New customers not paid

[Hyzer373]

Hi guys from canvassing I’ve been doing lot of firsts cleans this year, most have been sound & transfer money over within a few days. Recently though two I picked up I felt seemed a little chavy (rough), I done there windows for them earlier in week & so far they haven’t transferred or replied to say they will or anything. I’ll give them few more days before I send reminder text but I have a feeling they are not going to pay. This infuriated me as I grafted on those houses they were very dirty and also my round is not full so I’m not loaded with money.
Have any of you guys had issues like this with new customers/first cleans?
Apart from sending text reminders, calling or knocking on door there’s not much I can do… I’ve read about small claims but doesn’t feel worth it over £15 (each house so I’m owed £30) plus I highly doubt I’d get anywhere with it as I don’t have there names and they seem the type who would ignore it anyway. I just have phone number and address. I feel like I’ve been mugged off, pretty hard to take, I’m gonna hassle them for months if I have too. Hopefully they’ll suprise me and pay up once I send reminder.
I can’t wait til I’m established, full up and have reliable customers. I think then if new ones want clean I can be more picky as I did feel suspicious with them but you can be wrong.
Any advice be appreciated

 

[Chris34]

Don't worry yourself about it. I used to worry myself and overthink just like you're, I did huge jobs for people who barely spoke English, jobs for like you say 'a bit chavy'... all of them delayed payment... but in 3 years I've never not been paid for a job. Just relax, give them a couple of weeks, then send them another text to remind them, give it a couple of weeks and then go round if you have to.

Honestly though, relax, it's not worth worrying about things you cannot control... and remember, it's 99%+ chance you will get paid. A few days is nothing.

For reference, I don't contact them until about 2 weeks after the job, within that 2 week period they normally contact me first and say they haven't forgot but can they pay on 'insert date here'.

 

[jimbob1]

Don't feel too bad, dont let it get to you - like Chris say they will pay, move on and keep building your round.
Charge more for your first cleans (note to self) - it seperates the chancers from the genuine ones.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I had the same at the beginning. You begin to get a feel for that type of behaviour after a year of it because they play the same game. Don't reply to text messages nor answer phone. You can try and chap their door but more than likely they will not answer or say they don't have cash on them. First year is hard and folk will take advantage of your situation but after that it will be you not replying to timewasters or passing them on, part and parcel of our job.

 

[Hyzer373]

Thanks guys, I do tend to overthink things, guess it’s part of the building process, can’t wait until I don’t have to canvass anymore lol.

 

[Pjj]

Unfortunately there are chancers in life that are always after something for nothing and some probably won’t pay , the small claims court has altered now you have to go to arbitration first , complete waste of time guaranteed they won’t turn up , and the amount of time it would take you could easily earn 10 times that by moving in , it does gall me that ones have work done and won’t pay , but with a bit of time under your belt you will spit ones like this , a simple way to weed out any that you think might not pay is charge more for the first clean and get payment before doing the job we do this with all end of tenancy cleans just in case .

 

[spruce]

First clean; cash up front.

 

[mickyt]

Hi guys from canvassing I’ve been doing lot of firsts cleans this year, most have been sound & transfer money over within a few days. Recently though two I picked up I felt seemed a little chavy (rough), I done there windows for them earlier in week & so far they haven’t transferred or replied to say they will or anything. I’ll give them few more days before I send reminder text but I have a feeling they are not going to pay. This infuriated me as I grafted on those houses they were very dirty and also my round is not full so I’m not loaded with money.
Have any of you guys had issues like this with new customers/first cleans?
Apart from sending text reminders, calling or knocking on door there’s not much I can do… I’ve read about small claims but doesn’t feel worth it over £15 (each house so I’m owed £30) plus I highly doubt I’d get anywhere with it as I don’t have there names and they seem the type who would ignore it anyway. I just have phone number and address. I feel like I’ve been mugged off, pretty hard to take, I’m gonna hassle them for months if I have too. Hopefully they’ll suprise me and pay up once I send reminder.
I can’t wait til I’m established, full up and have reliable customers. I think then if new ones want clean I can be more picky as I did feel suspicious with them but you can be wrong.
Any advice be appreciated

