[LWC]

i usually get around 2 - 3 cheques a day, tieing me over with at least £20 a day in cheques

last 5 days ive had no cheques, what the hell is going on!

ive got so much money outstanding its taking the mick

i couldnt make it any easier for them, leave a STAMPED addresed envelope or offer for them to pay online

oh well, anyone else noticing this?

a customer said to me the other day which made me fume "i didnt send it because its only £10 and i know your not desperate"

WHAT!!! ill remeber that when i get my phone bill from BT next month

[Oakley Windows]

a customer said to me the other day which made me fume "i didnt send it because its only £10 and i know your not desperate"

Some of them are a nightmare, it has to be said.

That kind of comment would blow me away, talk about inconsiderate!

[johnny_h]

lost 4 cheques recently one turned up she finally she forget to put a stamp on it one has just arrived he thought she had sent it she thought he had and 2 i know are just fobbing me off so they have been dumped one says her husband has sent it the very same guy who doesnt see the need for clean windows she will call soon  

[LWC]

a customer said to me the other day which made me fume "i didnt send it because its only £10 and i know your not desperate"

Some of them are a nightmare, it has to be said.

That kind of comment would blow me away, talk about inconsiderate!

it did blow me away to be fair!

if they all thought like that even if 10 people did that, thats £100 im down!

ive got over 400 custies, imagine if they all thought like that, id be criplpled

[Steve CM]

mine are coming in thick and fast

[LWC]

mine are coming in thick and fast

thanks for that 

[ftp]

I'm going to stop leaving sae because many are paying a month behind now. Some are two behind and i'm wondering if i'll get paid at all. Kids answer the door with "mums in bed" or "mums in the bath" then there are the ones who twitch the curtains and don't answer the door. 

[gsw]

i too put a stamp on and to be fair most of mine get round to sending within 2 weeks but i still get the ones who let it run and run, last year at christmas i got paid for the usual three cleans they owed plus a small drink and 6 or seven stamped envelopes that they had saved up over the year!!! at least they gave them back i suppose, the job is £35.

have you thought about changing your slip to include a "please pay within seven working days, as cashflow for a small business like mine is vital" clause. I am sure they will still ignore it but at least you are trying to get the point across!

fading that give their boss a ring and tell him to hold the custies wages back for a few months and see how they bloody like it!!!

greg

[LWC]

ive go please send within 14 days, if received laters than 30 days £2.50 will be added to bill, and this doenst even seem to be a deterant!!

ive even added this charge to peoples bills and they pay it then do the same again the next month!!

[gsw]

try it in red ink!!!

other than that geez, its collecting and watching the curtains twitch while they hide from you!!!

or drop em!

will they pay online?? that has sorted some of my problem payers, apparently its too much hassle to write a cheque!!!

greg

[ftp]

Chatting to my wife about this only this morning and i can't think of any other service where the customer thinks it's their right not to pay on time can you think of one?

[trike]

i usually get around 2 - 3 cheques a day, tieing me over with at least £20 a day in cheques

last 5 days ive had no cheques, what the hell is going on!

ive got so much money outstanding its taking the mick

i couldnt make it any easier for them, leave a STAMPED addresed envelope or offer for them to pay online

oh well, anyone else noticing this?

a customer said to me the other day which made me fume "i didnt send it because its only £10 and i know your not desperate"

WHAT!!! ill remeber that when i get my phone bill from BT next month

there was another topic about getting cheque paymens,i said then,if you dont recieve cheques you still have to call for your money,is it reay worth the hassel.

[LWC]

i wish we could some how setup a direct debit thing like your phone bill where we just take it out. with theyre consent first of course

i think im going to go into bank and ask about this.

leaving a note saying the payment will be taken within 7 days

id never be in my overdraft ever if i could somehow do this

[Nathanael Jones]

I reckon my average wait is 3 weeks for payment. That's only the average,.. some pay 6 or 7 weeks after the clean despite the big, bold, bright red lettering that says "Payment is due within 7 days" on the tickets. This is definitely a problem that is getting worse recently,... But apart from knocking on doors in the evening, what other way is there to speed up payments?

