Time to make customers pay!

[boarcity]

cant see why its such an issue - you can Easily get more money, to cover any loss, if you need it that badly- either just go get more jobs or jack up prices, OR BOTH! . if somebody Really **** me off with a bit of thought you can finish their career or maybe a nervous breakdown no end of things if you put your mind to it

 

[MrBump]

Finish their career or a nervous breakdown over a few quid? Whoa bloody hell. I think putting the dirt back on is revenge enough if deemed necessary. Sure hope I never get on your bad side!

 

[boarcity]

Finish their career or a nervous breakdown over a few quid? Whoa bloody hell. I think putting the dirt back on is revenge enough if deemed necessary. Sure hope I never get on your bad side!

not over a few quid i wouldnt. i treat the little losses as just part of the biz, same as shops treat shoplifting, you make sure your prices are high enough to take the hit without it upsetting the flow

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I think you are missing my point Boars,

A job gets done, someone pays for the work that was done, it's that simple.

It's not about needing £10 or £12 badly, I don't, I have between £800 - £1200 of debts outstanding at any one point that I can go out and collect, it is a principal issue.

If a customer screws you over for a tenner and you just let it slide with a plan that karma will take care of it then next time a window cleaner puts a card through their door then they are going to accept the service and yet again try to screw another window cleaner out of their money.

As I said it is a principal issue, the monetary value of thee job is neither here nor there, it is about letting the customer know that that $hit don't fly.

 

[CMRwindowcleaning]

I can see your point. If I was going down that route I would probably send them a letter threatening legal action, court fees and debt collection with a 5-7 day settle up period. Just as the big companies you mentioned would do. Like you said it's about getting paid and think this would resolve the matter. Personally a 7pm knock on the door usually works for me. It's hassle and they get a stern warning but always seem to be good payers after that. If they aren't then I chuck them. Again it's about getting paid. The only annoying this is like you said they will probably eventually screw another window cleaner over. I'd rather let you try this method before me and see how you get on. "SUE THEIR ASS". Lol

 

[Tuffers]

How do we prove the work has been done or was agreed t be done though, if the custies contested it.
I have one custy at the minute who is by far the worst ive had.

First two times i cleaned she paid cash, no probs.

Next time i cleaned she had no cash, so i said ok pay online.

No payment came, i though ok ill catch her next time

went again, again n money on her but promised she would pay online

so thats 2 cleans.

Never paid, tried to call wasnt in etc.

Third time went round, she was very apologetic, explained she didnt know how to pay online but thought her daughter could do it. she lives in a nice house and seems genuine so i stupidly cleaned them again and she assured me she would leave the money out next time if i text her the day before, she said that would be a good way to do it, problem solved so i thought.

She was due last week, i text her the night before, on the morning of the clean she texts back, can we leave the windows this time and i will leav ethe money out the next time you are around!

couldnt believe it, didnt know whether to tell her to **** off or what i still havent replied.

That's taking the urine. Do not clean again and make sure you get what's owed.

 

[cheapncheerful]

yeh adam I got caught the same way...said oh yes will pay straight into your account same week...she did the first two times....and then in the rush upto xmas loads of jobs and NO MONEY...

of course I ploughed into them panicking as busy at that time of year...until the bill came to £325 then I didnt turn up anymore...

invoices went unpaid so I took the green route..

okay she was going to pay ..I had the boar idea in mind...I knew where she lived...but really why should I risk getting caught doing something stupid?

anyway the green method worked although I took a £25 hit to keep the fee down..

so...houseproud of knutsford.....dont work for them fellow windies ..you have been warned...nice though barbara may appear to be..../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[MrBump]

I believe in karma green, so thats certainly an option /emoticons/wink.png Maybe a tree will fall down in a storm through their window lol. I've never had a problem, but I can see if I did how you would have to balance your reputation against getting paid. Your reputation has to come first, as that will earn you far more than the one bad customer would. I can imagine you do have to let some slide, especially if you have alot of houses on that street or recommended by them, people move and forget or dodge or whatever. But they will get their cumuppence no doubt. I think the fairest thing is just to remind and wait a few months, if nothing then dirty the windows back up. They still win, they got clean windows for a while and you wasted your time, but at least things are back to how they were.

