Go cardless fees up from feb

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

Call me old fashioned but we only accept, cash, cheques, BACS payments , no charges with any of theses , this is yet another reason why I won’t use this type of payment you are always at the mercy of the company running it if they put up prices there is nothing you can do about it , and with a sizeable business it would be a nightmare after getting hundreds or thousands of customers to alter payment methods . 

For the same reasons I will not use the software companies either again you are at there mercy if something goes wrong until they fix the problem there is nothing you can do , same if they decide to put up there prices , and you are relying on a 3rd party with all your customer data base , none of which Ime happy to share with them ..

Must be chilly in that cave you live in ?

Get with the times mate. Businesses cost money to run. Couldn’t think of anything worse than knocking on doors to get a cheque to pay in. 

 

[Iron Giant]

Call me old fashioned but we only accept, cash, cheques, BACS payments , no charges with any of theses , this is yet another reason why I won’t use this type of payment you are always at the mercy of the company running it if they put up prices there is nothing you can do about it , and with a sizeable business it would be a nightmare after getting hundreds or thousands of customers to alter payment methods . 

For the same reasons I will not use the software companies either again you are at there mercy if something goes wrong until they fix the problem there is nothing you can do , same if they decide to put up there prices , and you are relying on a 3rd party with all your customer data base , none of which Ime happy to share with them ..

I appreciate what you and others have said, but for me as mentioned previously my memory is quite bad so round tracking apps and GC are a must for me, plus with hmrc wanting everything digital using these apps and intergrations is also a bonus for me, without these things my admin time etc would take up far more time each day rather than the 10 minutes or so it takes to organise a worksheet and hit a few buttons and collect most of debt 

 

[Pjj]

Must be chilly in that cave you live in ?

Get with the times mate. Businesses cost money to run. Couldn’t think of anything worse than knocking on doors to get a cheque to pay in. 

Lol haven’t collected for over 10 years , several thousand customers , never have a problem getting paid by the 3 methods I mentioned earlier and it costs me nothing ???, trust me I don’t live in a cave ???

I appreciate what you and others have said, but for me as mentioned previously my memory is quite bad so round tracking apps and GC are a must for me, plus with hmrc wanting everything digital using these apps and intergrations is also a bonus for me, without these things my admin time etc would take up far more time each day rather than the 10 minutes or so it takes to organise a worksheet and hit a few buttons and collect most of debt 

I thought you were a sole trader ? Hmrc  dont want digital accounts from sole traders , at least not at the moment 

 

[Davy G]

Must be chilly in that cave you live in ?

Get with the times mate. Businesses cost money to run. Couldn’t think of anything worse than knocking on doors to get a cheque to pay in. 

I use similar methods of payment as Pjj, mostly the queen's currency or cheque, a very, very few bank transfers in rare, special circumstances. The control is therefore in my hands, not in the hands of a third party.

I certainly don't live in a cave. I doubt very much that Pjj does either. ,  He knows very well how to run his business.

My business runs very successfully with the payment methods I choose to use. The payment system is run as sweet as a nut. No knocking on doors required.

I think perhaps you're trying to "teach granny to suck eggs", with lecturing Pjj.

We all have our own way of doing things and rightly so. ?

 

[C Rose Cleaning Services]

I use similar methods of payment as Pjj, mostly the queen's currency or cheque, a very, very few bank transfers in rare, special circumstances. The control is therefore in my hands, not in the hands of a third party.

I certainly don't live in a cave. I doubt very much that Pjj does either. ,  He knows very well how to run his business.

My business runs very successfully with the payment methods I choose to use. The payment system is run as sweet as a nut. No knocking on doors required.

I think perhaps you're trying to "teach granny to suck eggs", with lecturing Pjj.

We all have our own way of doing things and rightly so. ?

Missed the metaphor guys. 
 

What are you going to do when tax is completely digital and you have notepads and cash? At some point you guys are going to have to succumb to modern life and get software to help you whether you like it or not. 
 

I’m really pleased that you both have found so much success keeping it old school, and obviously have fantastic customers to earn what you do without any collecting and debt. Must be wonderful. 

 

[Davy G]

Missed the metaphor guys. 
 

What are you going to do when tax is completely digital and you have notepads and cash? At some point you guys are going to have to succumb to modern life and get software to help you whether you like it or not. 
 