Send them a txt saying payment overdue £15.00 owing if you take it into office the girls will chase it up through small claims court costing them extra £25.00 onto there bill if they can pay it you will hold off for a few days taking it into office this usually works for me

 

[Nosey]

Having a card machine is handy for on the spot payment. One of my customers who has a sold sign on her house owes me twice. I’ve seen her and reminded her serveral times over the last 6 weeks. Kept promising to pay and didn’t. Tonight I caught her walking past me on a street in her area, whilst I was packing up my van. She told me she will transfer it over, but I sprung the card machine out and she paid on her phone through Apple Pay. She said the move has been delayed, but I won’t be doing hers again even though it’s due. I never normally bother customers, as I don’t mind getting paid double etc… but with this one I could tell she was trying it on. I’ve got a full round and very busy and can count on one hand the amount of people who haven’t paid me since I started window cleaning. But it goes in to the hundreds the amount of times people have messed me around on waiting or getting payment off them. That’s the problem dealing with people. It’s part of the territory. Window cleaning gives you a very good judge of character though and after time your instincts will give you a feeling for who the messers are. I don’t always get it right but majority I do. Keep grafting, getting prices in and the only way is up.

 

[spruce]

Once a house goes up for sale we usually stop cleaning unless they are well known to us and genuine people.

 

[ched999uk]

This might be a controversial view but it's one I have come too over a long period of time, not just window cleaning. Sometimes it's just not worth the worry, stress and anger when people con us. Don't get me wrong it pi$$es me off and I do send multiple reminders via txt and email but if they haven't paid after about 2 weeks then they get crossed off my round.

I chalk it up to a error in judgement and move on, plenty of good customers out there.

Getting angry and stressed only hurts one person You!

 

[High-tower]

This might be a controversial view but it's one I have come too over a long period of time, not just window cleaning. Sometimes it's just not worth the worry, stress and anger when people con us. Don't get me wrong it pi$$es me off and I do send multiple reminders via txt and email but if they haven't paid after about 2 weeks then they get crossed off my round.

I chalk it up to a error in judgement and move on, plenty of good customers out there.

Getting angry and stressed only hurts one person You!

I agree. I haven’t the energy to keep chasing for money. I don’t clean for anyone with a payment outstanding unless I can trust them. I don’t go out of my way to do anything for anyone, this way the worst it costs me is a few minutes of my time and a few litres of water.

 

[Part Timer]

All I do is after trying to get paid for around a month I send them one final text saying payment within 7 days or I will send it to the Debt Recovery company I use. Up to now this has worked 3 times, don't actually use a debt recovery company so glad no one has ever called my bluff.

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

All I do is after trying to get paid for around a month I send them one final text saying payment within 7 days or I will send it to the Debt Recovery company I use. Up to now this has worked 3 times, don't actually use a debt recovery company so glad no one has ever called my bluff.

I do this too, throw in a bit of legal jargon and tell them that the final text will serve as a 'letter before action' and they might face CCJs and they've never called my bluff thankfully

 

[marlowswindows]

Hi guys from canvassing I’ve been doing lot of firsts cleans this year, most have been sound & transfer money over within a few days. Recently though two I picked up I felt seemed a little chavy (rough), I done there windows for them earlier in week & so far they haven’t transferred or replied to say they will or anything. I’ll give them few more days before I send reminder text but I have a feeling they are not going to pay. This infuriated me as I grafted on those houses they were very dirty and also my round is not full so I’m not loaded with money.
Have any of you guys had issues like this with new customers/first cleans?
Apart from sending text reminders, calling or knocking on door there’s not much I can do… I’ve read about small claims but doesn’t feel worth it over £15 (each house so I’m owed £30) plus I highly doubt I’d get anywhere with it as I don’t have there names and they seem the type who would ignore it anyway. I just have phone number and address. I feel like I’ve been mugged off, pretty hard to take, I’m gonna hassle them for months if I have too. Hopefully they’ll suprise me and pay up once I send reminder.
I can’t wait til I’m established, full up and have reliable customers. I think then if new ones want clean I can be more picky as I did feel suspicious with them but you can be wrong.
Any advice be appreciated

I'm a tad snobby with customers but I have found the majority of the chaos have been good cash payers I find the people with the flashy range rovers and bmws on finance the hardest to get money from.

