Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: prestigeclean on November 14, 2009, 09:18:43 am
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as a general rule i only clean twice before i expect payment , then i will put a reminder through the door if they are not in , if payment is not received i will then go back a couple of times to try and get the money , after this i tend to right the money off , what do you do ? regards alan
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My customers are really prompt... i put "please pay within 3 days"
on the slip by post or internet or paypal
they all pay within a week.
But..... i have one customer who owes me two months at £8...
sent letters and knocked, but nothing...
i will have to write this off, but it infuriates me knowing i have worked my arse off on their property and they just disgard me as a nobody.!
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I wheel clamp thier car until they pay................
...........only kidding !
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I collect from two estate areas I do, the rest I leave a SAE. With the estate areas I collect once and if the customer is not in I leave a SAE.
If I do not receive payment, I'll keep on cleaning, calling once for the money (if its one of my two estate areas), and leave another SAE if they are not in. I'll do this for three cleans; 99.9% of the time I've either been paid when I collect or they've sent a cheque.
For the 0.1%, I'll phone (if I've got their number; which I have for 80% of my customers) and ask if there's a problem.
I don't think I've had a problem with getting paid in the last year or so from domestic customers, however if you're new, you will have problems; the bulk of my customers I've had for quite a few years now. And any customers who prove themselves to be 'dodgy' get dropped straight away.
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Ive been to collect money from 1 today still in bed and wont answer door have left sae last month but she ignores them even saw her drive past mine yesterday will try later if no joy will cross of list and then will have 2 options spray windows at end of day with dirty water or ring taxi firm she works for and get them to ring me might be embarrassing for her
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For those who leave SAE's do you provide a stamp ?
I am going to leave SAE's and provide BACS details - but i don't see why i should provide the stamp
Darran
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just addresed envelope here ;D
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i ahve droped about 10 cusys this year, got sick of being messed around, they aint got the 6 pound to pay me but u then see them getting 20 quid worth of takeaway, i just drop them now, write of any more that i am owed, and when they ask why i dont clean theres any more just say you didnt pay, so replaced you with some one who does, a lot dont like it but i am not a charity
had one the other day who when lst paye dme said, "if i am not in dont do them, i will tell you when i want them done" lol, so just dropped her and replaced her 20 mins later with a custy at other end of road, some kids egg her house as they do on that estate and asked me to clean her window, so give her my new prices £1 a window and door came to 8 plus half for a first clean so £12, she said no as it use to be only 6, but i said you cancelled, so i replaced you and now have a new price strcture in force, she was a crap payer any way
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mine if not in leave the money under plant pots or bricks . ( i dont allow them to leave it under a bin, as i hate raking through bins ,looking for the money ).Now some folk forget to do this and if i lift a brick 3 months running and all thats under it is a cobweb it gets my dander up and i start door knocking and always get paid and usually let them stay on my bandwagon
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Ive been to collect money from 1 today still in bed and wont answer door have left sae last month but she ignores them even saw her drive past mine yesterday will try later if no joy will cross of list and then will have 2 options spray windows at end of day with dirty water or ring taxi firm she works for and get them to ring me might be embarrassing for her
Both the options you've listed are probably illegal - though I do sympathise with you.
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I wheel clamp thier car until they pay................
...........only kidding !
I dunno,... not a bad idea,...
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mine if not in leave the money under plant pots or bricks . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAYBE you could supply "special bricks " so that each time they left their home they would see it . ??
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i clean twice then no more till i see a picture of the queen!if they are persistently late paying or avoiding me get dropped!no throwing dirt on windows etc.could give u a bad name!write it off and move on!never keep cleaning unless u know u will get paid.most custys fine.some pay 4 months in advance! ;D ;D
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If they dont pay for their clean they dont get another one here. No way i am doing more than one clean if someone will not pay
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I wheel clamp thier car until they pay................
...........only kidding !
I dunno,... not a bad idea,...
I was thinking that, maybe get some sign writting on it, a pic on the website I think people would pay quicker ;D
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as a general rule i only clean twice before i expect payment , then i will put a reminder through the door if they are not in , if payment is not received i will then go back a couple of times to try and get the money , after this i tend to right the money off , what do you do ? regards alan
i write the money off,if they have been a problem its worth it to save time trying to collect,if the ever ask again i bring up the debt,a few have paid it and been perfect ever since,some fall back into old ways and get binned again,others pass you in the street not talking knowing the reason why you dont clean,but when they move you get the new customer ;D
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ive just got back off hols, before i went one commercial owed 550 , and i have paid out 250 in wages on it, promised it would be here by thursday last week, none in bank, get home no cheque!!
really p'd off now, this was only the first clean but if its gonna carry on like this i dont want the job, ots due in a week and its an 8 weekly,
i gave them 28 days to pay then sent a reminder and then rang numerous times each time it was "being sorted"
what do you reckon is best to do now? monday im thinking send out a letter that if no payment this week i will start small claim action?
i have his signature on the quote and everything so no probs there...
its a bit more than a £5 domestic to just write off !
