[Jan K]

Hi guys and girls!

I took on a new domestic clean a couple of weeks ago, from a young couple who were obviously (I thought at the time) struggling to cope with their chores, as they were both working long and hard hours!

My lady has gone to clean today and has discovered that one half of the couple is not working and indeed has applied for and ben turned down by the Provident (who apparently gives loans to anyone!!) This has set the alarm bells ringing and I am pretty sure that these young uns aren't going to be able to pay their cleaning bill in a few weeks time. I am planning on pulling my cleaner out, but she is taking next week off anyway so won't be visiting, and I don't have anyone spare to replace her with! This is a difficult one as I don't want to assume too much, but we know the young uns have been lying both to me and to Maxine since we started with them a couple of weeks ago.

I want to play it this way, but would like some advice.

Cleaner takes week off.....I invoice customers for cleans already gone......that gives them a week to pay (all invoices have to be paid within 2 weeks otherwise I incure late payment fees and interest charges) ! If no payment within the week, I do not re-instate the cleans and advise customers of such until payment is made!

It has been suggested by the Better Payment Practice Group that small/medium businesses put in place a credit reference checking system (costs a bit, but may be worth it), as at the end of the day, we are offering a service with payments in arrears....in other words credit of sorts! Do any of you have a system in place to do this, and if so is it worth it in your opinio?

Sorry bout the ton of questions, but every day is a learning day!

Cheers!

Jan

[dustdees]

Hi Jan,

Um!!!!!!!!!  Difficult one to say the least.

Personally, my policy is, payment must be made available on the day of the clean, or some of my clients tend to pay a month in advance by cheque.

I think it was me I would suspend anymore cleaning until they have made some form of payment. I think it's a good that your cleaner is on holiday next week, then at least you have a few extra days to take further advice.

Maybe it might be an idea to have a word with your local CAB.

Good luck with this one,

Love DeniseXX

[Jan K]

cheers denise!

dunno bout where you are, but down here trying to get thro to the local CAB offices is like trying to get an appointment with a dentist if you aren't registered with one.............impossible!!

I can't go the route of getting clients to pay on the day, as that would mean I would be constantly running around picking up cheques or cash, althou I am thinking of maybe getting persistent late payers to pay a deposit or pay in advance rather than arrears!! that would possibly frighten a few people off, and I do get payments eventually, especially when I threaten to incur costs!! 

cheers!

Jan

[Prestige1]

I ask all my customers to leave a cheque in the kitchen, some I do have to invoice but I keep this to a minimum. My girls have a plastic wallet I give them keys on a Friday for the following week and collect cheques on a Thursday and Friday. If it was me I would give this customer time and see if they are going to pay, or if you are that concerned I have called customers up before now and said. "It’s our end of year and we need all payments in can you leave a cheque with the girl please"? Just keep a note of who you do that to it can be embarrassing if you have more than 1 end of year!
Kind regards Phil

[Jan K]

cheers Phil!

I am planning on asking customers to leave a cheque for collection by my cleaners starting end of this month! Will see how it goes

[dustycorner]

Hi Jan,

Have the client signed a contract with you, if so do the following

Send invoice
send 1st late letter
send 2nd late letter
send 3rd late letter
pass the matter over to credit management service.

The above works my business does not have bad debt at all.

Cheers Mark.

[Jan K]

Yes customer has signed contract......always the first thing I get them to do before putting anyone in!

Terms are payment by return and no later than 14 days, after which £10.00 debt recovery fee and daily interest accrual of 12.70% incurs!! (I am a member of the Better Payment Practice Group...www.payontime.co.uk).

I don't think I would have enough time to send 4 letters and involve a credit management service....but I do invoice and send a reminder after 7 days!

I havn't yet had anyone NOT pay at all, but people do grag it out! I used to invoice customers at end of third week of month and pay girls end of 4th, but I was always out of pocket then. I now invoice customers end of third week and pay girls 3 weeks later, so they are paid monthly, 3 weeks in arrears.......August invoice for pay in September is the first month the new system will be implemented, so we shall see!

