[Highrise]

I've got a customer to whom I have spoken to twice and sent him 2 letters about his over due bill.

The last letter I sent him had the amount he owed plus late payment free...

He owes me £42 for his windows and £30 for late fee which totals £72...

The last letter I sent that if payment is not recived within 7 days his account will be cancelled and the account will be passed over to our legal team which will cost him more...

The only thing is I don't have a legal team...

I have spoken to a couple of debit collection angency and the cost is quite high...

what would you do?

would you send him one more letter stating that if you don't pay you will cop the cost aswell for the collection angency( £25 per visit and about £50 + vat for the recovery)

[Ian W]

No. He has been informed that it will be passed over to a legal team. Just start legal proceedings through the small claims court.

[Chris Cottrell]

what about these, I have not used them myself but I am in a similar situ to you and am certainly thinking of it

ht tp://www.thomashiggins.com/index.html

I was thinkng of them sending them a letter

[Highrise]

Thanks Chris...

I will give them a call on Monday.

[oasisdweeb]

surely it will cost u more and he must know this.what proof have u got that he owes u the money.i would think of something else.

[Highrise]

Invoices.....

[simon knight]

£30 late payment fee seems a bit toppy....BT only charge £7.50!

But anyway, have you asked him why he's not paying? Maybe he can't afford to in which case the SCC will let him pay £1 a month or something silly.

Personally if I get a non-payer (and thankfully they are the rarity) I just write it off and move on.

[Highrise]

I know what your saying about wrighting them off as I have done in the past....

Some people move without paying etc etc etc
It comes with the job...

But when you got a tosser like this bloke, I don't want to be taken for a fool.

[Londoner]

Personally if I get a non-payer (and thankfully they are the rarity) I just write it off and move on.

Yes, me too, its annoying but in reality there is little you can do. You can take him to court and he just denies it. Even if you win you don't necessarily get your money. Further more he can complain you are harrassing him and you end up in trouble.

[simon knight]

I know what your saying about wrighting them off as I have done in the past....

Some people move without paying etc etc etc
It comes with the job...

But when you got a tosser like this bloke, I don't want to be taken for a fool.

Well if the guy is really irritating you why not  just go around to his gaff and see what the problem is. Chances are he's a bit tight for dosh and hopes you'll give up and go away.

I think at the very least you deserve an explanation for the non-payment....and perhaps a bit of money on account.

Good luck

[mick hay]

The thing is with window cleaning, you really have no proof that he owes you the money, unless you have it signed by him in writing.

I've had customers like this, and its come to a point im ready to go round and have it out with them (verbally).

I just put it down to experience now, and look at it they have had 15 minutes of my time for nowt!!

It sometimes costs more in time and money than the debts worth!!

[Pittmonkey]

Personally I would think the late payment fee is putting this guy off from paying. It's very annoying when they dont pay but I chase and send letters but at the end of the day if they are not going to pay they wont, knowing it will cost you more to get the money from them.

If it was me I would call round see him face to face, explain all you want is what is owed and you are willing to wave the late fee if he writes a cq for the £42 now. Worth a try!!

Wayne

(Hi Mick is it OK to give you a ring)

[windowwashers]

I know what your saying about wrighting them off as I have done in the past....

Some people move without paying etc etc etc
It comes with the job...

But when you got a tosser like this bloke, I don't want to be taken for a fool.

Take him to court, I would, I tend to let some debts slide, but if they annoy me for any reason I sink my teeth in and will not let it go till debt is settled even if it costs £100 in cost I would still do it, they pay the costs anyway, a verbal agreement is just as good as a written one so dont let that hold you back. Go get your money 

Ian

p.s do not let them off the late payment fee, charge them an admin fee aswell, they are clearly take the P

[Pittmonkey]

I suppose a lot will boil down to weather he signed any T&C's. Verbal agreements are much harder to prove. He could argue the fact that the work was unsatisfactory or he has only cleaned them once and is charging me for X amount of cleans etc etc etc......

I'm like you Ian I dont like to be beaten but this is an area were principles are much more hassle than they are worth. The trouble with taking hem to court is that if you do lose then you have the court cost as well. For this amount of money is it worth the risk?

[windowwashers]

I suppose a lot will boil down to weather he signed any T&C's. Verbal agreements are much harder to prove. He could argue the fact that the work was unsatisfactory or he has only cleaned them once and is charging me for X amount of cleans etc etc etc......

I'm like you Ian I dont like to be beaten but this is an area were principles are much more hassle than they are worth. The trouble with taking hem to court is that if you do lose then you have the court cost as well. For this amount of money is it worth the risk?

thats the point if the cost far out weight the debt it most of the time is not worth it, as for the was it done right or not in court would not stand up, if the job is done it has to be paid for, they have to prove that they sent letters saying about the bad work.

[mick hay]

hi wayne, yea gis a call mate, im free now

[Jimmy1]

Write it off -save yourself the stress - lifes too short.

[williamx]

Highrise

The banks lost in court this week over their "bank charges", if you take this guy to court and he contests the "fee" then you will lose the court case, and you will end up with the court costs.

Under the Late payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998, you can claim interest at the rate of 8% above the Bank of England base rate.

If you go to court you will get a summons to do various things

The claimant can offer £1.00 every month

You can get an attachment of earnings which means that this £1.00 will be taken from his wages.

You can get an order that the Bailiffs could take goods to the valve of, but with this method if he tells the bailiff to go away and refuses them entry, there is nothing they can do.

He can also go bankrupt and you won't get a penny, but you will have paid out a fortune in legal costs.

The best way forward, is forget court and try to arrange a weekly payment plan or forget it.

[mark dew]

If this is the 1st clean which it isn't it could be possible for him to deny he owes you anything.
But your accounts should be sufficient proof that you have done the job.
I agree with the people who say don't stress about it. Throw some money at the problem and register a claim against him. Stress over for you. More for him.
Good luck.

[Chris Cottrell]

The banks did lose their case but that was because their charge was unfairly high and a ruling has not yet been made.  However, BT was recently taken to court because they charge approx £5 if you don't pay by direct debit, they won their case because the amount was deemed to be fair.