I’m really pleased that you both have found so much success keeping it old school, and obviously have fantastic customers to earn what you do without any collecting and debt. Must be wonderful. 

I guess what I'll do is seek you out to tell me how to run my business as I doubt I'll have the intelligence to figure it out myself.

Can't answer for Pjj, maybe he'll seek your help as well.

Meanwhile I'll try to continue to live my life well without having to "succumb" till I have to.

Long live free thinking.

 

[Dave B]

the fees haven’t doubled, if they had doubled they would have gone to 2%. It’s gone to 1% plus 20 p. For eg, before a £10 payment would have cost 20p (minimum GC fee). Now it will cost 30p. So anything up to £20 fees will be up to 15p extra, anything over that it’s just an extra 20 p on top. Nobody likes things to go up but they all do. My prices go up every year. For me personally it is still worth it, it’s my much preferred method of payment as it’s hassle free. It is also still a lot cheaper than PayPal, and cheaper than card payment options.

Never had a minimum on mine.

On a 12 quid job I pay 12p and that's it.

I only use it for certain customers to make sure I get paid but most of mine pay bank transfer and that works fine as I log on to bank with thumbprint on phone so takes seconds to check bank each evening and have squeegee open on split screen. Can't remember when I last used laptop. I won't take cheques though..and of course cash left somewhere is the best option ??

Always paid within a couple of days and no chasing up needed apart from the odd text reminder which is done on squeegee anyway so no effort on my part.. gocardless is integrated also so on completion the gc payment is requested automatically. 

As for digital tax even an excel spreadsheet is digital lol.

Your accountant would sort it anyway.

Nothing wrong with working with a notepad/spreadsheet/software or outlook calendar.. still does the same job.

Some people need to be less preachy.

 

[Wind o kleen]

Never had a minimum on mine.

On a 12 quid job I pay 12p and that's it.

Old sign ups paid just 1% newish sign ups paid 20p now everybody will be paying both 

 

[Dave B]

Old sign ups paid just 1% newish sign ups paid 20p now everybody will be paying both 

Won't bother me but would be a big jump in price for someone with loads of customers on it.

 

[Wind o kleen]

Won't bother me but would be a big jump in price for someone with loads of customers on it.

Same I have only recently started using it , thibk I have about 30 customers on it , am sure it’s still wourth every penny , 

 

[Dave B]

Same I have only recently started using it , thibk I have about 30 customers on it , am sure it’s still wourth every penny , 

It's worth it to me for problem payers.. they get 1 or 2 chances then it's gocardless or go away.

I would actually wait longer for payments with gocardless than I do now with most customers. 

 

[Davy G]

It's worth it to me for problem payers.. they get 1 or 2 chances then it's gocardless or go away.

I would actually wait longer for payments with gocardless than I do now with most customers. 

Your method Dave. Rightly so. ?

 

[Pjj]

Missed the metaphor guys. 
 

What are you going to do when tax is completely digital and you have notepads and cash? At some point you guys are going to have to succumb to modern life and get software to help you whether you like it or not. 
 

I’m really pleased that you both have found so much success keeping it old school, and obviously have fantastic customers to earn what you do without any collecting and debt. Must be wonderful. 

All companies have outstanding debt it’s called cash flow ??? most companies we deal with pay on a 28 day cycle Ime sure if you do any commercial you will be aware of this fact , I don’t know  of any that would pay by go cardless that’s not the way there accounts departments work . As for domestic a lot of my customers are like me old school and certainly would not sight up to go careless no more than I would in there shoes , I am not a computer genius like the younger generation and am not the slightest bit interested in going down that route , I have been in buisness for over 30 years not all window cleaning and have always managed to run it somehow without all theses computer programs etc so guess I must be doing something wrong ???????Ime   good and successful at getting and retaining customers , I leave the paperwork to my wife and the accountant , any changes that are needed he is more than capable of doing and after all that’s why I have him ???

 

[Shammy Davis Senior]

And what you’re failing to grasp is that 2% is insignificant for the cash flow and additional bonus of no debt chasing. 
 

Each to their own, but if 2% of your yearly turnover isn’t worth 100+ hours of admin checking payments and chasing customers then there’s no helping you really. Your debt list must be enormous if you only take manual transfers. 

