[*Mr Tumble]

'Late payment fee'  = bad form, IMO.

1) Write him off
2) Carry on the hate thing
3) Die from stress-related illness
4) Work for an not a very nice person

Which is best for YOU?

[peter holley]

i find a visit in person ..with a freindly smile does the job ...threats of a late payment fee will just annoy them into not paying...

no need to be nasty ...your presence at the door will be enough to make them pay...if they say "havn't got the money" ...say thats fine "a cheque will do " or "ill call again tomorrow"

works for me anyway...but then i am 17 1/2 stone of pure flab

[peter holley]

pay me!....or i will sow your lips together while nyou sleep

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I've found something that worked for me in the past was to threaten to call in at their place of work.  If you know where he works (hoping he's not self employed and on the road like us and that he has a job) just say in a letter that you'll call by his work sometime to collect the money.  I've found that this normally settles things fast.

The late payment charge is a little on the steep side though, have you ever laid down terms and conditions stipulating the fee he would incur?

Simon

[Highrise]

Thanks for all your comments....

The late payment charge is only £5 per mth if payment is not recieved within 7days of the clean, To which I don't really bother with as many of my customer know I like to let cleans roll over.

But this guy is taking the mick, So this is what I am going to do....

Go round and see him one more time to collect the money in full i.e the £42 and if I don't get the money off him their and then, letting him of the late payment charge to which I am intitled to.....

I will let you know what happens next...

[mark dew]

highrise, have you sent him a letter registered post? That way he cannot deny any knowledge of it if he has signed for the letter and ignored it.

[Highrise]

No I haven't but I do have a few witness to conferm that we have been cleaning them if needs be....

I'm going round his house about 7pm

To smack him one in the face if he don't pay me (joke)

[simon knight]

Just one last thought on the subject of non-payers.

I always think to myself if I had a shop there'd be items that would occassionally walk out of it without having been paid for.

Unfortunately there are always going to be dishonest people and in business it's just something that's gonna happen from time to time.

If £42 or £72 is going to make a difference as to whether you're gonna eat or pay the mortgage then of course things need to be done...but if you can live with it it's probably better not to let it become a vendetta....

....if he don't anti-up tonight put the dirt back into place ....now that is fun

[Paul Coleman]

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

I was cleaning the high reach windows of a shop in the local town centre.  They are taking the p now and they annoyed me when I last requested paymentr because they questioned my honesty.  It is now more about getting revenge for doubting my honesty than it is about the money.  Sometime this week, I will be sending a 14 day warning letter by registered post (so that they can't deny receiving it).  Just to show that I'm a very reasonable person, I will send a 7 day warning after that with a blank court form just to show that I intend to carry it out.
If a domestic customer were to say to me that they had fallen on hard times and were genuinely unable to pay I would just say to pay me when you can.  But take the p or question my honesty and I'll take them to court even if it ends up costing me more than the debt itself.
The daft thing is that I have several friends who sometimes buy clothes there (and I have done so occasionally myself) and if they don't pay me, it will also cost them some profit too.  No way will I buy from a shop that has turned me over for my money.  This is a vast improvement because there was a time when I would have not confined myself to legal retribution.  Thankfully, I started growing up eventually.

[cherubs cleaning]

www.payontime.co.uk




jerry

[Highrise]

Just got back from the blokes house...

And guess what.... The girlfriend opened the door.

Made a start to pay me...

Just got £10 off her now, £12 by next Sunday then £20 by the next weekend.

It's all about how you do things and what you say that counts, (Atleast I think it does.... )

[Wayne Thomas]

Just got back from the blokes house...

And guess what.... The girlfriend opened the door.

Made a start to pay me...

Just got £10 off her now, £12 by next Sunday then £20 by the next weekend.

It's all about how you do things and what you say that counts, (Atleast I think it does.... )

IMO the late payment fee is too high and unreasonable. I simply use it as an excuse to say: don't take the mickey when it comes to paying and try paying more promptly.
If I get any forgetful customers I phone them up to remind them that payment is late and was they aware and if they were, what's their excuse.
Sometimes it helps to find out the reason why they haven't paid and to perhaps compromise about collecting. Some people are too embarrassed to admit they're skint hence why they come up with lots of excuses and ignorance hoping the problem will go away on it's own.

[Chris Cottrell]

I have a great update on one of our late payers:

He was last cleaned last October and then in November and obviously had no intention of paying, so after several letters we added a £5 late payment fee.  Still nothing so we started adding interest and kept sending him statements.  In our last letter we threatened legal action.

Could not believe it when we received an email advising he was moving but also that he had payed by bank transfer, even more surprised today when the money reached my account.  He had paid not only the original amount but also the charge and interest.

He then had the cheek to tell us he no longer needed our services....as if!!!

Didn't think we would ever get paid for this one, so thats one win for the window cleaners!

[Tim82]

I had one who owed me about £25 and I was chasing her for about a year. I would see her almost every time I was round the area but she would always say with a smile something like "Got nothing on me mate,can you come round monday?" (and subsequently wouldnt be in). I left lots of notes telling her in writing that I would like it payed as soon as possible and how many months late it was.
 When she finally paid it was only cos I left a note saying If she didnt pay then I'd have no choice but to return with a police officer. I think it was the thought of an embarrassing situation that made her finally pay. Rest assured I crossed her off the books.
 She was a single mother but if you can't afford to pay a window cleaner you shouldnt have one. There was often lots of wine and beer bottles and new household items boxes round her bins so she mustn't have been that hard up!

 Anyway, the police officer bluff seemed to work! I'll be using that one again.

[Tim82]

P.s. - Didn't know late payment fees worked in our vocation! Does it work?

[mr D]

you should of pulled and slept with his girl friend. i did it because a guy owed me £30 3x£10 cleans. i left him 4 notes asking for payment with S.A.O hes loaded too so its not like he couldnt aford it just a prat. wonder if he ever fornd out? she payed me cash too BTW. lol

[windowwashers]

P.s. - Didn't know late payment fees worked in our vocation! Does it work?

Works for me

[robbie14000]

We all have the above problems and there needs to be a website (little black book) for a list of non-payers/bad payers so window cleaners can avoid them.
If they then know they cannot get a window cleaner they will soon start paying.
just a thought.
Ive had plenty in my time.
Thanks Robbie

[Chris Cottrell]

We all have the above problems and there needs to be a website (little black book) for a list of non-payers/bad payers so window cleaners can avoid them.
If they then know they cannot get a window cleaner they will soon start paying.
just a thought.
Ive had plenty in my time.
Thanks Robbie

I dont think this would be legal

[alanwilson]

my son is working on a website at the moment - hopefully will be online in the next month.  He wants it to be a UK-wide list of bad payers etc, there are a few problems such as people moving etc but he should get that sorted out ok.


didn't want to let the cat out of the bag but felt it was the right time.

How do the rest of you feel about it?

He says he may need to charge a nominal fee to cover bandwidth costs etc but that it would most likely be about £1 a month.