I’m in my apartment, paranoid that the next moment, a crash will come through the door… I don’t even like writing this! Anyway, being a wanted person in China does not feel nice. About 5 days ago, factories found out my fathers lighting company is going through chapter 11, and they won’t be getting paid.

Their immediate reaction is to go to our factory, to see whats going on. While outside, one of our employees overhears one of the owners saying to go find Seth. I’ve been out of the business for over 2 years, but being the owners son does seem to still mean something over here. We’re not sure their plans, but for sure, one of the factories contacted a friend of mine to see if I was still in China, and where I live… Unfortunately, my friend didn’t realize till a little ways into the conversation that something sounded fishy.

So, 10:30 PM I’m getting urgent calls from my Bro and Dad, saying guys are on the way, get out!

This is freaky, good thing for gated communities, its hard to drive in a van full of goons. And, my friend did not mention my exact area. Ok, so get out… The vendors found out, and your family’s business owes over a million dollars to factories that they may never see! They will come for me, this is not a question… Would they hurt me, probably not… See a similar kidnap case.

How safe am I, well, relatively safe, but still not a good feeling. I called a friend of mine, who made it over in less than 5 minutes. He lived in Isreal, so had served in the military, and also lived in China for over 10 years and has good contacts. Down to the basement, and in a car, if people are watching, they probably won’t see any of this. We head out to another part of town. I’m gonna stay here for the next few days, away from anywhere factories could find me.

Ok for now, and out of site. Now, the game is how to accomplish my goals at the next trade shows without showing my face. Well, that was pretty easy, and I even came by my house a few times to help get my stuff ready for a weekend out of town. Some drinks with my friends over the weekend, and it all seems to melt away. They have not visited the apartment, and still may not know the exact building or number. I figure its pretty safe to go in and out, but keep low profile, and only enter and leave by car, via the underground car park. I’ve been able to make it till now, that I’m writing this…

Once I’m back in Dongguan, I see another email, from an old vendor I know… read below…

I defer to you the before,But now i am very disappoint to you.you let many factorice will close.You are a swindler.you must pay me all money.I know you will set a company in zhangshan.If you don’t pay me.We will look for you and your sons try my best.If i find you,you know what is aftermath.
Louky

Well, that is not fun to read! So, gotta keep a low profile, shits gonna go down here probably Friday, and I still have a fair to go to… A good suggestion from my Dad, is get somebody else to take care of what I need to get done… Luckily I have some great friends. They are going to help me at the Canton fair, while I’m jetting back to the USA. I really do not feel threatened, or even think that people are actually looking for me. But, I’m still aware that they could be and I would be stupid to take that chance. I’ve spoken to some close friends about it this week, again, the main point, I’m probably safe, but…

How about my housemate, who has been staying here in the apartment by himself for the last week? Well, all people I’ve talked to think mafia here would not go after the wrong person. Also, they don’t think they would actually harm a foreigner. But, if they could, they would find a person and keep them until all the dust settles to the factories contentment.

Now, sending an email threatening people is not a smart thing to do. My Dad has already planned on making personal settlements with vendors in order to keep our customers and suppliers able to survive us going Chapter 11. One lesson learned, is that by not being proactive with the suppliers and telling them that this is going on, but that they find out through the grapevine will mean that they assume the worst and may overreact. Or not, we’ll see how this goes…

Another thing recommended to do, is to keep a list of all the people who make threats, including their addresses, cell phones, and bank info if you have it… We went as far as writing down all the license plate numbers of the people outside our factory. If you do have contacts in the darker side of the world, or if something goes wrong, the police will have a good place to start looking.

Again, the smartest thing for me to do is not go home at all, and avoid the restaurants and bars that I normally eat at…

At this point, some vendors have rented apartments outside the factory to be sure we do not move things overnight, they are watching.

Its a few days later, I made it to the Hong Kong Housewares Fair, had some good interest from factories about GoodFactories.com and how it can help them find more customers, and made it to the hotel.

I’m finishing this article from home. Its actually snowing today, and I’m still wondering if I ever was really threatened, or the factories just wanted to scare us into paying them. Either way, guys from our company are there, and in the middle of negotiations. They have armed security with them during the negotiations, in case anything gets crazy, but hopefully the orders get shipping again, and the factories can keep enough business and get enough cash flow to survive…

I’ll update the post with what happened when it gets resolved, and please comment if anybody has experienced any stories and has advise for others!