[Martin ccs]

whats the best way to sort this out?

i have a customer which i have had for years, nice big house, easy to do £22.00.

really nice customer and all that, its due every over month and i always phone up to let them know im coming - rang up at the end of october - customer says yeah great thats fine ill put the chq under the pot at the back as norm.

so done the windows and collected the chq - its bounced and she rang me up two weeks later to say sorry and she will send another one.

waited a week - no chq

rang up - she says its in her bag and she forgot to post it!

another week on and im still waiting! have rang up a few times, sort of people that are always on the go and hardly ever in and have no answer phone.

im looking at using some sort of small claims service??

[martinsadie]

dont waste anymore time walk away and write it off if she wants them cleaning again tell her to pay what she owes first,its only £22 and if you do claim succesfully you still lost the customer

[jonnyald]

just go round hers in person .  keep it friendly .  if she really is up poop- creek and has fallen on hard times you will be able to tell from the conver .   if thats the case id just forget the 22quid,youve been going there years and  whats one clean after all that time (old times sake )

[DaveG]

2 very good answers there mate

[kordun]

we never collect money, if they dont leave money we just leave slip and they post us cheque. some people will do it after 7 days some after 30 but they all pay
 
ask them tp pre pay
we have few custy and they pay 6 months up front

[bobplum]

we never collect money, if they dont leave money we just leave slip and they post us cheque. some people will do it after 7 days some after 30 but they all pay
 
ask them tp pre pay
we have few custy and they pay 6 months up front

doesnt that play hell with the wages/cash flow
bob

[darren69]

I wouldn't bother chasing it up.
Just forget about it and don't do the house again, job done!

[dazmond]

most of the time i get paid either when i clean/phone night before and they leave money/cheque somewhere or collecting once a week for 2 hours.if they start bouncing cheques or not in all the time/can u come back next week nonsense i dump em til they pay up or write it off.also i NEVER clean more than twice until i get paid for the outstanding amount.if they hide when i knock on the door.(it has happened once or twice!).i eventually get paid off them then NEVER clean them again!DUMPED FOREVER!i would rather custy be straight then mess me about.stick to this v.simple way and itll make things a lot easier for yourself!some do pay me cheques in the post but i dont mind collecting as its good for custy relation IMO.sort out any problems.i also usually pick up gutter/conny roofs and new custys by recomendation through face to face contact.works for me anyway!

regards

dazmond

[daz1977]

if you have had her for years, give her one last chance,  the last thing you want is to be slaged off as the wc who took his custy to court over 22 quid,  do you more harm than good

clean one more time, get paid and if that bounces dump her

 

[wizard]

I think Jonnyard have given the best advice, its reasonable. There might be a good reason give them a chase to explain to you what’s up, remember people do get embarrassed you need to read between the lines. We are all in it at the moment so just have things under control.

[Ian Lancaster]

I hate having to chase people for money.  OK, the first time it could be there's been a misunderstanding, cheques got lost, etc, but then if it happens again the next time I leave it till it's due again - if there's still no payment I don't do the job.  If there's no comeback, I simply assume they were trying to get rid of me, I can take a hint

I might send them a 'Pay up or small claims court' letter, backed by a threat of setting the FSB on them (sometimes works) but I never bother after that.  Time spent on lost causes is money lost.  Much better to find another custy and move on.

[Martin ccs]

I hate having to chase people for money.  OK, the first time it could be there's been a misunderstanding, cheques got lost, etc, but then if it happens again the next time I leave it till it's due again - if there's still no payment I don't do the job.  If there's no comeback, I simply assume they were trying to get rid of me, I can take a hint

I might send them a 'Pay up or small claims court' letter, backed by a threat of setting the FSB on them (sometimes works) but I never bother after that.  Time spent on lost causes is money lost.  Much better to find another custy and move on.

where do i get a small claims letter from?

annoys me that if the customer was in a bad way as regards money then why say yes to having it done and then write a bloody chq!

[dai]

I had exactly the same thing happen a couple of months ago.
 A long standing customers cheque bounced on me, this guy has quite a big business and I was surprised to say the least.
Knowing they were decent people, I decided to leave it till I was round there next.
A week later I received another cheque from one of the guys other businesses. I have done them since and decided not to even mention it, I did get paid so why embarrass.
I guess there must be a lot of people feeling the pinch with cash flow problems at the moment.

[Ian Lancaster]

I hate having to chase people for money.  OK, the first time it could be there's been a misunderstanding, cheques got lost, etc, but then if it happens again the next time I leave it till it's due again - if there's still no payment I don't do the job.  If there's no comeback, I simply assume they were trying to get rid of me, I can take a hint

I might send them a 'Pay up or small claims court' letter, backed by a threat of setting the FSB on them (sometimes works) but I never bother after that.  Time spent on lost causes is money lost.  Much better to find another custy and move on.

where do i get a small claims letter from?

annoys me that if the customer was in a bad way as regards money then why say yes to having it done and then write a bloody chq!

Google 'small claims court'

I think you can download the forms.

I would never bother to go that far, life's too short.  I just use it as a threat.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[The Jester of Wibbly]

This wont concern your long term customer, but dont let them get away without paying.  I know some just jump from window cleaner to another just to get free cleans and not paying.  We need to stand up to them.

I add late payment charges to bad payers, and if that dont work I sell the dept on to Capex Recoveries.  Only one short two min online application form, and you waste no more time.  Dept is out of your hands.  May make them think again when ripping another WC off.

This does not worry my reg custys and why should it unless they were not giong to pay. 

[geefree]

we never collect money, if they dont leave money we just leave slip and they post us cheque. some people will do it after 7 days some after 30 but they all pay
 
ask them tp pre pay
we have few custy and they pay 6 months up front

doesnt that play hell with the wages/cash flow
bob

on my slip i state please by via internet bankink or send cheque within 3 days... most pay within one week.

i would not bother with small claims, just keep calling leaving slips... until you catch her.... but dont clean again.

[karygate]

i ring my customers the night before and most leave the money in a ppre arranged place. the ones that forget i collect off that week and keep going back if they were out till they pay. this was easy when i first started and as it got busier because people know i always collect same week there is never a problem and are never owed anything at the end of the week. just train your customers when you start that you will not just knock on a friday evening and then clear off for another month.

[Ian Lancaster]

This wont concern your long term customer, but dont let them get away without paying.  I know some just jump from window cleaner to another just to get free cleans and not paying.  We need to stand up to them.

I add late payment charges to bad payers, and if that dont work I sell the dept on to Capex Recoveries.  Only one short two min online application form, and you waste no more time.  Dept is out of your hands.  May make them think again when ripping another WC off.

This does not worry my reg custys and why should it unless they were not giong to pay. 

Just Googled Capex, seems they only deal in commercial debts?

[The Jester of Wibbly]

Hi Ian,

As long as you are a business they dont mind.  Have used them and have been great on domestic.

In fact one custy that i sent sod the dept to them was already known to them from past.

[Ian Lancaster]

Would they be interested in a debt of (say) under £50?