[Mr Cleannclear]

I have just dropped 2 good jobs, if you are not getting your money on time they stop becoming good jobs.

I am finding that when I leave a SAE they return it with cheque a few days before the next clean.

I have now added to my window cleaner cleaned to day slip .

TO KEEP COSTS DOWN PLEASE MAKE PROMPT  PAYMENT

[mci services]

even collecting isnt much better i had an old dear say can i pay double next month, sure i said as it was only a few quid then she says its because i need the money for my trip to the horse racing with my oap club i was gob smacked

[peter holley]

i did sae rigidly for 18 mnths on the whole it worked well , but about 20% were consistently late... i now do collecting again ...yes its a pain , but cashflow is a thing of the past...i still leave an envelope and stamp if they are out when i collect, and on long distance work i leave an sae....

[Dave Turley]

it's nice when you get to a point where you have more than enough customers, and you can afford to drop all the crap custies, life becomes so much easier.

I still have a few custies who pay me every couple of months, but I know them well enough to know the money is safe. they're quite well priced jobs so it isn't so bad.

I know this isn't an easy decision to make in these potentially difficult times

[dave0123]

mine are still coming as usal i think one or two taking longer people who are straped for cash and on monthly pay.

i have pay within 16days or 2.50 will be added for late payment charge everyting is in black text apart from that in red haha helps a little though

[peter holley]

it's nice when you get to a point where you have more than enough customers, and you can afford to drop all the crap custies, life becomes so much easier.

I still have a few custies who pay me every couple of months, but I know them well enough to know the money is safe. they're quite well priced jobs so it isn't so bad.

I know this isn't an easy decision to make in these potentially difficult times

thats the problem though, as things get tighter i think that more people will leave it a bit longer before paying

[seandyer2003]

i did sae rigidly for 18 mnths on the whole it worked well , but about 20% were consistently late... i now do collecting again ...yes its a pain , but cashflow is a thing of the past...i still leave an envelope and stamp if they are out when i collect, and on long distance work i leave an sae....

Thats my plan.....one gone monthly and one cancelled today but picked up loads this week, one to cover them two, a one off frame and wc that might want cleaning till he moves out, and a £13 and £10 where i already work, and someone has stopped working that street so i should pick up almost £100 i reckon

so all good!!

[alanwilson]

we have a float in the business account which I pay staff, my son and myself from, a set wage each week (unless the boys do overtime in which case obviously they get more).

This ensures that even when a lot of payments are late there is never a problem with cash flow.

the float has gotten very low a few times though

[edd]

JAM JARS ARE THE BEST!!

problem crusties get the jam jar put a cheque in it and when it appears on door step
replace back in hiding place with another cheque works a treat for some old gits

[Wayne Thomas]

I've noticed customers sending cheques later and later as the months go by. I'm not bothered, I charge them a £2.50 late payment/administration charge which they pay, but frustrating all the same. I use it as a guide for who's becoming a risky customer that may eventually need dropping. No point having customers that eventually stop paying or become so late paying they become high risk.

[bwoofie]

Sorry, but forget about envelopes and the fancy stuff- you clean their windows-you want paying straight away (or call back later)
You buy a loaf from Mr Tesco- he wants his money straightaway dont he?
Nuff said
you run a business not a charity

[Wayne Thomas]

Sorry, but forget about envelopes and the fancy stuff- you clean their windows-you want paying straight away (or call back later)
You buy a loaf from Mr Tesco- he wants his money straightaway dont he?
Nuff said
you run a business not a charity

It's a complete waste of time calling back for money for me. Most are out and I've no intentions of driving around for hours wasting diesel and my time trying to catch a couple people in. All the holiday home owners live upcountry or as far away as Japan and that's a bit too far too collect
My customers can pay by cheque, postal order, cash, online by paypal or credit card, standing order and BACs. If that isn't easy enough for them then they are obviously bad payers who I wouldn't want as customers.

