CATCHING UP & MOVING FORWARD

I am somewhat embarrassed by the degree to which I have neglected this blog over the past 7 months ......... months that have been somewhat of a watershed period for me, and I apologize to any of you out there who may have become accustomed to receiving updates. 

I have been struggling for the past four and a half years to come to terms with the stress of dealing with people on a daily basis here in the Eastern Cape, who (not all - but for the most part - be they sub-contractors, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, plumbers, electricians or basic labour), take no pride whatsoever in the work that they do, and who seem to have no work ethic at all ........... no sense of commitment .......... no sense of responsibility ........... and perhaps worst of all, no sense of guilt or embarrassment when they let you down.

Anyway - I decided that whatever the consequences, for my own peace of mind, I had to stop building / project managing, as it was becoming ever more difficult to deliver the quality of work that I had become accustomed to delivering to my clients over the years, and took the decision a few months back to change direction completely.

In addition to, and also as part of the above, I had the misfortune of taking my Diahatsu bakkie in to a newly established local workshop in Bathurst for an engine rebuild on the 4th October 2021. Calling themselves Automed/Custom Landys, they quoted me R18000.00, which after a series of turnarounds (which should have had me on my guard), I had already given them over R20000.00 in deposits by the 7th of November 2021. Unfortunately, a friend, Owen Putzier, with the same vehicle as mine which also required an engine rebuild, took his vehicle in to them at the same time on my recommendation and gave them a R27000.00 deposit ........... both of us thinking we were going to get reconditioned engines. This never materialized, and despite endless promises of engineering company guarantees of one year and 100000kms and excuses of every possible kind, and  lawyers' letters which I had issued on top of endless communications of one sort or another - now - at the end of 2022, neither of us have our vehicles back and they have skipped town. Unfortunately we are not the only ones who have fallen prey to these charlatans, and we currently have three other people we know of who are in a similar situation, along with my oldest friend, Peter Davidson, who did a deal with them in November 2021 to have them rebuild a Landrover they had on the premises for him - for delivery on February 2022. He gave them a R178000.00 advance along with a further R10000.00 in early February to expedite matters. Here at the end of 2022 he still has neither the vehicle nor the money he advanced them.

All this time I have been paying a monthly lease plus insurance on this vehicle - plus licensing it -  while not having the use for which it was intended, and estimate that I have passed on approximately R150000.00 worth of work to other contractors due to the nature of certain jobs which I could not do without the vehicle. During this same period the vehicle has lost at least R20000.00 in value on the open market. My estimate is that these people, John and Lize Harvey, trading as Automed/Custom Landys, have as of today's date cost me R105000.00 for a vehicle that, if it was in proper working order, I could sell for around R65000.00 ............ and I still have 6 months to pay off on the lease, while the vehicle is standing in their abandoned yard, on a jack, unlocked and unattended, waiting to be stripped by any interested passers by. Owen's vehicle on the other hand has already been stripped it would appear, as all his new upholstery and the seats are gone - the engine is missing, and a rusted bell-housing and driveshaft are lying in the back of the bakkie.

Nicolaas McCreath got a judgement against them in the Port Alfred Magistrate's Court on June 28, 2022 and a warrant of execution was issued on July 27, 2022, and on January 20, 2023, the Sheriff will sell in execution whatever moveable assets are on the premises. Furthermore, I was informed by their Landlord on Xmas day that his property where they were living has been emptied of all their possessions and that they have skipped with the rent three months in arrears. Let this then be a warning to all and sundry to be extremely wary of dealing with John and Lize Harvey in whatever capacity they choose to represent themselves. It is wholly evident and provable that they have fraudulently fleeced potential customers of deposits totaling over three hundred thousand Rand (that we are are of), without providing anything in return, including those vehicles for which the deposits were taken.

Enough of that then - please just be very wary if you happen to come across these people.

Going into 2023 I have decided to become considerably more active photographically than I have been in the past and have decided to concentrate on marketing my photographs and my abilities as a photographer - something I have been dabbling with since I was 12 years old ........ which adds up to a good 65 years of experience one way and another. 

Aside from restructuring my photographic website, I have also set up a store at https://neville-lance-photography.picfair.com and take this opportunity to ask all those of you who land on this page please to forward the link on to anyone you know who might be able to make use of my images for any purpose whatsoever ..... from a home and office decor point of view through to advertising and business presentations and/or motivation or banner representations.

I have recently also become considerably more active on Instagram, putting myself out there daily as both https://www.instagram.com/nevillelancephotography/ and https://www.instagram.com/uviewnev/ in an effort to bring my work to a much wider audience. I also retain my Facebook page as a reminder to all of my friends and family that I am trying to make it in this business, so https://www.facebook.com/neville.lance is just one more place where I can be found.

As a teaser for what we can look forward to on my photographic website and in the store, I am putting up a couple of pics taken very recently at a friend's home here in Bathurst of an AFRICAN PYGMY-KINGFISHER (Ispidina picta), that had begun nesting in an abandoned mole hole which was exposed in a bank of soil where they had started excavating. Enjoy!

Please click on images to enlarge