[fitz2kleen]

hi guys,
what do you do about problem payers?
we did a carpet clean for a woman on saturday, we had quoted over the fone and had underpriced it on the description given. but hey ho thats a cross we bear.
anyway the woman asked for us to decorate her front room for her, its a large room almost like 3 rooms in one.
we gave her a verbal quote while we were there on sat which was agreed.
then late saturday night she called and said she was on a tight budget and could we use cheaper paint and not bother about painting the woodwork.
i gave her a new price to accomodate this and she stated she wanted white ceiling and magnolia walls and the job was booked in for monday and explained we would have it finished by tuesday.
arrived monday 9am to do make a start, she was at work, mum next door let us in and we made a start on moving furniture etc.
painted the ceiling with mum popping in n out every 5 mins saying is that all you've done, she said you told her a couple of hours and it be done.
due to large amount of furniture we decided to do one half then the other.
started painting the walls and again mum was in and out having digs saying ohhhh thats not magnolia she aint gonna be happy etc.
carried on and finished the first half of room and daughter came home going mad that we were still there, saying we said it be done by now and its an inconvenience us being there. she also started ranting about the colour.
showed her the tin... says magnolia on the tin and left her to it said be back today to finish it.
got there this morning,again she was at work but they had completely emptied all the furniture from room and we got on with it.
finished mid-day and her mum came round to pay us the money .
it was £40 short on what we had quoted and her mum insisted that is what we quoted.
her mum wasnt even there when we gave the quote and just feel its something they plotted between them as she wasnt happy with the colour.
any suggestions on how to go about this?

[Carpet Dawg]

send her an invoice to be paid within 7 days. If she doesnt pay within 7 days, give her a call ( on the seventh day) and ask if there is a problem with paying the outstanding fee.

Do you have it in writting what the quote was for and duration of the job? The majority of trademens do this i'd have thought.

If she insists not to pay then your only option is to take her to a county court. But then again, is £40 worth it? Even if you win, doesn's mean you'll get paid...I've heard of many people not paying even after a county court has instructed them too!

I'd defo go down the invoice route in the mean time. Maybe with a letter she'll dewell on it and just pay.

Did you try out one of those sample pots on her walls to make sure she liked the colour to start with? maybe something to think about in the furture. Make sure you cover all basis as there's alot of chancers out there!

Tony

[fitz2kleen]

we do normally insist on confirmation of acceptance of quote by email and no we didnt try out a tester.
the reason being the call was at like 10pm on sat nite for job to start 9am mon morning.
she didnt want the usual brand of paint that we use as she said it was too expensive, said she just wanted cheap magnolia.
thats what she got.

[creighton foyle]

i have been a decorator for thirty years and magnolia is magnolia and in my experience the shade is not very different in whatever make of paint you choose, regarding not paying you i have had maybe half a dozen people in thirty years try to rip me off, they are thieves they may not think of themselves as such but that is what they are and going to county court for such small amounts is a waste of time what usually works (i have not tried this myself mind you) is if you tell them that the tyres on their new car (they nearly allways have a new car mostly on credit) would cost more to replace than what they owe you and that their insurance excess is also a lot more than they owe you (paintstripper on a cars bodywork is a terrible thing)if this does not make them pay up then they reap what they sow and before the more trusting/law abiding folk on this forum reply just remember this it is the inefectivness (did i spell that right?) of the civil law in this country that helps these people pray on the hard working population of this country and the culprits are usually those who live in big houses with good jobs and living way beyond their means. rant over i am a nice person really honest

[Jim_77]

You clean carpets and also do decorating

Your written quotation surely stated the agreed price very clearly?  If you started the job with no written quotation, then uhmmmm........................... :

I'm afraid it sounds like they haven't perceived you as being a "professional" company, and have treated you accordingly.

P.S. It's always the customers who phone you at stupid times of day that are the biggest pain in the ass.  I don't bother answering my phone outside of normal office hours now, for exactly that reason!

[M.Acorn]

P.S. It's always the customers who phone you at stupid times of day that are the biggest pain in the ass.  I don't bother answering my phone outside of normal office hours now, for exactly that reason!

Like you Jim,i wouldn`t have answered at that time of night !

Wouldn`t go as far as paint striper either ! Bit too obvious,go and punch her mum up a bit,and say it`s her next if the money is not paid 

[derek west]

i wouldn't lower my standards to do a job cheaper for someone, if they wanted a cheap job, theres plenty out there that would oblige.
as for payment, you aint got a leg to stand on by the sounds of it, at least you got something. learn from it, don't lower your standards and i'm guessing from now on you'll always do a written quote.

good lesson learned, move on.

[creighton foyle]

jim as stated i have been a decorator for 30 years (i suppose a lot on here started out doing something different),  i have'nt cleaned a carpet for ten years but i have booked on to the ncca course in september and i will have bought either an airflex or scorpion  (undecided which one to have )by then. regards

creighton