[Jay Le Huray]

over the last few years we have seen a lot of threads about customers that have not paid, it seems to me that a lot of guys on here get very stressed about it.

I like most of you have had in the past a few non payers  and suffice to say they are no longer on my books.

I have also adopted a different feeling about this when it happens, say for example I have a £14 job that has not paid despite several attempts to collect it, the first thing I do is remove them from the round and rather than waste my energy and time getting stressed about it I look back and think ............... I haven't lost £14 but I have lost 10 minutes of my time

by using this thought I don't think about the lost money but the lost time instead, and hey ........ I can live with the fact that 10 mins of my time on this earth was wasted.

so the next time you have a bad payer try it , it works for me .

[Slash]

You've still lost £14 and 10 mins whatever way you look at it.

[Jay Le Huray]

You've still lost £14 and 10 mins whatever way you look at it.

sorry but no I have not lost £14 because I never received it in the first place it's not as if I dropped my wallet and lost it

but yes I have lost/wasted 10 mins though

[Slash]

Are you a charity.
Each to their own.

[Jay Le Huray]

Are you a charity.
Each to their own.

no I'm not but I am a realist who tries to live a stress free life

[Jay Le Huray]

so tell me Slash are one of the guys I was referring to, ref getting stressed about no payers and letting it control and ruin you r well being, if that's the case then perhaps you need a chill pill, Jesus £14 is not the end of the world

[Slash]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

[Jay Le Huray]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

[Suffolkcleaners]

I think it depends on your makeup as everyone is different. For some people it’s the principal of not getting paid. Me personally I actually get pretty p..... off if I don’t get the money. However I’m really reasonable if the customer communicates. One time a customer owed me £50 (5 cleans-yes a lot to owe and I wouldn’t let it roll to 5 cleans now) and she was really apologetic and paid £15 and said could she pay the rest over the next few pay days. I was fine with that as at least she communicated with me and was honest. I very rarely get Non payers these days as that example was a few years ago but what irritates me is non payers who just blatantly don’t pay or actually don’t give a monkeys.

However I wish I was a bit more relaxed about that sort of thing but my personality type is I would just get annoyed Lol.

[simon w]

I normally use a bit of phycological intimidation on their door step at 9pm on a Sunday night. It's never failed to work yet and needless to say we never do any work for them again. The way I look at it is I'm not doing it for me I'm doing it for any future window cleaners that may  do work for them so the customer will think twice about any funny games when payment is due.

[Suffolkcleaners]

Blinking heck Simon. I wouldn’t get you cleaning my windows in fear of seeing a shadow at my kitchen window on a Sunday night 😂

[Suffolkcleaners]

In my 20’s I was a lot more highly strung. Once a customer owed 3 x £7.50 cleans and I pulled up to collect (as collected in those days)and almost lumped him as he just made every excuse going. I did the next day (back in my traditional days) go Back and applicated all the windows with fairy as I was so annoyed  Lol.

I’m a lot calmer these days at 41 and just wouldn’t knee jerk like that now.

[dazmond]

I've only had to write off £55 all year!and that's because of customers dying owing me money.....👍

[james peters]

It very rarely happens to me, as when someone starts to develop the habit of paying late , I replace them.
I will take them back , but I will tell them they need to pay promptly. IT USUALLY WORKS...

as for the ones that dont pay even after a reminder, I am happy for them to not pay as this means I no longer need to deal with them , and I can move foreward and replace them.

I am not one for hanging onto customers that need constant reminders ...
years ago, when I had a young family it used to realy annoy me as I needed every penny.

these days I just focus my energy on replacing them with better customers.

[KS Cleaning]

If it’s a stand alone job I dump them without hesitation. However when it comes to compact work I am guilty of relaxing the rules a bit.

[james peters]

If it’s a stand alone job I dump them without hesitation. However when it comes to compact work I am guilty of relaxing the rules a bit.

I get that , I make my own rules at my own descretion.... based purely on how I stand to benefit....
at the end of the day its about providing a service , so that I can make as much as possible for the benefit of ME and MY FAMILY.

[Amazin]

use gocardless before remove them

[Splash & dash]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

[simon w]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

I think he was being sarcastic in a funny way Slash 

[Stoots]

Ive got about 30 debt letters to send out to non payers, i do this ever year around this time.

