Yes, as a matter of fact I have. In fact, I've heard the flowery stuff and when the going got rough I've even heard the threats (which are probably most likened to mafia type stuff). On one project we had, Bin Laden Construction was working on the project. Yes, the same Bin Laden as Osama "Bin Hidin'". Not a direct son, but Bin Laden is a massive construction firm all over the Middle East. When the Malaysian overwhelmingly Sunni government would get sideways with the (also Sunni) Bin Laden family, the daggers would come out (because they are of different lineages). I've even heard negotiations as intense as..."Well, I'm sure you've heard about the bin Laden followings of the brother Osama, right?" That's like a serious threat (impolite off the scale), basically on people's heads! The response was..."Yes, yes, we are aware of this brother...but surely he is not your sole negotiator and representative. Come now. Let us have tea shall we, and pehaps some biscuits, and we shall discuss. this matter in earnest. Gentlemen, would you excuse us, please? (at which point none of them move...translated meaning..."GET OUT!"). Seriously!
So yes, I've seen all sorts of stuff, stuff where it gets down to what I call "salami slicing time", and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
The Petronas Towers were under construction at the same time (then, tallest buildings in the world and there were two of them), and they were in big trouble (one of the towers anyway. (There were two different competing GC's, one building each tower. And, it was apparently a race.)) The project I was on was far larger than the Towers, so those were just a novelty to us, but it helped maintain some sanity in an otherwise insane world in what was SE Asia at the time. The growth was literally off the charts.
Edit - Less than 18 months later Soros yanked the carpet out from underneath all of SE Asia and tanked the economy...just for fun. Probably over a cigar bet. The economy tanked, they threw all of us ex-pats out of the country. What's weird is, Chinese capitalism capitalized on the crisis and made massive investment in real estate there which would ultimately cost them trillions, and much of it sits vacant even to this day. (I have a buddy to stayed behind, married a SE Asian (Chinese) attorney, and he still provides me regular updates.)
So yes, I've seen all sorts of stuff, stuff where it gets down to what I call "salami slicing time", and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
The Petronas Towers were under construction at the same time (then, tallest buildings in the world and there were two of them), and they were in big trouble (one of the towers anyway. (There were two different competing GC's, one building each tower. And, it was apparently a race.)) The project I was on was far larger than the Towers, so those were just a novelty to us, but it helped maintain some sanity in an otherwise insane world in what was SE Asia at the time. The growth was literally off the charts.
Edit - Less than 18 months later Soros yanked the carpet out from underneath all of SE Asia and tanked the economy...just for fun. Probably over a cigar bet. The economy tanked, they threw all of us ex-pats out of the country. What's weird is, Chinese capitalism capitalized on the crisis and made massive investment in real estate there which would ultimately cost them trillions, and much of it sits vacant even to this day. (I have a buddy to stayed behind, married a SE Asian (Chinese) attorney, and he still provides me regular updates.)