With regards to debt collecting I think you would need to leave it a certain length of time if you wanted to do them so that you didn't come across as the bad guy when defending yourself to somone else - ie. 'They got whats coming to them, three minutes I waited and still nothing so I charged them an extra £25 for it!'... Probably puts you in a bad light lol.. However 'I politely reminded them for 3 months and still nothing so I had no choice!', well no-one can argue with your patience there so its justified. Once paid pleasantly tell them you hope they fall off a ladder and move on.

Either way I won't do the next clean until they have paid for the previous one anyway, so would never be too much out of pocket. The dirtier their windows get, the more likely they are to pay up in order to get them done again! /emoticons/wink.png

 

[MrBump]

Fair play Cheapie, thats quite a window debt she owed to you! Glad you got it!

 

[cheapncheerful]

yep cheapie bumped today ..only a fiver but still....

she texted me two weeks ago...I texted her last night saying today...she promised she would text me where it was left if she went out...daughter in...oh you will have to come back...

delete delete delete.....well unless she coughs up..

the other two..left double for next month..some you win...some you wait for.../emoticons/biggrin.png

yep mr bump thats how I found this forum...some one on here had been mugged and I googled and found the post...

it was only about seven new build cleans....but it soon adds up.../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[matt18]

We have all been there, we have all had customers that 'Oh sorry, no cash on me' 'oh can you call next week' or the ones that just hide behind the curtains and ignore you knocking on the door.
When I do the job I leave a receipt if no one is home, later I will knock on the door and perhaps an excuse or perhaps no one home, I go back again and no one home so this time I leave a 'Please contact us to arrange payment' slip.

Now at this point I figure I have done enough work to attempt to get my £8 or £10 or however much the bill is, now it is on the customer to settle the account.

This is where it gets fun, some will phone to arrange payment whereas once in a while you will get those wasters that will just ignore you totally and figure they do not have to pay.

Is this because they have screwed over window cleaners before that eventually gave up being bothered to collect the money? Or just cause they feel oh well it's only a tenner i'll pay when I can be bothered?, do they not consider you a real company or a proper business?

Well whatever their reasons are what are ours for not bothering to use all the tools at our disposal to collect the money we are owed for doing the work? Is it because we have to pay £25 to reclaim a debt of £8 well if you can't be bothered to invest in protecting your earnings then I cant help you any further.

I have finally had enough of new customers wanting work doing and trying not to pay for it so now I have registered with the Claims Court online I have a customer that has been ducking me for £12 for three months now so I have bitten the bullet, paid my £25 (which get's added to the defendants ((Customers)) costs and filed the claim.

All done in 20 minutes on line, now I sit back and let the courts do the work for me. If all goes smoothly I should see payment for £37 in the next 14 days, if not I can have it registered as a debt and then sell it on to a debt collection agency that will add their own costs on top to the customer for recovering the debt.

Would be interesting to see how far a customer will go to avoid having to pay.

For those of you interested in letting the government work for you for a change you can register here, www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

good on you green let us know how it goes I made a post about debt recovery for windys the other week, I want to get something set up like this. I cant stand chasing money hope this goes well for you.

 

[Dave B]

@MrBump why should you have to wait so long to make it look ok

We provide a service that costs money

A mechanic provides a service that costs money and you pay when the job is done

A plumber provides a services that costs money and you pay when the job is done

I provide a service that costs money and i expect to be paid when the job is done..not 3 months later

Why should we take this :turd: because we are window cleaners

 

[MrBump]

I totally agree with you there daveyboy. Fortunately its only the odd one. I'm on your side, we provide a service and deserve to get paid, but I think you have to leave it a little before going the 'debt collecting' route I reckon just so you've given them a chance so to speak. Maybe 3 months is a bit long, I've not had a problem yet though, maybe I will feel differently if/when it happens to me /emoticons/wink.png

I was thinking of putting interest in my terms and conditions, after a week it goes up 10% per week until they pay, not sure how that would go down though, might make customers pay up quicker maybe?

