman in today's financial, economical environment are falling all over each other trying to make a living and stay afloat. Even so, I am of the opinion that you work together and try to maintain a manner of "ethics" in our business dealing with not only the public as clients, but also with each other so that we can all remain civil and hold on to our self respect.
As I mentioned above... I would have called the other bondsman involved to find out exactly what the deal was on his end and would have told the client...
"Ms. ------, lets give Mr. 'other bondsman' a chance to get here and take care of this for you since he has already started with you, this is only fair and I am not in the habit of taking another bondsman's business... now if he does not show up in a few minutes I will be glad to do the bond for you but lets give Mr.---- a chance"...
I have done this many times with other bondsmen and there are times when the other guy would tell me to go ahead and write it since he was tied up and other times he said he would be there shortly...
In either instance, you have gained a tremendous amount of respect from everyone involved and the bottom line is............ "IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO."
I might also mention that this scenario has happened between Sam and my daughter (the bondslady) several times in the past and he also does not have a very good rapport with LE in our AO. I have really tried to overlook it because of our past friendship but this is the 'straw'....
Needless to say that I am no longer having a relationship with the guy.... he is a snake in the grass and I will not deal with him again. Our friendship, if it ever really existed, is at an end.
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edited... what I would like to do and what I will do are at opposite ends of the spectrum... I will leave it at that.........
Ghee, that's not ethical, is it ?????????
....... I can't wait.... I really can't imagine that he would call me to run one but frankly, knowing him....... he just might, but you know the answer.... You know I am still a childish kind of guy cause I was trying to figure out a way to get him to take a swing at me so I could pop him .... oh, it would give me such satisfaction but then... I guess I am too mature for that......... uh.... sort of.... but it's a nice thought.... hell, I am too old and fat .... but I still have fast hands and well.................... never mind... my wife says leave it alone...... she is so practical... but you guys know how I feel... 