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maybe u should start another thread sean given the title of this thread.most ive ever wrote off is £20! ;D ;Dno commercial for me.ill stick to less money/less hassle! ;D ;Dbetter cashflow
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more money though :)
i wont tell you how many hours for that :)
wasnt many though
however, its still my money and i have laid out for it .....
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Dazmond,I am just starting out and your posts are really good on here.I am thinking of just doing domestics,seem a lot less hassle as you just said,and a very very good reason not to do commercial is the amount of cash you lose if they don't pay.At least with domestic like you say its only going to be a few quid gets written off.I agree with window wipers,why go back if they not paid?I have pay within 3 days on the bottom of my invoice,so even on monthly's there is ample of time to pay me and for me to chase debt,If they don't pay after being rang/knocked on for the money why go back? I need all the customers i can get as i am only just starting,but i am fu!*ed if i am cleaning any for free, "I may look like a tw*t" :)
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and on another note, If i have a bad payer, I always post a new invoice with a late payment charge added to it to cover my extra collection costs. I always put in the letter if they pay within 7 days, I will let them off the late payment charge.
Tried this twice now, and both times got the result paid. Also stopped doing there windows too.
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maybe u should start another thread sean given the title of this thread.most ive ever wrote off is £20! ;D ;Dno commercial for me.ill stick to less money/less hassle! ;D ;Dbetter cashflow
ive wrote off more than £20 on domestics too :)
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I'll clean twice without payment, then they get a visit on their doorstep, if they still don't pay they get a letter.
If they still ignore my requests for payment they are issued with a "7 day notice", then after the seven days if they haven't paid they are taken to the small claims court.
I'm just going through the courts at the moment to collect a £20 debt, so now that £20 has now increased to £50 because of court costs and admin fees.
Stupid really, but I wont let people get away with trying to rip me off! >:(
All of my custies are great payers, but every now and again you do pick one up that's a pain in the ass, and they wonder why they can never keep a w/c?? (pr1cks!!!)
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I'll clean twice without payment, then they get a visit on their doorstep, if they still don't pay they get a letter.
If they still ignore my requests for payment they are issued with a "7 day notice", then after the seven days if they haven't paid they are taken to the small claims court.
I'm just going through the courts at the moment to collect a £20 debt, so now that £20 has now increased to £50 because of court costs and admin fees.
Stupid really, but I wont let people get away with trying to rip me off! >:(
All of my custies are great payers, but every now and again you do pick one up that's a pain in the ass, and they wonder why they can never keep a w/c?? (pr1cks!!!)
thats daft mate
why??
id only go through courts if cost effective!
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even when you get your £20 the time spent wouldnt be worth the hassle of court
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i have written off about 2k this year, and i think i've got about another 500 that will have to do the same. There is only so much you can do without giving yourself a heart attack ::)
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For those who leave SAE's do you provide a stamp ?
I am going to leave SAE's and provide BACS details - but i don't see why i should provide the stamp
Darran
It wouldn't be an SAE without a stamp on it, just an AE ;D ;D ;D
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For those who leave SAE's do you provide a stamp ?
I am going to leave SAE's and provide BACS details - but i don't see why i should provide the stamp
Darran
It wouldn't be an SAE without a stamp on it, just an AE ;D ;D ;D
it would
self
addressed
envelope
;D
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For those who leave SAE's do you provide a stamp ?
I am going to leave SAE's and provide BACS details - but i don't see why i should provide the stamp
why should they post it ;D
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i have written off about 2k this year, and i think i've got about another 500 that will have to do the same. There is only so much you can do without giving yourself a heart attack ::)
In domestic??
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i have written off about 2k this year, and i think i've got about another 500 that will have to do the same. There is only so much you can do without giving yourself a heart attack ::)
how do you collect,if you dont go knocking on thurs and fri you need to start
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he waits for cheques..... sae's i think
This is why i collect domestics and probably always will for indefinte future
some big ones post or pay online
alot pay for a few upfront but mostly probably 80 % i get as i go or collect
at least its straight in my bank and not theres!!!!
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I have dumped a few bad payers, it's always the same ones that I have to chase up, not worth the hassle.
I just hate it when I know 100% that they are in but won't answer the door.
It's the same ones that do this too, blind and cutain drawers are the worst culprits. some times you just block their drive in the morning before they go to work, then they have to come looking for you. "sorry I knocked and got no answer and thought you were out".
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I'll clean twice without payment, then they get a visit on their doorstep, if they still don't pay they get a letter.
