[Ascjim]

Im not sure why accepting £50 would be unprofessional

In fact you could argue that it would be very professional to say something along the lines of

"Sorry you only feel the servcie was worth £50, my fee of £65 is the amount i would normally charge however in this instance i will accept responsibility for not agreeing a price before work was carried out. I will reluctantly accept your offer of £50 if you could please make payment asap. "


To be fair though as soon as she coughed up i would be unprofessional and tell her what i really thought 

anyway its too late now just keep prodding her to pay or take it to small claims what else can you do

I don't think it would work out in small claims as no quote was given.

[Suffolkcleaners]

I’m starting to accept it now. Yes no quote given= not a leg to stand on. If I get lucky and she coughs up I would be tempted to tell her what I thought or if a few weeks goes down the line and she indicates she clearly isn’t going to pay Im again tempted to just tell her what I think. However my sensible head is saying just let it go.

And I certainly won’t be smiling at her when I next see her. Jeez. Yes better than that but not going that far 🤣

Thanks for letting me vent guys. I need to get a grip as so much else going on in the world.

[Small but perfectley formed]

If she pays you carry on working for her put the price up to recover the £15 that way you got one over her .
It’s only money after all.

[tonyoliver]

Take the £50 every time you pull up in the street every time you hear the surname or street name  for the next 20 years you’ll still get mad at the thought every time  you think  of the place
The neighbours know what she’s like you ain’t the first …..
My version was a £250  loss the reason I moved his garden hose two feet to put the ladder up  to clear an old birds nest as a favour ?  To him as it was annoying a daft and dangerous move three floors up  full stretch
No extra charge as you got a ladder   No thank you nothing
and never put it back  he called at three in the morning to complain  I though someone had died when he said what it was I told him to go f himself and the c word twice
Never got paid he  got robbed and died a few months later
 but it still rankles 30 years later when I drive by

[p1w1]

£250 to remove a birds nest 30 years ago  , you would struggle to get that in this time (unless your splash of course  )

[Stoots]

Im not sure why accepting £50 would be unprofessional

In fact you could argue that it would be very professional to say something along the lines of

"Sorry you only feel the servcie was worth £50, my fee of £65 is the amount i would normally charge however in this instance i will accept responsibility for not agreeing a price before work was carried out. I will reluctantly accept your offer of £50 if you could please make payment asap. "


To be fair though as soon as she coughed up i would be unprofessional and tell her what i really thought 

anyway its too late now just keep prodding her to pay or take it to small claims what else can you do

I don't think it would work out in small claims as no quote was given.

Should be fine for the £50 in small claims. She agreed it was reasonable. That's enough.

[AuRavelling79]

£250 to remove a birds nest 30 years ago  , you would struggle to get that in this time (unless your splash of course  )

I don't think he meant that. But it isn't entirely clear what he did mean.

[p1w1]

£250 to remove a birds nest 30 years ago  , you would struggle to get that in this time (unless your splash of course  )

I don't think he meant that. But it isn't entirely clear what he did mean.

Yeah I know, Think he was just doing that as a favor with other work done. Just comes across like that, but it does sit inline with the CIU pricing model, so you never know 

[Smudger]

you do know this works both ways - customer asked for the work to be done but failed to get an estimate or quote - so basically she has sanctioned the work - unfortunately she hasn't liked the price.

by law she should still pay as the work was completed then sue the OP - in his favour is reasonableness - if his charge although not specified is reasonable then the customer is obliged to pay.

How practical any of this is for £65 is unto the OP

[tonyoliver]

The point is take what you can  dump her
forget it and move on
She’s cast the line for the next mug to pitch up to take the p out of already
it will rankle every time you pull up in the street
You’ll get the last laugh when you find  out she’s been savaged by a deranged sheep or a stupid comedy death

[robbo333]

This is unfortunate, you are obviously a really nice guy, trying to help out a custy and it has backfired on you.
I've done exactly the same thing as you in the past and I now think that bearing in mind she's a PIA, I wouldn't touch it without a quote!
Personally, when she sent the message offering £50, I would have politely asked if we could 'meet in the middle',  maybe she would have accepted...maybe not. 
If not, I would have politely accepted the £50 and dumped her.
Unfortunately, I think you have now dug yourself a bit of a hole (sorry to say that).
Hopefully she will pay you the £50, but if she doesn't you'll have to decide how much hassle you want to go through to recover the £50?
Personally, I actually think it's worth a couple more letters to recover the £50 (only because she has already agreed that £50 was an acceptable price) so technically she has AGREED to pay it.
On a positive note...summer will be here soon, we'll all be in shorts and the ladies skirts will be high.