Do you have a card payment machine? If so go with that in hand so they can't use we have no cash excuse. May be a reasonable excuse like there benefit isn't paid in until next week ?

 

[spruce]

I do this too, throw in a bit of legal jargon and tell them that the final text will serve as a 'letter before action' and they might face CCJs and they've never called my bluff thankfully

Someone once told me that you can write a letter to Experian stating the customer's name and address with a detailed report and proof of the amount outstanding and your efforts to recover the debt. If it's seen as genuine, it will be recorded against their Experian account. One day in the future, this person could be rejected for a loan as your negative report will activate.
If this person queries why, then they will be told of the reason and that they need to get the debt settled. The windie (or whoever) will need to write to Experian and advise that the matter has been settled. No rush.

When I was in the motor trade I recall two instances where a finance detail was rejected. We never knew the reason (data protection), but the one customer did tell me it was because of a small debt that was so long ago he had forgotten all about. (true or not, I don't know.)

I don't know how true writing to Experian is. I'm with @ched999uk on this one. If the debt is a small one, then we write it off to business experience. We have very few debts a year we have to write off, so it isn't worth getting ulcers over. We are all going to get caught at some time, even from once very good paying customers. Things change. Just yesterday we were told that payment was late as the couple were getting divorced. Now money is an issue when it wasn't ever before. They have been our customer for the past 18 years with no payment issues.

@Pjj has a huge unpaid debt which still hasn't been sorted and not likely to be, so I'm very glad I'm not in that position.

 

[marlowswindows]

Someone once told me that you can write a letter to Experian stating the customer's name and address with a detailed report and proof of the amount outstanding and your efforts to recover the debt. If it's seen as genuine, it will be recorded against their Experian account. One day in the future, this person could be rejected for a loan as your negative report will activate.
If this person queries why, then they will be told of the reason and that they need to get the debt settled. The windie (or whoever) will need to write to Experian and advise that the matter has been settled. No rush.

When I was in the motor trade I recall two instances where a finance detail was rejected. We never knew the reason (data protection), but the one customer did tell me it was because of a small debt that was so long ago he had forgotten all about. (true or not, I don't know.)

I don't know how true writing to Experian is. I'm with @ched999uk on this one. If the debt is a small one, then we write it off to business experience. We have very few debts a year we have to write off, so it isn't worth getting ulcers over. We are all going to get caught at some time, even from once very good paying customers. Things change. Just yesterday we were told that payment was late as the couple were getting divorced. Now money is an issue when it wasn't ever before. They have been our customer for the past 18 years with no payment issues.

@Pjj has a huge unpaid debt which still hasn't been sorted and not likely to be, so I'm very glad I'm not in that position.

How big is the debt? Any monies owed by a ltd company over the value of £1000 you can start a winding up procedure against them

 

[Pjj]

How big is the debt? Any monies owed by a ltd company over the value of £1000 you can start a winding up procedure against them

Trust me it’s not that simple .

 

[marlowswindows]

Trust me it’s not that simple .

It never is I've just had a going on on a commercial job I've had 18 years first year of new ownership and its been a nightmare

 

[Yogi1872]

I have always had the mindset that when people don't pay I don't class it as money lost. I never had that money to loose In the first place. I look at it from a time point of view. They maybe owe x amount but in reality it didn't take up alot of my time. 10 mins or so, its maybe not the best way to go about it, I find it's alot less frustrating though and it gets it out your head alot quicker.

Guy I know scrapped a full house roof using wire brush, took him and his worker 2 full days doing 10 hour shifts. The customer didn't pay when he had finished. Told him that he was a week late as an excuse. He was meant to do it the sat and Sunday the week before but didn't manage to get to it. The customer didn't need it done for that specific date either, nothing else was happening thatthey needed that done before they could do something else etc. He chapped the door for paymeant on the Sunday and they didn't answer. He went back up during the week and the woman said he was a week late so there not paying. He went back a few times more after that but the same result. Told her to go get her husband outside instead of her to deal with it but he stayed inside. He was going to leather him.

 

[Iron Giant]

All I do is after trying to get paid for around a month I send them one final text saying payment within 7 days or I will send it to the Debt Recovery company I use. Up to now this has worked 3 times, don't actually use a debt recovery company so glad no one has ever called my bluff.

Have they actually met you and your son