customer wont pay

« **on:** March 04, 2007, 03:31:16 pm »

Hi Everyone.

Just wondered if anyone was around to help us out.

One of our monthly customers hasnt paid and says he wont pay because he says we haven't done the hours or the work agreed. He is wrong and im sure trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

is there anything i can do? its his word against ours. 3 visits he owes us for, but says he'll only pay for one!

thanks
lisa

« **Reply #1 on:** March 04, 2007, 04:44:16 pm »

He would have had plenty of opportunity over the month to let you know he wasn't happy and he is wrong to wait until he was invoiced to tell you that you are not being paid.

It is not down to him to decide how much he is going to pay either.

Tell him to pay up or you'll see him in court, and you will be charging him for the expense and time this will entail as well. Tell him this will add nearly £100 to your claim and you'll be adding interest on a daily basis, AND you know you'll win.

Don't do any more cleaning for him in the meantime either.

« **Reply #2 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:01:44 pm »

hi Gary

thanks for replying.

He spoke to other lisa this morning, and said the above, but hes has ben giving us the run around all weeks trying to get hold of him. hes cancelled us now and he twisted lisa's words and tried to make out that we are charging him for travel time when we arent. he agreed to the costs at the start.
didnt like it that we travel by bus instead of driving, nothing to do with him how we travel! ends up cheaper anyway as we get big saver tickets as we are frequent 'flyers' on the buses anyway.

ive started drafting a letter putting some things right, about what he agreed to and the costs and how we dont inc travel time. im at the end part, ive put:

We had been lenient with you regarding your first payment, which we received 29th November 2006, by bank transfer for 8th November 2006 visit, but now you leave us no alternative but to take further action.

what am i allowed to say next?? bit scared never took it this far before

« **Reply #3 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:18:23 pm »

Head the letter " Last request for payment before action"

Then detail what he owes you, also include all charges relating to court action will be past on to him and also that if payment is not recieved within 7 days you will also be adding interest.

Send it recorded delivery.

« **Reply #4 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:40:49 pm »

thanks gary.

not sure about the 7 days thing, he isnt at the property for most of the month, so i think he wouldnt pay it anyway, as he wont have seen it.

how much interest is allowed to be added after the 7 days? and does it not matter if he has seen it or not?

sorry, im not all with this legal bit and chasing payments.
thanks for your help today.

« **Reply #5 on:** March 04, 2007, 05:53:48 pm »

You've caught me in a good mood lisa

Busy winding Tosh up at the moment :

Not sure, I think it's 2% above base rate, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Also add in that you will charge per hour your time you spend filling in the court forms.

If you know when he is going to be in try and hand deliver as well, if you're prepared to wait give him 14 or 28 days to pay, you can't start adding interest until after this date though.

I'm presuming you are the same Lisa as lisa12 and Lisa 123?

Will you be Lisa12345 next

:

« **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2007, 06:03:46 pm »

Well as far as i know im only lisa123 and lisa1234, i think theres a new lisa out on the forum with the other names.

base rate? whats that at the moment?
4.5% or something?
have i got thi right? 6.5% off the outstanding invoice every day?

i really need to swot up on the financial side dont i

« **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2007, 06:22:47 pm »

hi,

hope you get it sorted, i would just add because you are not going to be doing any work for him again, i would dispence with the pleasentaries. i wouldent be nasty, but firm and dont enter into negotiation,
i would send a letter stating what monies are over due, and for what services and dates, nothing more. add "if full payment has not been received by..... outstanding monies including costs will be pursued through the small claims court" .

keep it simple and offer no opportunity to get into a debate and he is left with 2 options.90% they pay

and its very easy to issue a claim in the court and that alone is usually enough to get payment.

on a final note it sounds like he is a pro at this and it may be worth checking other cleaning companies, but at all costs dont try to justify anything to him or get into conversation, he can always write to you if he has something to say. just write to him and forget about it untill the date of reckoning

« **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2007, 06:29:06 pm »

hi steve

say he doesnt pay after 7 days, what do i actually do then?
i need to be walked through this, im very sorry to ask so many questions, but i dont want to look more of a fool than i am already. i want to get this right.

he might work as a solicitor or something for all i know!

« **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2007, 06:42:46 pm »

hi lisa,

its easy as long as you follow the steps in the right order. lots of info on web but a link (hopefully) attached below from bbc will help and you can actually do it all on the web.

for everyones info fees are proportionate to the size of claim and their is a specific calculation for interest fees. in this instance fees are only £30 which is why i wouldent give values in letter i think "plus costs" has a better effect cos people assume they could be huge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A1183448#1

i think 7 days will be too short by the way when you wright he has to be able to respond (in writing and make that clear).

hope this helps,
keep me posted, steve

claim on line https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

« **Reply #10 on:** March 04, 2007, 06:46:47 pm »

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A1183448

try again,

« **Reply #11 on:** March 04, 2007, 07:26:12 pm »

thanks steve
that links a great help, i had no idea how to go about it.

i hope this helps others on here aswell.

lisa

« **Reply #12 on:** March 04, 2007, 08:36:40 pm »

Lisa,

How much does he owe you?

Nick

« **Reply #13 on:** March 04, 2007, 10:39:20 pm »

Hi Nick

not a lot £165, but it was a dirty 'hands right down the toilet' job, quite literally.

We offer to leave ticksheets of the jobs we have completed but he was very stongly saying no to that idea,. although i did leave one on the last visit anyway.

