[Richard iSparkle]

Hi,

I have a couple of customers who have bad debt after window cleans.

Has anybody actually persued a  small claims court claim for this sort of thing?

One of them owes £45 the other £85... I would be very interested in hearing from people who have taken it to court...

[cgh window cleaning]

You can issue letters via solicitor's like Thomas Higgins stating that interest and costs will be occurred this will normally prompt payment and cost you very little.

In terms of going through the court process never  but spoke to some one I know who is in construction who  did take some one to court over 4k and he said it was a lot of time and inconvenience to him and unless the debt was over a certain value it would be the last resort.

[Smurf]

I would have thought it would be a total waste of time and money for small window cleaning debts surely?

If you are talking about bad paying domestic customers then you should be asking yourself why continue to keep cleaning the property if they mess you about for payment.  You need to look at how you handle customers to make sure the debt does not continue to build up in the first place. 

In the end what they will most likely say in their defence they were not happy with the service provided for whatever reason so that is why they did not pay. Any disputes for services none payment  then I don’t think the courts will really want to know myself.

[Richard iSparkle]

hi smurf,

thanks for your reply.

we now get people to signup for DD to book in a clean... but i think   there are always goipng to be some people who end up owing money...

it's just ping me off a couple of people who just ignore any comms from us.. and owe me money   

I would have thought it would be a total waste of time and money for small window cleaning debts surely?

If you are talking about bad paying domestic customers then you should be asking yourself why continue to keep cleaning the property if they mess you about for payment.  You need to look at how you handle customers to make sure the debt does not continue to build up in the first place. 

In the end what they will most likely say in their defence they were not happy with the service provided for whatever reason so that is why they did not pay. Any disputes for services none payment  then I don’t think the courts will really want to know myself.

[Richard iSparkle]

thanks. we have used TH but no repsonse...

i am hoping that just the court action letter will get them to pay...

You can issue letters via solicitor's like Thomas Higgins stating that interest and costs will be occurred this will normally prompt payment and cost you very little.

In terms of going through the court process never  but spoke to some one I know who is in construction who  did take some one to court over 4k and he said it was a lot of time and inconvenience to him and unless the debt was over a certain value it would be the last resort.

[Smurf]

This makes interesting reading
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2563207

[Richard iSparkle]

thanks.

we have emails between us outlining the service and even emails saying she will pay us... but just never doing it..

This makes interesting reading
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2563207

[Richard iSparkle]

i've put 2 claims in against 2 (ex)clients..

one owes £50 (now £75 from fees) the other £75 (now £100)

i'll let you know what happens...

[David Beecroft]

I made a successful claim against an Irish firm I had done builders cleans for  a few years ago, they owed me £600 and kept promising the cheque was in the post etc. Fortunately I had proof in the form of invoices and emails etc. They had to pay costs etc, although it did cost me some administration fees. The main way it hurt them was the county court judgement against their name. Go to Citizens advice, they're good.

[ChumBucket]

i've put 2 claims in against 2 (ex)clients..

one owes £50 (now £75 from fees) the other £75 (now £100)

i'll let you know what happens...

Good for you, it's the principal not so much the money.

[Richard iSparkle]

Got my first contact off one of these clients today. She was very unhappy I opened a claim she told me. She has tried to get in touch with us without success she says.. She s sending a cheque for £100 to stop the case proceeding to court.

It's funny because we've been writing, emailing, and calling her for over 8 months and have been ignored. All of a sudden, she,s managed to get in touch after failing to for so long...

[colin bird]

Ive taken two to small claims court one paid inc of court fees the other didn't pay but has now got a ccj  against there name,it's all about the principle in my opinion ,imhappy no one is going to,take the p,out of me  forgot to say both were for £ 72 not a lot of money but as above  its about the principle as I've cleaned  they have to pay, nether complained so its money owing

[ChumBucket]

Got my first contact off one of these clients today. She was very unhappy I opened a claim she told me. She has tried to get in touch with us without success she says.. She s sending a cheque for £100 to stop the case proceeding to court.

It's funny because we've been writing, emailing, and calling her for over 8 months and have been ignored. All of a sudden, she,s managed to get in touch after failing to for so long...

Yeah, likely story. Well done for sticking to your guns and recovering the debt.

[Richard iSparkle]

Got my first contact off one of these clients today. She was very unhappy I opened a claim she told me. She has tried to get in touch with us without success she says.. She s sending a cheque for £100 to stop the case proceeding to court.

It's funny because we've been writing, emailing, and calling her for over 8 months and have been ignored. All of a sudden, she,s managed to get in touch after failing to for so long...

Yeah, likely story. Well done for sticking to your guns and recovering the debt.

Exactly my thoughts