[jasonl]

I have spent the last 18 months chasing a 65 grand debt from a lottery winner who set out to buy a business from me and subsequently sold the assets and claimed the business was worthless, they paid 30 grand deposit ,and failed to pay the balance.

Legal action is expensive in time and money ,it has just about wiped me out ,and left me without cash to fund my business bills,and cash to fund marketing in order to grow my business, my advice is to set a FIRM deadline then if he fails to pay without good reason key gouge his car ,walk away and forget all about it.

This made me feel better.

[murky]

Mike,

The restaurant thing works, we have a pub/restaurant here, they were 'caught' a while ago.

Eighteen of them a 'rambling club' arranged a dinner, ate most of it but only 8 or so of them paid, and not all of it, because the food is coooked individually the chef had to run around, so they said it was cold, raw etc. Turns out the pub  had been warned about this, they have been  around the area doing it, they are all 55/60 ish so you wouldnt expect it from them. Honest.

Going back to the debt collection, ask him for the money and if he doesnt pay get onto ThomasHiggins debt collectors in Liverpool, just google their name and their details come up..

They are brill and know the debt law inside out. As my previous posts they have never let me down yet.

Regarding your card machine, Join the FSB, my credit status isnt brill at the moment but they gave me one from 123send.

 Think its £20 per month as opposed to 28 or 30 normally, well worth it better than paying in books, parking probs and all the rest of it.

Good luck Mike, you write a lot of good posts on here and no one likes to see a pro kicked like that.

Murky

[Joe H]

Murky
I just registered with Thomas Higgins in Liverpool.
I am owing £245 by a building maintenance firm in Warrington for 2 jobs last Aug and Sept.
Cost a fiver for them to send a letter.
If no response, then you have the choice to go through the court system with Thomas Higgins or not.

[Simon Gerrard]

It's all very well threatening people with court action, but if you do it to someone who knows the ropes then they can tie you up in knots (and court fees) for years without you seeing a penny of your debt.

Simon

[Mike Halliday]

I agree with Simon, if you know the ropes the threats of court action or debt collectors letter or phone calls are seen as a joke.

the only debts taken seriously by non- payers are those owed to the government or council, then slightly utilities.....all others are ignored

[jasonl]

I have had a solicitor working for me , who has had 7k out of me in fees , the court has had 2.5k in fees , the other side are playing games ,being ridiculous , so yes , I advise being very careful .   Direct and firm action is the best way ,especially for the smaller sums.

[happy mondays]

I lost over £20,000 in bad debts last year, but speaking from experience your time is better spent winning new work that does pay you than working out ways of getting revenge, its a dog eat dog world we live in and you have to play the system to come out on top.

Picking up on another thread about T Earnshaw and Mr B, they are both playing the system like I do and will never go hungry. If its true, they themselves as individuals havent gone bust, its the Ltd company that owes £'s and no one else.   

[Carpet Dawg]

At the end of the day, you know where he lives and you know where his business is. From what your saying he isn't moving abroad anytime soon.

Dont try any "i'll get the heavies around" tactics. It will at the very least show you and your business in a bad light if your giving him hassle in his resturant, infront of punters who have just came out for a meal and not a show!

When the bounced check arrives, go round show the guy it (make a photocopy for yourself) and arrange a suitible time for him to pay you in CASH this time and idealy today! But dont go nuts at him. And you might even get him as a customer again! lol but of course cash only from now on.
Treat him like a commercial if you have too, i.e. pay within 28 days or what ever.

Tony

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

If anyone owes you under £500 you just take them to court. It costs you £10 for paperwork.

[Len Gribble]

Walking in with one of these makes a statement, oh chq got returned as the bank could not identify the signatory

[Matt Lindus]

Take him sea fishing.

[clinton]

There is a large glass fitting company near me and a while ago i noticed a banner kept being put up outside the shop.

The banner said dont use this company as they dont pay there fitters :

[Tony Gill Carpet Smart]

Well Mike DID he pay at 10am this morning

Tony

[Mike Halliday]

he left an envelope with the money minus £20, i rang him  and he said that was his charges for the returned cheque : : which he expected me to pay.

[Nigel_W]

Mike,

I guess in the circumstances that counts as a result.

The key is to learn from this and decide if there is anything you can do to prevent this happening to you again?

The FSB/ credit card route suggested by someone in an earlier post sounded like a good idea.

By the way I am horrified by some of the suggested remedies to your problem.

Nigel

[Tony Gill Carpet Smart]

Glad to hear you got a result better than a kick up the aris 

Tony

[murky]

That was me by the way, but to put a bit of gloss on this.

I did a flood restoration job in the offices of a big railway consortioum who have there head offices in Brum, no where near me.

Job done all ok, decorators finished, I cleaned up finally  and everyone happy and they moved back in the next day.

Rang the contact  to say all is OK and Invoice is on its way, and I was expecting the usual 30/60 days etc.

She said do you take cards over the phone (gulp) not having done it before, call you later which I did, and over £400 straight in there.

Kerching!

OK I know it doesnt happen every day but a nice thing like that makes it worth while.

Oh and Mike when they ask you on your form about CCJ's just say no, I did, they are out of date now, but I have a card machine and thats what counts. I think the banks are so desperate to get us off cheques now they will let us have them without too much of a fuss.

Oh and Mike if I can work the machine I am sure you can. Well done with the payment.

Murky