[rycalshaw]

hi guys, i did a job for a bloke last week , cleaned all gutters (external)/fascias /soffits/downpipes/windows/frames on a block of 13 flats and cleaned the carpets in communal areas, problem i have is, i think he,s going to try to avoid payment, he said call me on competion and i,ll come up to pay you, rang him,no reply,later he text me saying he,d left his phone at home and he would ring me the following day to meet up and sort out payment,again nothing, tried phoning and texting several times on my mobile,no reply so phoned him on my landline and hey presto he answers,now says he,s deffo going to ring me tomorrow but i,m feeling very edgy about it, i do have his keys for the communal areas but he could probably change the locks cheaper than paying me..thing is everything has been done verbally on trust,i know that i should have had it in writing etc but hindsight is a wonderful thing, its really annoying coz i probably underpriced it aswell..any ideas guys

[Small but perfectley formed]

Sounds like he s gunna not pay

[richywilts]

sure he aint another cleaner who got u round to do his work and hes gonna bump u

[Ian Sheppard]

Verbally agreed contracts are still a contract and in most cases legally binding. http://www.contractsandagreements.co.uk/law-and-verbal-agreements.html

As in the above link they can be enforcible in a court, however proving it is more difficult. In the short term it may be worth reminding the land lord he made a verbal contract and agreed price for your services. You may need to decide if chasing a possible debt is worth the hassle.

[Ian101]

sounds like he is playing you IMHO

if u know where he lives go around there early doors 7.30am and collect.

[Ian101]

if it was me I would block his drive with my van so him and his missus and possibly rest of family cant get out to work

but that's me 

you need to become an irritation to him and phone calls don't tend to be enough for people like him

[psc]

www.thomashiggins.com   will send a letter before action and only costs £2.00. That normally works

[Tom-01]

Get a load of mud and other nasty stuff and go back and 'un-clean' everything you did, but make it 10 times worse

[duncan h]

Give him a chance to pay first. State that he was paying on the day. Phone on your phone NO REPLY, use a different phone REPLY ? ask why. Keep doing this. Irritate him.
No joy after 2 days. Change locks yourself. Add this to bill.
Then smash the stuffing out of the place. If you have his address, do as above. Block his drive etc. Knock  on door at 3 am, every day.

[rycalshaw]

i,ve got a feeling the guy may just have the maintenance contract for the flats, if this proves to be the case he,s taking money from the landlords for work he,s not actually paying for, i,ll do a little more digging and try to arm myself with some leverage, if he is just the maintenance man i,m sure he wouldn,t want to lose the contract for a couple of hundred quid..he may of course phone me today and settle up, i,m not holding my breath though..

[Richard iSparkle]

we get great results from sending an invoice 'signed for' by royal mail, so you k ow he gets it and you know its serious.

then follow it up with another invoice in 1 week and a late invoice a week later, then go thru the small claims process and take him to court, and if you get a court order take him to the sheriffs who will use all the nastiest means to get him to pay.

send all correspondence signed for tho so he knows you're serious and there's a tracking of everything that you send.

to be honest, in our experience just one signed for invoice gets a response in most cases

[SeanK]

If this guy has the contract for the maintenance of the flats then your best bet is to threaten to take the guy he has
the contract with to the small claims court.
Let him know that this is what you will do if he doesn't pay up.

[rycalshaw]

i,ve been thinking of sending him a message telling him i,m giong to invoice all the tenents individually then when they complain to the landlord i,ll tell the said landlords exactly what he,s been up to because the bottom line is,he,s been taking cash from them for work he hasn,t been paying for, i think this may stir him up a bit..

[Window Lickers]

They'll tell you to sling your hook if you do that. They pay an annual maintenance fee for such things as what you're invoicing this fella for. Theyre not going to pay twice.

Block his driveway, that'll do the trick.

[rycalshaw]

i wouldn,t expect them to pay, i wouldn,t even be onvoicing them, i would hope the threat of the tenants complaining to the landlord and it all coming out what he,s up to would do the trick, if you read my post again ,i say that i would TELL HIM that i was going to invoice the tenants....as it happens i,ve just learned that he is the landlord so that ideas no good..

[Ian Lancaster]

www.thomashiggins.com   will send a letter before action and only costs £2.00. That normally works

As above.  Stop wasting your valuable time - most people fold when a solicitors letter drops on the mat.

[rycalshaw]

i think your right ian, think thats the way to go mate..

[SeanK]

From reading another post I don't think you can get those Thomas Higgins letters anymore.
They have stopped doing them for some reason.