I am more concerned with the fact I have signed up someone who it obviously not able to pay! They came across as a lovely young couple who worked hard and were employing us to give them a helping hand, really! 2 1/2 weeks later it is now obvious that the male is out of work (he lied about that bit), the female has 2 jobs (no lies there). They are slobs of the highests order (we visit twice a week for 2 hours each time, granted it is a 1 bed house, but there are only them, 2 budgies and a kitten living there) and each time my girls visits the place is a tip and food, drink cigarette ends everywhere!

I shall put this down to experience, work out how to avoid customers like this, and learn from it!

That is the joy (and the stress) from this business, and I love it!! (But don't ask me if I love it when I am having one of my stressy days/weeks 

Cheers!

Jan

[Mike_Boxall]

Hi Jan

I'd put it down to experience (and they say experience is cheap at any price!)

After a while you'll soon spot the tell tale signs from those people who are bad payers. I was caught out a couple of times when I first started. Customers would phone up saying they were starting a big new contract and needed a load of equipment the next day. They would promise to post a cheque that day (and I even had one who faxed me a copy of the cheque) but they never turned up.

When you're new to it all you want is the order and the payment tends to be a secondary issue.

Despite what people say, the best payers are local authorities. If you get an official order it's as good as money in the bank. They have a legal obligation to pay promptly!

Regards

Mike

[garyj]

Yep, have to agree with Mike, I've been watching this thread and thinking you're not actually talking about an awful lot of money. You only have two options  here, either carry on or pull out!! If they don't pay ( and so far its only a hunch ) you can persue it through the courts, but I wouldn't bother. Why not go and ask them for the money whens its due.

Also I think its poor that they aren't getting cleaned next week because the cleaner is on holiday, its YOUR job to arrange the cover (you must have known for some time that she is going away), they have come to a professional company to ensure they get cleaned all the time. If they are such slobs, why are you subjecting your girls to this work, and then to add insult to injury they get paid monthly, 3 weeks in arrears, thats got to be the worst payment terms I've ever heard of. Good job your girls aren't aware of payontime.co.uk . With terms and conditions like yours  they would actually be better off working for themselves, they would earn more AND get pain quicker.

 

[Mike_Boxall]

Also I think its poor that they aren't getting cleaned next week because the cleaner is on holiday, its YOUR job to arrange the cover (you must have known for some time that she is going away), they have come to a professional company to ensure they get cleaned all the time. If they are such slobs, why are you subjecting your girls to this work, and then to add insult to injury they get paid monthly, 3 weeks in arrears, thats got to be the worst payment terms I've ever heard of. Good job your girls aren't aware of payontime.co.uk . With terms and conditions like yours  they would actually be better off working for themselves, they would earn more AND get pain quicker.

that was a bit harsh, Gary.....

[Jan K]

Hi Gary!

thanx for your rather destructive criticism....good job I ain't taking it to heart! Please bear in mind all my Clients are domestic not industrial, commercial or whatever!

My girls know the situation, know their payment terms, and are extremely hapy with them, and in fact the lady in question who cleans for me is a friend who has been with me since the start and absolutely loves getting her hands dirty! The only reason I said told the clients my cleaner was having the week off and I didn't have anyone to replace her for that week is purely cos it was her that discovered that the clients wouldn't have the means to pay, and I was just trying to find an easy way of letting the clients down gently or giving them time to think about what they would do next!  As it was I received a phone call this morning from the client whereby they explained their situation fully (my cleaner was right in her suspicions) and advised that they couldn't afford to carry on with the cleans!

In my somewhat limited experience, it gave the clients the opportunity to cancel the contract with grace, without too hefty a bill, rather than me allowing them to carry on having cleans knowing they would struggle to pay a bigger bill, or alternatively me pulling my cleaner out without letting them know I knew they couldn't pay!

I am fully aware of pay on time and am a member myself. I invoice all m clients in ARREARS, giving them 3 weeks to pay and pay my girls as soon as all ayments are in and cleared...........they are fully aware of this.

Yes they could work for themselves, yes they could earn more and yes they would get pain quicker.......all the pain I get from running the business they would get instead:P

My girls like the set up, they know when thwey are getting paid and how much, they enjoy just going to work, cleaning and coming home........forgetting about it for the rest of the time!

