[scott.]

I guess some of you have had this happen at some stage....Had an end of tenancy customer, that wrote a cheque...cheque bounced...so phoned her, and she said, to re-present, which I done...bounced again...now she wont answer her phone, or return her messages...any ideas?...dont know where she's move to...yes, I know I made a boo boo, but NO MORE MR NICE GUY ....what do you guys do in this circumstance?...cant use money claim online if I don't know where she's moved to.

[vangaurd]

put it down to expierience , by the way how much was the job worth? if hundreds i would say , on you go , but if its coppers say 30- 40 quid
forget it m8.

[lee_gundry]

end of tenancy cleans always ask for cash.


Lee G

[calmore]

You could try getting someone else to call her on a different phone, maybe she'd answer?

You could also try www.192.com although it'll take a bit of time for her new address to trickle through the system.

You could also try writing her a letter threatening prosecution, it's possible she's having her mail redirected.

You could also phone up her bank and explain the situation. Someone told me that banks will assist regarding transactions that have gone bad. Apparently a bounced cheque legally represents evidence of an unpaid debt. Dunno if there is any truth in this though.

[spickandspan]

Bounce it again costing her £25 each time.

[Mike Halliday]

ask the letting agent if they have a forwarding address.

mike

[scott.]

£150   I thought there might be an easy way...letting agency! good idea..could buy a sniffer dog i guess

[vangaurd]

when u find her threaten to put her windows out might get a response!

[woodman]

INFORM TTHE MANAGING AGENTS AT ONCE!

They will be holding on to the tenants deposit and will only release it if all is in order, if their cheque bounced they might ( I say might because you should have checked this first)  pay you out of the deposit,

You may have left it too long and the agents might have already released the deposit, if so they would/should have a forwarding address for future reference.

Good Luck


Last week I did a job for an Australian couple returning to oz from South Kensington, they wanted all the curtains clean at a cost of £590.00 the landlords had insisted on it.

I told them its cash only on the day, as although a very nice and thoroughly decent couple once they are 12000 miles away getting payment may be a bit difficult    of course they agreed, why wouldn't they.

Alway ask for cash or if you take credit cards take payment on this, never a cheque, especially when the tennant is about to bail out.

When no money has been deposited with agent or they have had it returned only for the agents to discover that the carpet is filthy,in other words they have not done their job........Then you might be asked to do some cleaning at the request of an agent, always find out who is responsible for the payment before you begin, the agent or the client.

Many times CC have been tripped up by this as the agent has only recommended you to his client and he (the agent) has no responsibility to pay.In other words he has dug him self out of a hole at your expense.

[Ian Gourlay]

Have you considered reporting it to the police.
I think it comes under Obtaining Goods or Services by deseption

[Kinver_Clean]

If the agent asks you to do the job, he pays. If its a new agent to you get a job authorisation or purchase order , this ties them down.

I had a job a few years ago where this happened. The cheque bounced and the agent did not have an address.

Turns out, instead of moving her account to a different branch the bank closed it completely. The post Office did not know the correct address for her new house because it was on the county border right in the sticks. Got a letter and cheque a few weeks later explaining. So its not always a runner, but do be careful.

When you have a good relationship with a letting agent it can be profitable with relaible work in quiet time like now.

Trevor

[Ken Wainwright]

Additional to the advice given above, something I did successfully some years ago was to visit the branch on which the cheque was drawn. I asked if the cheque would be cleared if I presented it there and then. After a few minutes of background discussion, the answer was yes and it was accepted and cleared.

Might be worth a try.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

We do a lot of letting agency cleans and never had a problem.
It is best to arrange payment through the agent as this comes from the tenants deposit,but it is common practice now for the outgoing tenant not to pay the last months rent and do a runner so the deposit is used up.
If a tenant tries to book us direct we always ask who the agent is and check that all is in order,and suggest that payment is withheld from the deposit.
On the odd occasion that the tenant insists on paying themselves we always insist on cash up front usually left with the agent,so when you go to collect the keys,no cash no job.
Obviously the clean needs to be done so they will instruct you to do it and pay out from the deposit or first months rent if reletting immediately or get payment from the landlord,there may be a delay but you will get paid.
Never accept cheques from outgoing tenants unless you know them,we have a few regular movers who pay by cheque but over the years we have got to know them personally so no risk.
John

[scott.]

Thanks for the input chaps...got a result!
We send out txt messages from the business sms service to customers, with the Business name as the sender.  She was asked to refer to our terms & conditions, and was told that £20 weekly charges plus legal fee recovery charges would be added if she didnt contact us immediatly.
Whadya know....10 mins later she was on the phone! spouting some rubbish about never checking her voice mail or messages...etc...got her new address...picking up cash friday

[AquaMagic]

Nice one scott, nearly an expensive mistake, but hopw
fully you will have stopped others making it.

Dene