Clients that lie

There is one thing in this business that I cannot stand. Clients that are dishonest! I was contacted a few weeks ago by a woman who wanted a background check done on her "boyfriend." She had a lot of information on this guy and I asked her why she was needing a background check done. She informed me that she feels like he is hiding something from her and also wanted to see if he was a legal US citizen. OK, so I began working on the background check and during the process did not find anything derogatory on this mans record.

The only thing that appeared to be weird about this man was it looked as though he had a woman living at his residence. The next time my client called I asked her how much time she spends with her boyfriend, has she been to his home, how long they have been together etc. I was starting to think that maybe this man was living a secret life and was actually married. My client entertained this idea and acted as if I could be correct. I told her the next time she saw her boyfriend to be subtle and question him. We talked for almost an hour about his behavior's and how I was going to attempt to locate a marriage license to confirm that he was or was not married.

2 days later my client called me back as I instructed her to and I informed her that there was no marriage license to be found. The woman that lived with him at the residence could possibly be his sister since their last names are the same. I asked her if she had any success in questioning her boyfriend and she told me that she did not. He apparently avoided all the questions that she asked him. My client went on and on about how she just had to find some dirt on this man. Then the truth came out.

This man she had hired me to investigate was not her boyfriend after all. He was actually the boyfriend of a family friend. She was trying to get dirt on this guy to show to the friend that he was an asshole and she shouldn't be with him. WOW I was shocked and pretty pissed off. This woman had convinced me that this was HER boyfriend and it was really important that she knew the truth about him so she could either continue the relationship or dump him and get on with her life. I spent a lot of time talking to this woman and feeling bad for her. I took her calls during times that were inconvenient for me and my family because I wanted to help her.

I am pretty sure that she knew if she told me the truth I wouldn't take her case. Damn right I wouldn't!! If the family friend wants to be with this man then that in my opinion is none of anyone's business. I can understand being concerned about someone you care about but to medal around the way this woman did without her friend knowing it is inexcusable.
So, if ever you need any type of investigative work done please be sure to be honest with your investigator from the start. If your situation is complicated or you do not think an investigator would touch it, give all of the details anyways! You might be upset to find that a P.I. will not take your case or you might be surprised that they will. Whatever you do please don't lie. It will only jeopardize the case and cause you to waste money. Lying about the details of a case is considered interfering with the investigation. In our contract it states that if it is found that you are interfering with the case, your case will be terminated and no refunds will be issued.