 

[Ant]

some people literally take the p1ss! customers like yours @adamangler make my blood boil!

I've only been knocked once which I posted about previously on the forum but I've been messed about plenty. Some have a very blase attitude when it comes to paying the window cleaner, not sure if many other tradesmen are treated with the same attitude?

 

[Dave B]

By law you are entitled to add interest

I give my customers a week before i send a reminder text or email

If not heard anything within a couple more days they get a second reminder

Once it reaches 2 weeks i will get the money from them somehow and they won't be a customer

Unless they are on holiday there is no reason for it to take that long which is why i make sure it has been a fortnight before i stop being nice about it

 

[matt18]

@MrBump why should you have to wait so long to make it look okWe provide a service that costs money

A mechanic provides a service that costs money and you pay when the job is done

A plumber provides a services that costs money and you pay when the job is done

I provide a service that costs money and i expect to be paid when the job is done..not 3 months later

Why should we take this :turd: because we are window cleaners

its because some people have parasitic tendencies and have no intention in paying in the first place.

This gets me back to my original statement about these people , that they have champagne taste with beer money.

Being good at reading some body language and scanning there surroundings can eliminate most bad payers in the early stages.

e.g no stair or hallway carpet, messed up teeth/soppy looking bastrd, sofa/unwanted furniture in front garden, smell of dog urine/feces or accumulation around the premises. And the classic not this month please,

Just some of the things that keep me on the back foot.

 

[Ant]

I think we have to apply reason where necessary, sometimes even my good customers, due to circumstance, ask if they can pay a week or so later or even next time I'm round, and that's fine with me because they're normally good payers but the constant messers only get the time it takes for my patience to run out before they're gone.

Also, it's all relative! Some window cleaners can't afford even the little hits especially if they're accumulative, where-as bigger business can take it more, although still not on!

 

[matt18]

I think we have to apply reason where necessary, sometimes even my good customers, due to circumstance, ask if they can pay a week or so later or even next time I'm round, and that's fine with me because they're normally good payers but the constant messers only get the time it takes for my patience to run out before they're gone.
Also, it's all relative! Some window cleaners can't afford even the little hits especially if they're accumulative, where-as bigger business can take it more, although still not on!

if it takes you longer to get paid than it does to do the job then what is the point?

 

[Ant]

Well quite! But I like to give people the benefit of the doubt before I write them off!

I would also like to say that class doesn't come into it for me. Some of the Champagne drinkers I've had in the past were a nightmare, some of the beer drinkers I've got are brilliant and vice versa!

 

[TolishAPurd]

I'm still chuckling about the guy on here that skewered a dog turd on to the customers door handle. Makes me smile every time I think about it./emoticons/biggrin.png

I've not had to chase up much in the way of debts thank god, but when the day comes I will go down the route of this thread.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Just for the record I didn't clean the windows at 9am today and file a claim at 3pm this afternoon.

This customer has owed the money for just over ten weeks, they were left a receipt on the day, I have already made two return visits to try to collect to no avail, I have left them a polite note to contact me to arrange payment (daveyboy knows a bit about my paperwork so can testify as to how in order it is) and so far this customer has made no effort to pay me.

It's not hard, call me and I will come and collect cash, call me with card details I can process cards over the phone (via paypal here app) call me and I will give you my account details and you can do a bank transfer, call me give me your email and I will send you details for GoCardless, or just pay me by Paypal.

It's not like I haven't bent over backwards to give them options on how to pay me.

So instead of wasting another moment on this I have now filed a claim - not because I need to collect this one particular debt but because I am going to collect this debt as a matter of principle.

Mr Bump, my reputation with my customers, neighbors other window cleaners around here s really solid and I am known to be a really laid back person so anyone trying to slag me off in a professional capacity would just look a numpty.

And as for reputation, I would rather a reputation as the window cleaner you pay £10 to promptly as a window cleaner that cost £35 too cause you tried to **** them about. The sort of people that would mouth of about having a claim against them are the sort of people most expect to have claims against them.

I have always had a policy of no more than two cleans before they get cut off until paid and that stands for customers I know are good for the money too.