Amounts to about £400 of non payers this year

[Slash]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

I think he was being sarcastic in a funny way Slash 

That was from Splash & dash

[simon w]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

I think he was being sarcastic in a funny way Slash 

That was from Splash & dash

Sorry I wasn't concentrating because I needed a slash 

[NWH]

It’s not about it being £14 it’s the principle

[Spruce]

We used to let a maximum of 2 cleans go before getting insistent on payment. I've learnt from experience that some customers tend to forget they haven't paid for the previous clean even although the outstanding amount is noted on the last windows cleaned slip. It then looks like I'm defrauding them. That's a very uncomfortable position to be in.

So now each clean must be paid for before the next clean. I have mobile numbers for these late payers now. I get them to phone my mobile number and save them to my contacts

Telling a late paying customer that you won't be cleaning their windows until payment is made isn't any leverage to 'force' them to pay imho. I will never mention not cleaning their windows until I  receive payment. They can easily find another window cleaner to play the same game on - in our area anyway. I just insist they pay for the last clean even if I decide I'm not going to be cleaning their windows again.

[Jay Le Huray]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

no stress here mate and BTW it's spelt ..... aren't ........ losing ....... and here

[Jay Le Huray]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

I think he was being sarcastic in a funny way Slash 

well spotted Simon, some people can't see it when it hits them in the face

[KS Cleaning]

Good for you,happy Cristmas

well that ended that debate lol, happy Christmas to you too

Lol you arnt stressed about loosing  £14 from a non payers  but you are stressed up to the eye balls by the comments on hear 😂😂😂😂😂

no stress here mate and BTW it's spelt ..... aren't ........ losing ....... and here

And start your sentence with a capital letter and finish it with a full stop.😜

[tonyoliver]

I thought it was only me that had slow ,late ,and non paying so-called customers

[dazmond]

We used to let a maximum of 2 cleans go before getting insistent on payment. I've learnt from experience that some customers tend to forget they haven't paid for the previous clean even although the outstanding amount is noted on the last windows cleaned slip. It then looks like I'm defrauding them. That's a very uncomfortable position to be in.

So now each clean must be paid for before the next clean. I have mobile numbers for these late payers now. I get them to phone my mobile number and save them to my contacts

Telling a late paying customer that you won't be cleaning their windows until payment is made isn't any leverage to 'force' them to pay imho. I will never mention not cleaning their windows until I  receive payment. They can easily find another window cleaner to play the same game on - in our area anyway. I just insist they pay for the last clean even if I decide I'm not going to be cleaning their windows again.

its very easy to rectify though if the customer is unsure......i simply print off a statement of account for that particular customer and post it through their door or sometimes i just take a pic on my phone and send it to them by MMS.....it sorts them out every time!

[Stoots]

Still got to print out my debt letters and post them. About 20 to do, might do that later today.

[Mike Burd]

Still got to print out my debt letters and post them. About 20 to do, might do that later today.

If you intend taking any to court you’llneed a slightly modified letter since a year or two ago. If it’s just a threat no need though. You’ve got to offer arbitration now

[Stoots]

Still got to print out my debt letters and post them. About 20 to do, might do that later today.

If you intend taking any to court you’llneed a slightly modified letter since a year or two ago. If it’s just a threat no need though. You’ve got to offer arbitration now

Yeh, i know things changed. Its just a threat really

Last year about half of them coughed up after a threat

I might take a couple of them to court that really upset me

But then again i had planned a "christmas revenge ride" which was just an excuse to have a ride out on my motorbike and egg a few windows or break something under the disguise of a motorbike helmet.

childish i know 

[Mike Burd]

Still got to print out my debt letters and post them. About 20 to do, might do that later today.

If you intend taking any to court you’llneed a slightly modified letter since a year or two ago. If it’s just a threat no need though. You’ve got to offer arbitration now

Yeh, i know things changed. Its just a threat really

Last year about half of them coughed up after a threat

I might take a couple of them to court that really upset me

But then again i had planned a "christmas revenge ride" which was just an excuse to have a ride out on my motorbike and egg a few windows or break something under the disguise of a motorbike helmet.

childish i know 

But entirely understandable.

[Lauries cleaning]

For bad payers, once they've coughed up, I offer gocardless or nothing. Usually that's the end of it, but I've a fair few bad payers that have signed up and have been model customers since.

[Stoots]

My debt letters went out just before new year, there was about 25 in the end...

They have just started landing on doorsteps today, ive had 2 customers message me. One of them was disgusted with the letter 
The other apologised and wanted to resume, blocked.

Both paid though 

A couple of years ago i had one bloke ring me shouting and swearing about the letters, they dont half upset people. Love it