If they still ignore my requests for payment they are issued with a "7 day notice", then after the seven days if they haven't paid they are taken to the small claims court.
I'm just going through the courts at the moment to collect a £20 debt, so now that £20 has now increased to £50 because of court costs and admin fees.
Stupid really, but I wont let people get away with trying to rip me off! >:(
All of my custies are great payers, but every now and again you do pick one up that's a pain in the ass, and they wonder why they can never keep a w/c?? (pr1cks!!!)
thats daft mate
why??
id only go through courts if cost effective!
Its more the principle of it.
They ask you to do a job for them and then they try to stiff you for the money!
If all your attempts to collect fail you right it off??? That's daft!
And besides, its no hassle for me, they pay the costs not me.
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o right...
thought you said it costs you £50 ?
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o right...
thought you said it costs you £50 ?
;D
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Went back to collect my money I was on about earlier daughter opens door and I says has your mum left some money out for me .she says yes ( long silence) do you want me to get it .Thick or what .
Had prob with a dentists practice I do got fed up waiting for money so went in when I knew they were busy and asked for money infront of patients . They pay up a bit quicker now.
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Went back to collect my money I was on about earlier daughter opens door and I says has your mum left some money out for me .she says yes ( long silence) do you want me to get it .Thick or what .
Had prob with a dentists practice I do got fed up waiting for money so went in when I knew they were busy and asked for money infront of patients . They pay up a bit quicker now.
;D
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Went back to collect my money I was on about earlier daughter opens door and I says has your mum left some money out for me .she says yes ( long silence) do you want me to get it .Thick or what .
Had prob with a dentists practice I do got fed up waiting for money so went in when I knew they were busy and asked for money infront of patients . They pay up a bit quicker now.
I bet you caqnnot wait till your next check up, you will go in like this ....>> ;D
and come out like this .....>>>>> :D
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I'll clean twice without payment, then they get a visit on their doorstep, if they still don't pay they get a letter.
If they still ignore my requests for payment they are issued with a "7 day notice", then after the seven days if they haven't paid they are taken to the small claims court.
I'm just going through the courts at the moment to collect a £20 debt, so now that £20 has now increased to £50 because of court costs and admin fees.
Stupid really, but I wont let people get away with trying to rip me off! >:(
All of my custies are great payers, but every now and again you do pick one up that's a pain in the ass, and they wonder why they can never keep a w/c?? (pr1cks!!!)
thats daft mate
why??
id only go through courts if cost effective!
I have written money off when i've felt sorry for them but as a general rule i go down the money claim route. It's an upfront payment, but the cost gets added onto the debt owed to me. So the costs will come back.
It depends on their background with me, but not getting paid is just like someone taking money out my back pocket. They have stolen my time and therefore my money.
The stress for me comes with knowing that someone ain't gonna pay. Once i've actually done the moneyclaim thing, the stress pretty much disappears.
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i have written off about 2k this year, and i think i've got about another 500 that will have to do the same. There is only so much you can do without giving yourself a heart attack ::)
Know what you mean on, still annoys me every time, and my wife hates it, I feel sorry if ever she becomes a debt collector.
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Dont go that often went last month got to have wisdom tooth out sending me to hospital for that so they save me money aswell ;D
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For those who leave SAE's do you provide a stamp ?
I am going to leave SAE's and provide BACS details - but i don't see why i should provide the stamp
Darran
It wouldn't be an SAE without a stamp on it, just an AE ;D ;D ;D
actually it is,if it as a stamp on it it should be ssae"stamped self adressed envelope" so sae is self adressed envelope
bob(picky rawlinson)
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For those who leave SAE's do you provide a stamp ?
I am going to leave SAE's and provide BACS details - but i don't see why i should provide the stamp
Darran
It wouldn't be an SAE without a stamp on it, just an AE ;D ;D ;D
actually it is,if it as a stamp on it it should be ssae"stamped self adressed envelope" so sae is self adressed envelope
bob(picky rawlinson)
bob(picky rawlinson)Plum ;)
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I think if we all went the small claims route the public would soon learn don’t mess with the window cleaner. To write off should only apply to bankruptcies. We need to be tuff or not in business. It’s a precedent we need to set.Professional conduct is not just a uniform but the way we run our businesses,it comes back to policies we need in business.
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what is the process for the small claims route? Never let them get away with steeling from us
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This is the link I was given and have used - https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp
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i have written off about 2k this year, and i think i've got about another 500 that will have to do the same. There is only so much you can do without giving yourself a heart attack ::)
how do you collect,if you dont go knocking on thurs and fri you need to start
its just part and parcel of getting lots of new customers. i probably could go round and cause havock but i really can't be arsed with the stress it gives me. I would rather just dump them and the debt and move on. Its easier on my stress levels