[bwoofie]

Just leave em a curt note with your mobile number asking them to ring you when they are going to be in.
Cheques take 7 days to clear, waste of time

[windowwashers]

Just leave em a curt note with your mobile number asking them to ring you when they are going to be in.
Cheques take 7 days to clear, waste of time

Collecting is a total waste of time, something your not paid for, and they say they will be in and then go out, cheque / postal order in the post, online or pay if they are there. Collecting sod that stopped that many years ago (because or the first sentence)
If I collected now I would be out every day of the week every evening 7 days a weeks again sod that. Get real and get them to post and stop wasting your own time. Time is money and collecting is time losed and money not earnt (you cant argue with that as it is true)

[dai]

I have one £13 job that's giving me grief, I clean for three months, if they haven't paid in three months they don't get done.
 The last time I did this job both the Porche and the Lexus were on the drive, Great they are in I thought, when I knocked there was no answer, maybe they're away on holiday, I came back an hour later and spotted an open window, knocked again, still no answer, went back 30 mins later and the porche had gone, still no answer.
I left a slip and an envelope asking for my £39. Nothing, and they're due again tomorrow.
This is on a posh Marina complex, and many of my customers pay up to a year in advance.

[jefftemperley]

must admit ive noticed payments slowing up too. i have online , s/o and freepost payments available (no need for stamps and only get charged for the ones used ) and george tells me i have £1500+ outstanding i was considering a catch all letter to all my custys explaining what late payments mean to a window cleaner

[scud]

  I to am having a slow response to payment at the moment, we were discussing this the other day and the upshot of this is I think I will start collecting from the more local jobs on a Monday night.
 
   I think it is just the economic climate, people feel they can leave the window cleaner until last, I have a City worker who owes me 50 quid, his Jag will be clamped soon if payment isn't received.

[alanwilson]

Honestly guys, you need to have a float in the bank to work from - its hard at the start but once you get the balance up you have breathing space.

Our float is £10k minimum - so that sounds a lot, but I have to assume no one will pay for 3 months and I need to pay my staff (x2) and my son.  I would have to do without should this ever happen but at least I can cover my costs.

Obviously a sole trader won't need as much as this but you still need a float.  Try to allow for as much as your circumstances will allow.

[karygate]

i ring my customers the night before i clean. then when i clean the money is round the back. only have to go back couple of times a month and am owed nothing. has worked fine for 18 months now. some leave a cheque but thats even better than all the mucking around.

[dmlservices]

i did sae rigidly for 18 mnths on the whole it worked well , but about 20% were consistently late... i now do collecting again ...yes its a pain , but cashflow is a thing of the past...i still leave an envelope and stamp if they are out when i collect, and on long distance work i leave an sae....

snap, i dont even bother to leave sae now, just write on ticket " please send cheque" was costing a fortune in sae's i used to put one in for each clean, some would send after 3- 4 mths , meaning 2- 3 sae's were probably binned by custy

daz

[Chris Galloway]

i did sae rigidly for 18 mnths on the whole it worked well , but about 20% were consistently late... i now do collecting again ...yes its a pain , but cashflow is a thing of the past...i still leave an envelope and stamp if they are out when i collect, and on long distance work i leave an sae....

snap, i dont even bother to leave sae now, just write on ticket " please send cheque" was costing a fortune in sae's i used to put one in for each clean, some would send after 3- 4 mths , meaning 2- 3 sae's were probably binned by custy

daz

If my custies want me to collect or i have to collect monies that are over due, then i charge them extra - and advise why.. my time and fuel costs! I leave a SAE which they have already paid for in their bill - if i need to send another then i would charge late payment fee's. I still have 2 custies that are 2 months late.. so will send a nicely worded letter requesting monies.. otherwise i will have to cancel the service, and if they wish to continue then a direct debit or pre payment must be made.

Many are right, you dont expect anyone else to wait for payment for services (unless you agree to that in the first instance), so i dont see why i should.