He seems to think hes better than us i think. just doesnt want to pay, he was all nice until we did the 2nd visit in december which was awkward cos he rents his house out to 'friends' so he says, he said they were squaddies but theyre polish or something, and they came back while we were cleaning, not one or two, but a house full, about 6 of them i think, so we couldnt do everything anyway,

hes just trying all the tricks to say we did shoddy work and he wont pay.

« **Reply #14 on:** March 04, 2007, 11:30:31 pm »

Hello, take a look athttps://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

« **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2007, 09:15:10 am »

hey lisa, sorry to hear you are having problems.

been there a couple of times in the past, threatening to take them to the small claims court always works, tho they will drag it out as far as they can.

do you have any late payment clause on your invoice? my payment terms are by return and if payment not received within 7 days a late payment charge of £10 will be made, and show on the next invoice.

check this site out, i joined a couple of years ago, it is full of useful info and late payment/court action letters. its the ones i use and like i say they work. as soon as people realise paying late and going to court is likely to affect their credit rating they soon cough up

http://www.payontime.co.uk/

« **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2007, 10:11:57 am »

Quote from: Jan K on March 05, 2007, 09:15:10 am

hey lisa, sorry to hear you are having problems.

been there a couple of times in the past, threatening to take them to the small claims court always works, tho they will drag it out as far as they can.

do you have any late payment clause on your invoice? my payment terms are by return and if payment not received within 7 days a late payment charge of £10 will be made, and show on the next invoice.

check this site out, i joined a couple of years ago, it is full of useful info and late payment/court action letters. its the ones i use and like i say they work. as soon as people realise paying late and going to court is likely to affect their credit rating they soon cough up

http://www.payontime.co.uk/

We also sign them and have just issued 1 of those letters by recorded delivery and im happy to say that we have now recieved the payment 8 days later.

On another poit the interest rate is actualy the bank of england(5.25%) + 8% calculated on a daily basis but you can find all that info on that site.

« **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2007, 04:03:52 pm »

Hi Lisa,

same problem as you late last year.
It really is very simple:

Legally, he should pay you, then take you to court if he has a complaint. But he hasn't done that, so you are one step ahead already.

The first thing to do, is to get all your paperwork together. Look at it and make sure you have some form of agreement with him in writing. To be sure that he is in the wrong.

Go to: http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

Fill out the relevant form for your situation and pay your £30 or so. (It goes up, the more you are claiming - but yours should be about £30)

On the very simple form, explain the situation. That you have an agreement, you have done work and that he is refusing to pay. Give all the information, but not in great amounts of detail - keep it simple and to the point. Keep a note of all reference numbers and phone number for the court.

Then submit it! It's as simple as that. Within a few days he will receive the claim from the court. He has 28 days to contest or pay up.

Chances are you will get a cheque (without your costs) just before the deadline.
Just call the court and tell them that you have recieved 'part payment' and are returning the cheque, asking him for your court costs. Then let him know what you have done (don't forget to return the cheque - copy it first, if you can) The court may give him a bit more time and I bet the next cheque follows soon after.

As soon as it clears, withdraw the claim by phoning the court.

I wouldn't bother with interest on anything less than £5,000. It is very complicated to work out, it is accumulative and the amount you would get back - even if payment has been overdue for six months - would be pennies!

Hope this helps and good luck.

« **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2007, 05:39:24 pm »

Lisa,

I'd do one of two things,

sell the problem to some ugly people and let them deal with it

or just leave it and use the time to find new contracts

do you not know of a big ugly family member to go an visit?

I'm big and ugly and find it usefull when collecting money

Nick

« **Reply #19 on:** March 09, 2007, 04:40:42 pm »

Hello Lisa

We have had this problem before with a famous footballer. Cleaned their house for sale, and after 3 months of chasing the money he finally said that they were not happy with the work.

we issued a summons from the court. We had to pay £85.00 but you get this back when they pay. All i can say is that it is worth it. We waited about 8 months before we finally got the money. But as they have not contacted you to tell you the work was not good, they do not have a leg to stand on.

The satisfaction you get when you get the money is great.

If you need any further information, please contact me my e-mail is utopiacleaning@btinternet.com

Kirsty

« **Reply #20 on:** March 10, 2007, 07:07:45 am »

Court action!!

« **Reply #21 on:** March 10, 2007, 01:03:18 pm »

i have just been to the pay on time website, it says about interest to commercial, business to business but not to individuals, it says the law doesnt apply to individuals.

unless i haven't read it correctly.

« **Reply #22 on:** March 10, 2007, 01:07:53 pm »

well just send it to them, and cross your fingers, it worked for us 3 days after the client recieved the registred letter she was on the phone and the cheque was in the bank 2 days after that

« **Reply #23 on:** March 10, 2007, 02:15:32 pm »

worked for me too

at the end of the day you provide a service you get the payment

you can still take an individual to the small claims court for non payment

« **Reply #24 on:** March 10, 2007, 05:05:00 pm »

Lisa

When we done it. We went to the small claims court. You can charge interest from the day the money was owed until the day that you issue the summons. For us it worked out about £80.00. I think it was bout 5-8 % can not remember the exact percentage. Call your local crown court and they will send you all the paper work. But i forgot to tell you last time. That you need to send them a recorded delivery stating that is they do not pay within 7 days, then you will issue a court summons. It does not matter if he is not there or even if the recorded delivery comes back to you. As long as you have done this then you are covered.

Kirsty

« **Reply #25 on:** March 10, 2007, 06:51:27 pm »

you can complete everything on line now