My clients are also aware that as I run a small company, that I can't always find replacement cleaners, but they also have the added advantage of cancelling cleans at very short notice (the night before sometimes) without penalty.

It is very much a case of give and take both on my, my girls and my clients part, and it all works very well 99.9% of the time.

So thanks for your input Gary but its water off a ducks back to me...........over to you!!

Jan

PS sorry bout any spelling mistakes I was trying to get this in before I have to run off and make tea in between everything else I have to do!!!! :

[Simon H]

Hi Jan

Nice reply!!
Regards

Simon

[dustdees]

Jan,

Well done for your reply.
Some people don't remember their start up days.We all have limitations to work to, some more than others.
I am just starting up and only have 4 or 5 clients at the moment.We have gone public only three months, but I have an very very good thorough cleaner who help me with setting things up etc...
I consider my self lucky, but biz is slow at the mo.
These big boys tend to forget us little ones and the problems we have to deal with.
Anyway would anyone want to work with a blokw who has an attitude like that, I ask my self.
I'm behind you 100% on this one Jan. If it works for you, then it's nobody elses biz!!!!!!!!

I don;t know where you are based, I'm in Reading, Berkshire where are you.

Glad you got everything sorted with you dodgees.

Love
Denisex

[garyj]

A bit harsh , not really, go in to work tomorrow Mike and tell your staff they are getting paid monthly 3 weeks in arrears and see how many are left at the end next week.

Jan, you can't tell me they are happy as Larry over the payment terms, as you know, we all want to be paid quicker.
Can I ask is your cleaner who is off next week getting holiday pay? just a thought!

Denise, doesn't it become my business the second it gets posted on a public forum? Even Jan's Wayne & Waynetta might be readers, choose your clients wisely, say no sometimes, it doesn't hurt. You say your leaflets aren't working ( on another thread), why not post it on here, it might well get ripped to bits, but it would be constructive and you may well end up with a leaflet that works. Now thats helpful, even after you've slated me.

Over to you & yours.

[dustdees]

THE CLIENTS THAT I HAVE GOT ARE FROM FLYES ANYWAY. LIKE I SAY WE ALL HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE,I'M SURE YOU CAN REMEMBER THOSE DAYS!!!!!

I PAY MY CLEANERS ON THE DAY OF THE COMPLETED CLEANS, THEY ARE HAPPY.

REMEMBER GARY, MOST JOBS NOW PAY A MONTH IN ARREARS.I.E CIVIL SERVICE, NHS STAFF, SUPERMARKET STAFF, SOLICITORS, DRS ETC.

WE COME ON HERE FOR ADVICE NOT TO RIPPED TO BITS BY SOMEONE IN THE SAME LINE OF BIZ!!

CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS ARE ALL WELL RECEIVED, BUT THERE ARE WAYS OF PUTTING YOUR POINT ACROSS WITHOUT FIRING OF COMMENTS TO TRY AND MAKE US NEWBIES FEEL SMALL.

THERE IS AN OLD QUOTE "THE BIGGER THEY ARE THE HARDER THEY FALL!!!"

 

[Jan K]

Thanks for your support guys, and even Gary's criticisms are something to think about if not to act upon. Yes Gary my girls are most definately happy with the company set up. As I said, they are paid as soon as the customers funds have cleared. They are also paid an hourly rate which is the top end of cleaner's pay down here in Plymouth........that's where I am Denise :-)

It is not the first time my business practice has been criticised (not by Gary I might add), but by others way back, and it no doubt won't be the last! I don't take comments personally, each and every one of us has their right to say what they think.

When we post on an open board we have to expect criticism both good and bad. The trick is not to let it offend and to use whatever criticism you may receive in a positive way.

I think its brilliant that Denise has got some customers from flyers........it is good to see that system working for people like us as quite often it doesn't! It is nice to see you are the exception to the rule, Denise and good luck for the future!

Cheers!

Jan

[garyj]

Calm down Denise no need to shout, Jan has shown she is capable of sticking up for herself :.

Good 'ere init.

[Jan K]

yea gary you ain't seen the size of me lol