Winnipeg

Sometimes it does. Some businesses are slimeballs. It's human nature writ on different scales.

I once paid my neighbour's kid $20/week to cut my lawn. I'd pay them sometimes for two or three weeks at a time. One time I paid them for three weeks in advance because I was going to be away and didn't want to have to worry about being in arrears. Well, instead of cutting the lawn, the kid just stopped and I came home to knee high grass. Cash in hand, you know. I subsequently stopped hiring them and brought lawn cutting back "in house".

So the important lesson is: structure business agreements such that you only get paid when work is provable and verifiable. The same pattern repeats anywhere people are involved, and on every scale.

I didn't sue my neighbour's kid though.