[Carl2009]

Yes, Darren, it is the principle that's important. I could afford to let it go, but it rankles with me. I go out and do an honest day's work and I pay my taxes. I insure my van and myself, it's MOT'd and safe on the road. I do a great job for every custy, including this one.

Then she asks me to do a job perhaps with no intention of paying me. I bend over backwards so she can pay on terms to suit her, but at the end of the day she has no respect for me.

I'm afraid I did feel it was worth pursuing. Some people bring problems on themselves, and she is, i'm afraid, one such person.

[Carl2009]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

[Johnny B]

I personally prefer to walk away and leave it to the customer's conscience. I don't cope very well with stress, and it just does my head in to deal with people who have no intention of paying.

I have one ex-customer who owes me from months ago. She phoned me on Wednesday, pleading with me to clean her windows. I told her I would when the money she owes (I gave her the amount) is in my hand. She agreed to pay.

I arranged to go round the next morning at a specified time. When I arrived, the curtains were drawn and there was no answer. I left a note saying I had called, and drove away. Two minutes later she was on the phone apologizing for missing me, and could I come back. Dutifully, I did. When I arrived she offered me an amount which was less than the clean she was hoping I would do. I repeated what I had told her over the phone that I would clean when the total amount owed was in my hand. She then said she would go straight to the post office to get it. I said that's fine, I will come back later when you have it. She then got stroppy and questioned whether I trusted her. I replied that I have been waiting nearly a year already for payment for previous cleans. At this point she told me to leave. I smiled, said ok and did.

I felt so much better, knowing that she failed to get one over me this time, and look forward to ignoring her phone calls in a few months time, as I know she hasn't a chance of getting her windows cleaned by anyone else.

To the OP, though, I admire your tenacity and am very pleased that your perseverance paid off, leaving you with your money and the ex-customer with a CCJ. You both got what they deserved.

John

  

  

[Carl2009]

I personally prefer to walk away and leave it to the customer's conscience. I don't cope very well with stress, and it just does my head in to deal with people who have no intention of paying.

I have one ex-customer who owes me from months ago. She phoned me on Wednesday, pleading with me to clean her windows. I told her I would when the money she owes (I gave her the amount) is in my hand. She agreed to pay.

I arranged to go round the next morning at a specified time. When I arrived, the curtains were drawn and there was no answer. I left a note saying I had called, and drove away. Two minutes later she was on the phone apoligizing for missing me, and could I come back. Dutifully, I did. When I arrived she offered me an amount which was less than the clean she was hoping I would do. I repeated what I had told her over the phone that I would clean when the total amount owed was in my hand. She then said she would go straight to the post office to get it. I said that's fine, I will come back later when you have it. She then got stroppy and questioned whether I trusted her. I replied that I have been waiting nearly a year already for payment for previous cleans. At this point she told me to leave. I smiled, said ok and did.

I felt so much better, knowing that she failed to get one over me this time, and look forward to ignoring her phone calls in a few months time, as I know she hasn't a chance of getting her windows cleaned by anyone else.

To the OP, though, I admire your tenacity and am very pleased that your perseverance paid off, leaving you with your money and the ex-customer with a CCJ. You both got what they deserved.

John

  

  

Thanks John for your constructive input. It's horses for courses I guess. Given what you have outlined above i'd have been burning inside. I'm just not that chilled out. But good on you if you can.

The thing is that the wonderful thing about being self employed you can do just what the hell you want; whatever causes you the least amount of stress.

[LT carpet cleaning]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

Unlike you I could afford to write off £70.

Tramp.

[Carl2009]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

Unlike you I could afford to write off £70.

Tramp.

Hummer - have you got a mortgage / pay rent?

[LT carpet cleaning]

I'm from Lancashire. For us Lancs, the use of the word "man" in the context I used it in could best be translated as, let me see, yes I know, "you pillock".  

Haha, by using that term I believe you have just described yourself as "man".

Anyway, well done for dropping someone in the mire for your poxy £70. Guess, you must be desperate.

Are you joking?
He didn't 'drop anyone in the mire'
She did it to herself.
She should be made an example of.
It's not the money. It's the principle.

Made an example of??

Haha, you sound like a Muslim cleric! Get real "man".

Lol. You sound like a tw@

What's a tw@? Say it properly.

You moronic tw@  

[LT carpet cleaning]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

Unlike you I could afford to write off £70.

Tramp.

Hummer - have you got a mortgage / pay rent?

No. But have struggled badly in the past. Ok, I see what your saying that she shouldnt have used your services. Guess I didn't like the bullying tone? 

[Carl2009]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

Unlike you I could afford to write off £70.

Tramp.

Hummer - have you got a mortgage / pay rent?

No.

