[drevitt]

Hi All,

I have found out today that the guy i bought a  round off 4-5 months ago for £5000 has gone round some of my customers and told them he is doing them again as he has bought half the round back off me. This is a total lie but some customers seem to have fallen for it.

Is there anything I can / should do. (Apart from Knock ten bells of .... out of him)

I am thinking of dropping a leaflet off at all of my customers tomorrow explaining that he is a conman ?

any ideas

[East coast window cleaning Services]

I know what i would do............. And i would not involve talking about it

[Dale Smith]

Hello mate,
Hopefully you both signed some sort of contract when you exchanged money/work?
If you did then I think you have to confront him with it quickly. He needs to understand he must back off IMO.
If you did'nt...... then it can be a can of worms....

[aztec]

get the leaflets out fast or personally call and explain but be careful because the customer will not want to be involved in you twos argument and may find someone new altogether.

[Dale Smith]

P&R's way is a good one as well ....  

[Blackbushe Windows]

Clearly need to speak to custy's soon by letter or word of mouth.

True about contract. Should always be in writing!


Peter

[johnny_h]

find him confront him and then sue him for loss of earnings i take it you have a reciept with customers names and addresses tell him you will take them to court as witnesses to what he has said to them

[windowwashers]

Hi All,

I have found out today that the guy i bought a  round off 4-5 months ago for £5000 has gone round some of my customers and told them he is doing them again as he has bought half the round back off me. This is a total lie but some customers seem to have fallen for it.

Is there anything I can / should do. (Apart from Knock ten bells of .... out of him)

I am thinking of dropping a leaflet off at all of my customers tomorrow explaining that he is a conman ?

any ideas

I would send a letter to each aswell, stating the real facts, if that does not work I would pay the person a visit.

Ian

[idealrob]

Contact a good solicitor and get him to write a strong letter straight away, and ask for damages , as anyone selling a business cannot return for a minimum of 2 years, We bought a business and made the terms minimum 10 years and a 25 mile radius.

robert t

[Londoner]

You could get a Solicitor to bank off a letter to him. Depending on the sort of bloke he is it might frighten him.
You could also serve a writ on him telling him to desist. A writ is like a solicitors letter but sent by the court. Costs about £50 from memory.

Another good trick which we used to do when I was a taxi driver. One of the other drivers used to phone people up from call boxes at three oclock in the morning. He was paid by a debt collector to do it. Very effective I'm told

[Feen]

Hi Drevitt, I see you have a problem here and not one of your making. As I see it , the biggest problem you have is the customer. If they were happy with the previous wc, they will probably have no problem with him returning. All they want is their windows cleaned. Any financial transaction between you and him is of no interest to them. I think you might allienate some of your new customers if you "complain" too much to them. Certainly, you have to speak to the guy who sold you business. As others have said, did you have any contract? Perhaps not. Did he take you round and introduce you to customers explaining what was happening? If so, your customers should know who is their cleaner.  If you bought without being introduced and with no contract, this may be a valuable learning experience Good luck

[brightnclean]

Hi Drevitt, I see you have a problem here and not one of your making. As I see it , the biggest problem you have is the customer. If they were happy with the previous wc, they will probably have no problem with him returning. All they want is their windows cleaned. Any financial transaction between you and him is of no interest to them. I think you might allienate some of your new customers if you "complain" too much to them. Certainly, you have to speak to the guy who sold you business. As others have said, did you have any contract? Perhaps not. Did he take you round and introduce you to customers explaining what was happening? If so, your customers should know who is their cleaner.  If you bought without being introduced and with no contract, this may be a valuable learning experience Good luck

That's the best bit of advice on this one so far.

Yes you could go and "See" this bloke and could well end up in a bad situation both physically and legally.

I know repeat offenders doing this type of thing. They can take care of themselves and don't fear anything physical or legal.

If you don't have a contract, full details of work bought and paid for and receipts to prove it you don't have a leg to stand on. I really do agree that most customers especially bought ones dont want to be involved in any problems. My advice is to go see a solicitor and take the advice given and don't go throwing good money after bad. Stay away from violence..  it may end up a lot worse than you think even if you can handle yourself. Yes this could well be one to put down to experience. I have never bought work but if I were to it would be under an agreement drawn up by a solicitor and signed by both parties.

[williamx]

Get in touch with you local trading standards office, also make a complaint to the police.

The reason being is if he is selling his round then going back and targeting his customers to come back to him, he could be prosecuted for fraud or gaining money by deception.

[brett walker]

all the replies so far are spot on and William x has got a good point, money by deception also tell all your customer how much you have bought the round for

i think this will give them some insight as to what a greedy person he is 

i had this happen to me some years back he only got 2 or 3 back as they were his friends the rest of the customers didnt like him anyway and i was doing a better job than him

Brett

[NWH]

I would just go round and see him and ask what he`s up to.

[jonah]

How many customers are affected ?

[drevitt]

so far about 10 customers, I have about 375 on the round but I dont know if over the last few weeks he has been to these too. I will find out tomorrow hopefully when I drop my leaflets off telling them about what he is up to!

[jonah]

£375 a month ?

[drevitt]

no sorry 375 customers

[jonah]

You are doing well to have only lost ten customers ! most buying a new business would lose more than that after 5 months .