I don’t clean windows so I have the time to do it plus I have a p/t admin. It’s 2% now, but imagine if it goes to PayPal levels and 100% of your customers use it. It’s now had two price jumps. Besides £7,000 for 100 hours work doesn’t seem a bad return. 

 

[Iron Giant]

I thought you were a sole trader ? Hmrc  dont want digital accounts from sole traders , at least not at the moment 

Yes I am a sole trader, at the moment is like saying "yet" or "but" ? ultimately we each have our own ways I ain't going to preach to anyone as we each run our businesses successfully.

I example of my memory I was in the middle of making a drink, then I had to race out the door because I realised I had left the booster pump running and the tank could be overflowing, came back in the house sat on the sofa for 15 minutes before realising I had left my drink in the kitchen

 

[Shammy Davis Senior]

Just to add, the cash flow argument is a myth. At anyone time our debt level is equivalent to 5 days turnover or thereabouts and I think Gocardless take 5 days to pay, so there’s no benefit there.

The reason I went for it was the increased level of commitment that I hoped it would give. I’ll still offer it and as I’ve thought more about it I will insist on it for those I don’t like the sound of when they call. 

 

[Pjj]

Just to add, the cash flow argument is a myth. At anyone time our debt level is equivalent to 5 days turnover or thereabouts and I think Gocardless take 5 days to pay, so there’s no benefit there.

The reason I went for it was the increased level of commitment that I hoped it would give. I’ll still offer it and as I’ve thought more about it I will insist on it for those I don’t like the sound of when they call. 

surely if you don’t like the sound of a potential customer just don’t take the job on , that’s what I do , you can get a feeling pretty quickly about some people , when I ask are you looking for a regular clean if they say , we will have it done this time and see how it goes then they arnt for me ??

 

[Davy G]

If I don't like the sound of a potential customer or I think they might be trying for a crafty one off, I make sure to price slightly higher than normal and a bit extra for the first clean.

Funny thing is ; some of these have turned out to be very good, friendly and loyal customers once they've got to know us, and us them. There's so much publicity about rogue traders and the like it can make people very suspicious, some are just naturally abrasive.

Mostly now we have a very good working relationship with them.

If I don't like the sound of a potential customer or I think they might be trying for a crafty one off, I make sure to price slightly higher than normal and a bit extra for the first clean.

Funny thing is ; some of these have turned out to be very good, friendly and loyal customers once they've got to know us, and us them. There's so much publicity about rogue traders and the like it can make people very suspicious, some are just naturally abrasive.

Mostly now we have a very good working relationship with our customers.

 

[Shammy Davis Senior]

surely if you don’t like the sound of a potential customer just don’t take the job on , that’s what I do , you can get a feeling pretty quickly about some people , when I ask are you looking for a regular clean if they say , we will have it done this time and see how it goes then they arnt for me ??

Well that’s an obvious example but sometimes it’s just a feeling so sending an email with t&cs and link to sign up plus 1/2 again on the first clean should sort the wheat from the chaff. 

 

[Damo]

Iv'e been doing my math's and I've worked out my franchisee's are going to be somewhere between £50-£90 a month worse off now.

With the round I clean its about £10-£15 a week so I am probably not going to even worry about my round yet. 

There are literally loads of ways to incorporate this price increase and i think that's the best thing about GoCardless and Cleaner planner sync'd together is that it will enable myself and my guys to literally take £10.20 or £15.20 etc etc. 

I have already started to work out all the math's and drawn up a price increase letter for next year. 

We will now reintroduce the 50p price increase as well as the ONLY reason I got rid of 50p's was down to carrying change and it was easier with whole numbers. Now with GoCardless taking £15.50 is not going to be an issue as its all done for you.

New customers this week have already had 50p added to their prices. 

I've seen some really funny posts though on Facebook and other forums. The chaps panicking over these 20p price increases are also the chaps doing £500 a day. If my franchisees really resent it i will pay the fees myself and just not heat my garage and the Ferrari will have a cover on it. 

If I had centralised banking then yes I would be one whom is slightly miffed as it would be an instant £400+ a month extra expense!!

 

[AGlassAct]

For those that wanted it in black and white