non payers

its not really a learning experience , every job i do i have to ask for payment

 

hi Tortuosa
well i agree with you but suppose i agree to sweep a woodland. path ......... what does that mean?
i can build a brick wall ....... using bricks and mortar to agreed spec ........ but does it have to be horizontal?
i mean..... the base mite have to be 4:1 mortar but it could be wet or it could be dry,
and do i have to do the ground prep, suppose you pay for clearance do i have to dig shoulders?

 

in the end i have to be satisfied that i have done a reasonable job to meet the customers' declared expectation
BUT im not prepared to be ripped off by people who think that i am vermin

 

i d better sign off
sorry for sounding off peeps, but i invest 90% of my time and my effort in my business , and i do it for money!
... to keep a roof over my head, food on the plate and to pay the rates,
and then some female thinks they can get work done for ff all ...
no way!

 

I know your spitting mad at the moment, but please do nothing until you've managed to cool down and engage your brain.

You depend on building your customer base, and irrespective of what you think of her behaviour, doing anything whilst angry, is likely to hurt you more than her.

Once you've cooled down, then think what you need to do - to get the outcome you want (and thats not satisfaction, which could hurt you and your business) it could be payment, it could be setting up a better paper trail for future customers as safeguard, it could be anything. The outcome has to be the focus - not what you'd like to do to her - much though I empathise with that.

To guote a West Side Story song, "Play it cool boy, real cool"

 

Just remember-"Revenge is a dish best served cold" :D

 

Lady Gardener. If I can help please let me know - you can e-mail me direct (button at top). For several years I was an accountant in the local hospital, and one of my jobs was chasing debts. I have probably taken 200 to 300 people to court.

I think it is worth looking carefully at this, if for no other reason than knowing how to avoid the situation in future.

Collecting money is essentially a game of bluff. If someone knows all the rules, no court order or bailiffs can make them pay. But generally they do not know the rules. For your part there are rules that you must follow. It is a lot like supernanny - if you have seen that. At the moment the child (the debtor) is in control. You have to take control back.

You must be totally professional - no ranting, raving or abuse. And no threats at the moment.

You must prepare a case that you could put in front of a judge (if necessary). And as Tortuosa and others have said that means cool and professional. If the debtor realises you have a sound and professional case, control passes back to you and they may well pay up without going any further.

A sound case includes, name and address of debtor - workplace is not sufficient. Evidence that she requested work and under what terms (if you can). Evidence that work has been done. For instance a photo of a tidy garden, and a photo of bags of rubbish. An invoice with full details of dates, hours worked, hourly rate and materials consumed. If the debtor has not replied to your invoice querying your rates etc - this could be taken to imply that the work was requested and the hourly rate was acceptable

You then need to have a copy of any reminders sent. In a second reminder you could hint at taking it further if payment is not received within say 10 days. If you make a threat - you must carry it out - so don't issue threats lightly. Back to supernanny - empty threats are a sign of weakness - every kid know that.

The next step is then to threaten court proceedings. A simple typed letter saying that if not paid within 10 days court proceedings will be taken to recover this sum and interest accrued under the County Court Act 1984, as well as court costs and your own personal costs. If the letter looks professional - this often prompts payment.

If you really cannot find the address of the daughter I would threaten to take the mother to court. You are unlikely to win such a case as your contract was with the daughter. But they may not understand the niceties. And threatening poor old mum might make daughter pay. I did say it was a game of bluff.

Rather than go on - feel free to contact me if you wish. I would be quite happy to talk you through the court procedure, which is very simple.

 

thanks very much peter, i intend to post an invoice, unfortunatley i don t have her adress, so it will have to go through the door where the work was done
there is no one living in the house , i think the old lady died
i could take photo s of the amount of garden rubbish i have removed and put round the back of house for uplift, but can i then take it back and scatter it over the front garden?
the idea of essentially working for some1 for two days and doing a good job, then allowing her to get away with it is anathema to me.
There won t be any bad effect on my business as i get the impression she has no friends locally.

 

well that s interesting webmaster, cos if the reverse were the case any1 could just refuse to pay ...
i feel better now

i think that was what was causing brain - be fuddling .. the idea that she would have to see the work and then decide if she would pay!

[ 22. February 2006, 04:47 PM: Message edited by: The Lady Gardener ]

 

no im over it now tnx to all the support i got here ... you just get confused when peeps decide to play games!
any money i get now will not be sufficient!
and what makes me laff, is she thinks i ll continue to work for her over the summer.... some peeps have a brass neck

 

I am feeling annoyed on your behalf. Most people are fine to work for. Word usually gets round if someone is not worth the risk but one often finds out too late. I have met the odd dodgey person but they, when I've cooled down, are overweighed by the decent people who become your friends as well as being clients.

 

yes ty v much, i think she will refuse to pay on some pretext........ i will never let any1 off with that again, but in most cases there is no problem , and if i start goin all formal it would put a lot of people off, but at the time you tend to give people the benefit of the doubt .. expecting them to behave normally
thnx again

 

I'd collect as many weed seeds as you can and sprinkle them everywhere...something very intrusive and agressive should be just right

 

This made me really cross for you. If you don't do any more work for her, will she spoil your word-of- mouth reputation? I would find it hard to do a good job for her in future, were it not for the pleasure of seeing a job well done.
:D Great idea, Steve :D