[terrymaloy]

Six weeks ago I cleaned the seating in a newly refurbished restaurant.
The bill was £200

When she gave me the go ahead she asked how would I like paying ? I said I prefer cash but a cheque would be fine. Anyway, I finished the job and the owner was nowhere to be seen with my cash 
I ended up leaving an invoice with the manager telling them to forward a cheque to my address.

That was 6 weeks ago.
Since then I have sent a reminder, spoke to the manageress, the accounts dept and every time I get the same answer..."Oh I'll pass the message on " or " I'll get it in the post this week "

I've never had this problem before and was wondering what my next step should be ? 

[Mark_Jubb]

Book a meal for you and all your family, ask them to send the bill to your accounts dept when you've finished.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Visit with another invoice saying payment terms and additional costs if not settled within 7 days.

Shaun

[Dave Whittaker]

Had the same with a shop fitting firm but it was for £1200 Terry.

Gave them a 30 day invoice for work done at end of Jan and they've only just coughed up. Been badgering them for the last 3 weeks.

Stay polite for now and just let them know you wont be fobbed off.

Dave.

[Carpet Dawg]

Welcome to the world of commercial jobs alot of them drag it out for as long as they can, for cash flow reasons and also hoping you'll give up and forget about it! HA!

I have a guy who i clean his resturant twice a year and he always pays me after 3 months! grrr

Tony

[markpowell]

Send a final reminder recorded delivery, stating payment must be made in full within 7 days, otherwise county court summons will be issued incurring further costs.
State that it is the final correspondance you will be sending, if after the 7 days no reply, then go to local county court fill out the papers pay £30 and they will sort it. you will get your £200 + the £30 costs.
Mark

[happy mondays]

Send a final reminder recorded delivery, stating payment must be made in full within 7 days, otherwise county court summons will be issued incurring further costs.
State that it is the final correspondance you will be sending, if after the 7 days no reply, then go to local county court fill out the papers pay £30 and they will sort it. you will get your £200 + the £30 costs.
Mark

We all wait for money from other businesses, thats business, but fine, if he does this they wont use him again, they will use another company that will give better terms, sometimes if you start the heavy handed treatment (court action etc) it will cost you the job.

Best approach if you want to work for them again is the nice phone call, stating that you are a small local business that really could do with promt payment, if you speak to the right person it will work, just keep on with the phone calls, be firm but nice.

If you dont want to work for them again then take Marks advice.     

[derek west]

6 weeks? is that all, chillax marn, they'll pay. don't get heavy til around 60 days

[Joe H]

I did a commercial Tuesday Jan 12th.
Got the call Fri morning 8th. Went to quote in the afternoon and submitted by text.
They wanted job done Mon 11th, said I could but would need to know on the Friday 8th so I could rearrange some work (that would not be a problem).
Got the call Monday morning ( :) whilst on a job - can I do it Tuesday morning, and cash would be with his workers as I finish.
Got to job, his workers still making a mess (office refurbushers), the new tenants had moved into the offices and were conduction interviews, so I had to work around everyone.
Finished job - no one had my cash (surprise surprise)
Tried to contact him - no answer, message machine full !
Sent invoice, since then sent email to account office, rang up and reminded them I did the job quick time to suit them but now I am waiting, they promise cheque end of last month...... still waiting.
I will see what happens end of March then swing into action

[Neil Grainger]

Why would you want a customer that does not pay when they said they would, they have broken the contract.

All my work is paid on completion and is always agreed before i start. When i started i used to except this from customers but have learnt that it is always a delaying tactic and if you ask for payment on completion they will usually except this.

[richy27]

Why would you want a customer that does not pay when they said they would, they have broken the contract.

All my work is paid on completion and is always agreed before i start.
[/quote


thats in an ideal world. most of my commercial work is 14 day invoice i normally wait a month then give them a quick call. Its very easy to jump in all heavy handed. I would only do this when you have a clear indication there is no intention to pay.

as long as your paperwork is in order its simplz.  signed quote to authorise work, which also refes to your terms and conditions. 

Regards
Rich

[fresherhomes]

hi guys i know some good debt collectors

[adimarsh]

Hi Fresherholmes,

List of good collectors please.

[clinton]

Its the world of commercial work late payment :

I do that sort of work but thankfully i get paid prompt.

I did turn some work away in the new year as the job was passed from two other people so had a feeling payment would be slow so i to passed the job on..

[yorky]

All I can say is if that's the first time you have had problems getting paid for a commercial job you have been very lucky. I have had huge problems over the years, I waited 7 months to get paid by a major house builder and another 5 months from one of the largest currier companies.

[james roffey]

You are entitled to start charging interest after the due date, hand deliver a letter to him giving him 7 days to pay, tell him if payment is not recieved in CLEARED FUNDS then you will charge interest from the due date whenever that was, the law allows you to charge at the base rate of the bank of England + 8% you are also able to charge him "reasonable" debt recover costs.
From my experience these guys are just juggling debts make yours a priority to HIM and he will pay, i am not sure that eating in his restaurant and having no intention to pay is legal :, even if he does owe you money but i like the idea.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Terry

No offence mate, but why have you waited 6 weeks for your money when they were supposed to pay you cash on completion ?

Stop making phone calls and go down to the restaurant, preferably in the middle of service, and demand your money - and tell them you are not leaving until you get it.

People can fob you off easily on the end of the phone, they are not so brazen when you are standing in front of them.


Steve

[HQCS (John Kastrian)]

Visit the restaurant at a busy time wearing a clearly logo'd shirt with "debt collection" on it,and demand to see the manager in a very loud voice. 

John

[from edge2edge]

Terry Why dont you invite every carpet cleaner within 20 miles of the restaurant for a free meal with you there.Dont pay the bill and tell the owner he has been blacklisted by all the hard working carpet cleaners he is looking at.Might not be legal but i bet you would be flavour of the month up there in the north mate.Regards Alan(swindon)

[Dave Whittaker]

You have to consider your reputation aswell as theirs, it's not worth losing your rag over.

Next time you quote a commercial job add 15% to your quote, then offer a 15% discount for payment within 10 days - It's started working for me.