[DJW]

Don’t think I’ve ever cleaned a single house windows for £65. Half hours work?

[james peters]

I always try to find a positive  from a negative.....
in this case the negative is you have lost an hour and a bit  of time and money

the positive is that its highly unlikely this will happen again.  you will be mentally harder and aware ...
and possibly you will be more fussy about who you will allow to be a customer.
and THAT is a good place to be 

[Splash & dash]

It’s bit late now but any work like this is paid for in advance.

It desnt really matter about a ‘quote’ or agreement to price she has instructed you to clean - it’s a reasonable charge it should be paid

Whether it’s worth chasing is up to you - get what you can chalk it do n to experience and don’t be so nice in the future

Bit difficult and un professional to charge an existing customer before carrying out work surely Darren ?

[Smudger]

yes mate - but there are circumstances where like the op has come under a lot of pressure to "just" go do the job

I have had a regular customer do the same its a emergency I need the work done today etc... but ive always priced first

i'm pointing out that the customer is obliged to pay for work carried out - nothing more - its also prudent for them to establish a price before giving permission to do it.

[Smudger]

It’s bit late now but any work like this is paid for in advance.

It desnt really matter about a ‘quote’ or agreement to price she has instructed you to clean - it’s a reasonable charge it should be paid

Whether it’s worth chasing is up to you - get what you can chalk it do n to experience and don’t be so nice in the future

Bit difficult and un professional to charge an existing customer before carrying out work surely Darren ?

by the way have the courtesy to get my name right - cheers

[Suffolkcleaners]

Update…

It was eating me up not getting paid. I admitted £65 wasn’t agreed but to please pay the £50.

 35 days went by and Saturday I lost it. When I say lost it I mean I kept it professional with no ill words but I left a very strong voicemail  (I was actually shaking in my voice). I said I was going to escalate it further.

She then responded and then said “I will ask the owners to pay immediately”.  She is the owner. Crazy response! Unless I’ve totally got that wrong,however she was still the one that instructed me.!

Another 5 days have gone by and she makes an excuse saying the owners are travelling. By this point I’m shocked and don’t know what to say.!

So I ask her for the so called owners details so I can chase them! No response.

Today finally I’ve been paid (the full £65 as well).

I then send this message…

“Payment received. I have to say I am horrified by this experience. 37 days is completely unacceptable.

It took 3 reminders before I got any response and then got fobbed off with the fact that you weren't the payee (which I had no idea about).

You were the one that instructed me so there shouldn't have been such a delay. I did a decent thing and try to help an existing customer who was very insistent on having them cleaned imminently. I would never dream or expect or rather assume that a tradesman can help that quickly. I would expect there may perhaps be a wait, but in your case I really went up and beyond to help.

As a result of feeling completely disrespected I'm cancelling any future window cleaning at 25 *** street.”

Regards

Her response “Perfect Thank
You”

Lesson learned. NEVER AGAIN!!!

[Smudger]

thanks for the update

one to go in the book of life experiences 

[Bungle]

Update…

It was eating me up not getting paid. I admitted £65 wasn’t agreed but to please pay the £50.

 35 days went by and Saturday I lost it. When I say lost it I mean I kept it professional with no ill words but I left a very strong voicemail  (I was actually shaking in my voice). I said I was going to escalate it further.

She then responded and then said “I will ask the owners to pay immediately”.  She is the owner. Crazy response! Unless I’ve totally got that wrong,however she was still the one that instructed me.!

Another 5 days have gone by and she makes an excuse saying the owners are travelling. By this point I’m shocked and don’t know what to say.!

So I ask her for the so called owners details so I can chase them! No response.

Today finally I’ve been paid (the full £65 as well).

I then send this message…

“Payment received. I have to say I am horrified by this experience. 37 days is completely unacceptable.

It took 3 reminders before I got any response and then got fobbed off with the fact that you weren't the payee (which I had no idea about).

You were the one that instructed me so there shouldn't have been such a delay. I did a decent thing and try to help an existing customer who was very insistent on having them cleaned imminently. I would never dream or expect or rather assume that a tradesman can help that quickly. I would expect there may perhaps be a wait, but in your case I really went up and beyond to help.

As a result of feeling completely disrespected I'm cancelling any future window cleaning at 25 *** street.”

Regards

Her response “Perfect Thank
You”

Lesson learned. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Good for you! Sadly there are horrible nasty people out there who try and take advantage. She'll get her comeuppance one day 🤞

[Slacky]

Wow, she’s a twisted old witch.