For context, I’m the only mobile mechanic in my area, currently sitting at 20 5 star reviews. I get a call from a customer a few days ago, she says she needs a starter replacement and that she can’t spend more then $450, that’s what another shop quoted her.

I told her I’d do the work for $350, that’s $150 for labor and $200 for the part, and she happily agreed. Now, I usually send customers invoices to pay for the part before I arrive and they pay the labor after I complete the job.

In this instance, the lady said she wasn’t comfortable with sending money first, as I could scam her, which is understandable. I pointed her to my outstanding reviews and instagram page where I have a showcase of all work I’ve done but she still wasn’t comfortable and said she would just give me cash upon arrival, which I agreed to.

I pick the part up, and right before I head to her, she calls and says she went a mile down the street to take a shower and to call her 10 minutes before I arrive. I say ok, because she’s 36 minutes away. I call her 10 minutes before I arrive and she says she’s 1 mile away.

Upon arrival, she’s still not there and doesn’t arrive for another 36 minutes. She’d told me her car keys were in a shed in the property but I didn’t feel comfortable searching someone else’s property.

She finally arrives, without any cash, and says she needs to hit an ATM. I start the work on her car, jack it up, and get under it, all the while waiting for her to go to the ATM. She mentions she has warrants and will need her car to go to the ATM but she can call her mom to pay my invoices.

Fast forward 20-30 excesses, and she still hasn’t paid me. She even somehow made a fake screen that made it look like she had paid me $200 for the starter but the money wasn’t in my account. Knowing there was bad phone signal in the area, I told her I’ll take the starter but I’ll bring it back if the payment ever goes through, to which she objects but finally gives in.

Fast forward two days later, she somehow got the starter replaced on her own I assume, but her car still needs more work. She texts me apologizing and says “sorry, I was looking at the wrong screen, the payment never went through” and asks me if I can come out to do some other work.

I tell her I can’t and won’t come out until I get paid for the partial work and time I wasted two days prior so after some time, she finally sends me $75, after which I then told her I will not be doing business with her anymore and blocked her. She texts me off another number and says she’ll see me in court. AITA?