No me neither man :-)

[Scrimble]

you are in the right and im glad you got your money,

worst i've been done over by a custy is for £40, yeah cheques in the post and all that,

[LT carpet cleaning]

Carl I modified my post.

[TheWindowManChris]

I wish to say well-done to you for collecting the debt

I do not like writing debt off as I like to get paid and be able to pay my lads wages.

[LT carpet cleaning]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

Unlike you I could afford to write off £70.

Tramp.

Most of is on here could I'd imagine.

I'd guess you're poor as f**k with a rented house though and in debt up to your eyes.
OP-fair play to you.
I haven't got the patience to do what you've done but admire you for doing so.

Hahahaha you couldn't be more wrong. Afraid jealousy will get you nowhere. Now get out there tomorrow in the wind and rain and earn a crust. I will still be here in the sun by the pool  

You poor sad bitter little person.  

Ps don't drink the shandy when you post, makes you sound even more silly than usual

[PoleKing]

Day off tomorrow.

[Crystal-clear]

Well done I must have £2,000 of non payers but all small prices £10-£20 mainly so wouldn't be worth it unless I can rack up costs? Ie the letter before action would cost around £3.00

[dazmond]

£2,000 of non payers?

you must have a very bad round.i normally write off about £30-£50 a year out of  £30,000+ turnover.it might reach £100 this year though for the first time ever.

[Stephen.C]

Well done I must have £2,000 of non payers but all small prices £10-£20 mainly so wouldn't be worth it unless I can rack up costs? Ie the letter before action would cost around £3.00

You can not be serious? is that in all the time you have been trading or what is outstanding now?

[Johnny B]

£2,000 of non payers?

you must have a very bad round.i normally write off about £30-£50 a year out of  £30,000+ turnover.it might reach £100 this year though for the first time ever.

Don't knock him. We don't all work in areas where every customer is a gem., or where good customers are easy to find. I had a brilliant clientele in England, but circumstances forced me to move to Ireland, where it is very, very much tougher to build a good run. If Crystal-clear still keeps going despite being knocked for that much, he has my unreserved admiration and repect.

John 

[bobplum]

In July 2012 I was asked to clean the gutters, fascias and windows of a mid-terraced house and, for the same woman, a the windows of a large detached house. We agreed the price would be £70. She said she'd send a cheque on but it never arrived. When I called her she said "Oh yeah, i've been in Tenerife but I posted the cheque yesterday" - it never arrived. Despite many phone calls and her assurance that "i'll put a cheque in the post" I ended up, after Final Demands, going to Thomas Higgins.

It was a bit of a dilemma in doing so because I knew her father had died recently and she was a single parent. In addition she was supporting her younger teenage sisters (with the help of her elder brothers). I figured that if she responded to the Thos Higgins Letter Before Action i'd cut a deal to take the money in instalments.

Unfortunately she didn't and it went to court. She didn't contest it and I won the case. By now it was Christmas and the amount she owed was £236... I got a request from her through the court to pay £20 / mth, which I was happy to accept. I was hacked off because on the court docs she said she didn't have a cheque book, so all those stories she told me were lies as I knew they were.

I didn't get a penny despite the court dictating the date the first payment should be paid. She then asked to pay £30 mth; again I agreed and again I got nothing....

Roll on to spring and she again asks to pay £20 / mth and again I agree (on advice from Thos Higgins). Amazingly she makes payments through to August on the 1st of the month regular as clockwork - happy days. Unfortunately that all stopped in September. Again I go back to Thomas Higgins, but this time i'm going for the lot - the remaining £116.

Happily I got en email last week saying Thos Higgns had received a cheque (presumably from a relative on her behalf) payable to them in final settlement and once it cleared they'd send one on to me. I got it on Wednesday.

Was I right to follow through? Despite being on a low wage this woman engaged me for work she never intended to pay for. She was happy to go to Tenerife on holiday rather than pay her bills. She lied to me about having posted payments. She would not return my polite calls or answer the door to me. I made every effort to make payment easy for her yet she ignored the opportunities I gave. Had she, at the beginning, said to me "I've made a foolish mistake and asked you to do work I can't pay for" I have dropped the matter there and then. Instead she's got a CCJ and she's paid hundreds of pounds rather than the £70 she owed, whilst I've been paid in full. It's worth the hassle of chasing them.

yes you are right
if she couldn't afford it she should not have engaged you
your a business not a charity

[davids3511]

Well then hummer, what would you have done

Yeah come on, man, what WOULD you have done? Perhaps you'd have bent over and let her give you 8" of Gardiners best carbon?

Unlike you I could afford to write off £70.

Tramp.

Are you trying to be a total numpty because if you are we'll done, you have succeeded.