[Bay View WCS]

So I did a first clean for a custy at the end of June - a little terraced for £8.00 8 weekly.  Go to collect next evening and she says she'll pay online (my details are on the slip)

okidoke says I.

Check a couple of weeks later and still no payment so gives her a call - 'oh yes I forgot, I'll get it paid' says she.

okidoke says I.

Still no payment before due again so calls round a few times - the usual no answer. 

So by this time I'm thinking that I'm not going to get paid but I'll still chase it when passing or when I feel like giving her a bit of a call.

Phoned last week and said 'look, its been 3 months now is there any chance of getting paid; she said she thought her sister had paid online and she would check and get back to me.

okidoke says I.

She never got back to me so I was passing tonight and thought I'd have a knock for a bit of a laugh.

Younger sister (late 20's) answers and explains she's not in could I call back.  So I calmly explained that yes I would call back and it would be in about 30 minutes and in my hand I would have a 14 day 'letter before action' and if I still didn't receive payment I would be taking it to court because although every bone in my body was screaming 'leave it Tom, it's not worth it' for some reason I couldn't let this one go.  I have bill to pay, I'm not a rich man, I have provided a service and I wanted paying for that service.

About 20 mins later I gets a text from custy:

Its XXXX from XXXXXX Street.  Yes I have forgot to pay you.  I don't appreciate you using abusive behaviour towards my younger sister, its not her fault I forgot.  I was waiting for you to call me again because last time you called I said I had your bank details but turns out I don't.

I replied:

I must admit to being somewhat bemused by your text.  In the first instance, I was in no way abusive towards your sister - she may have sensed my frustration at having to chase payment yet again but unless your definition of 'abusive behaviour' differs significantly from that of the Oxford dictionary then I fail to see how my calm manner could be seen in that way. Perhaps you would be kind enough to elaborate?  In the second instance, was it beyond the realms of possibility that you could telephone me to request my details to make a payment.  Given the amount of time that has elapsed since I cleaned your windows, surely that is the least you could have done.  Each time I have attempted to contact you to obtain payment I have been patient and courteous - unfortunately you have not returned this courtesy.  Chasing payment of debts carries a cost to my business such that the original amount owed by you for my services no longer even covers the time expended attempting to get paid - so I have lost money because you forgot to pay me for three months - and yet the tenor of your text seems to suggest that I am somehow at fault in all of this.

She replies saying her sister said I had 'kicked off and ended with 'are you going to give me your bank details or not?'

I sent a text back with my PayPal details in the faint hope she will make a payment at some point this century!

Now I know that loads of you will say that I should have just wrote it off and forgot about it (I did this for another custy earlier in the year owing me £22.00).  Well I had to be honest but this one really just niggled me for some reason so I couldn't let it go completely.  I know it's only 8 quid but sometimes I just think 'well if it's just 8 quid why don't the tight b#st#rds just pay it then?

I have let it go now as the text above to her really got it off my chest.

Not so much as a lesson learned but an eruption of the volcano so I'll lie dormant for another few years

Cheers

Tom

[Ian101]

You must have sore fingers from all that text

[ben M]

You must have sore fingers from all that text

[Banbury Window Cleaning]

well done! you have provided a service why shouldnt you get paid!
I am sure if she didnt get paid to go to work then she would be a little miffed!
We always chase payment for services we have provided 

[colin purewater]

Good on ye mate, I don't let it go if they have
Lied to my face,

I had one thè other week who told me they had paid me by
Bacs late last night. To her horror I wiped out my phone
And went on to my online banking and showed ther that no payment
Had been made... Then she said she would go and phone the bank.
So I followed her only to find her hiding behind her front door!!
Her hubby was just on his way out to work (taxi driver)
So I quickly jumped in my van and bloked his car in.
I got my £22  (2 months) (3 months late)In no time at all...

None payer don't really get to me but I HATE being lied to

Believe if or not she asked my to clean her windows again :

[tompoole]

I now clean once and if they don't pay I leave them next time
With a note " clean on hold until payment for last clean has been made"
They have my address, bank details , and PayPal options, if they can't be
Arsed to pay I can't be arsed to chase them round for payment, just
Dump them and move on, it's worked for me as I've now got some really
Good customers . I found early on that you can spend longer
Chasing a £15 non payer than it does to clean the house.
Just wasting time, better off looking for another Custy to replace them

[steven ainger]

As above,
Tbh, it doesnt happen very often to me.
Move on & and dont let it bother you, lifes too short

[Ian101]

I now clean once and if they don't pay I leave them next time
With a note " clean on hold until payment for last clean has been made"
They have my address, bank details , and PayPal options, if they can't be
Arsed to pay I can't be arsed to chase them round for payment, just
Dump them and move on, it's worked for me as I've now got some really
Good customers . I found early on that you can spend longer
Chasing a £15 non payer than it does to clean the house.
Just wasting time, better off looking for another Custy to replace them

Pretty much what I do and how I look at the non payers but will go to their house at unusual times to get any money before I dump them .... sometimes though its worth offering a standing order to the genuine forgetful people as any messers will say no to this.

[LT carpet cleaning]

Why is everybody always owed £22!!!

[AuRavelling79]

It is a nice feeling when you refuse to clean someone's windows because they are rubbish payers or they mess you about and you have dropped them.

In some ways this one could have been tolerable as it adjoins a regular two-monthly I do. But I cannot be bothered dealing with messers. This happened last Wednesday with this particular droppee that I hadn't done for about 6 months:-

Mr M looks over the hedge and asks:

"How much to do our windows?"

Me: "Well it's a bit awkward - I only do regular cleans ..."

Mr M: "That's not a problem"

Me: (Scrubbing top cill carefully as I speak) "Well it is because your wife agreed to regular cleans about this time last year and since then I have had trouble being paid, then been asked to leave it this time and I feel messed about."

Mr M (Wife comes to door and he turns to her and says) "He doesn't want to do them ... "

Wife: "Oh really?" (Sees it's me looking quizzically at her with a glint in my eye) "Well ... um ... let's leave it then."

Mr M (Parting shot so I can hear) "You'd think in this day and age he would want the business."

Me: (Looking at DantheMan I disagreeistant and talking loudly) "And that DanielSan is the beauty of this business; on days like this the Sun shines, the air is crisp and we only work for appreciative and decent customers!"

[AuRavelling79]

See above in my post where it says (Looking at Dan the Man I disagreeistant and talking loudly)?

I actually wrote Looking at Dan the Man  my  a s s i s t a n t and talking loudly

Gotta luv the swear filter!  

[Dani J]

Best way which works every time for me , one text early in the morning around 6.30 -7.00 A.M. and one text at night 12.00 – 1.00, send the late payment reminder and repeat this for at least 4 days. They soon get fed up with you and pay straight away.   

[Bay View WCS]

Best way which works every time for me , one text early in the morning around 6.30 -7.00 A.M. and one text at night 12.00 – 1.00, send the late payment reminder and repeat this for at least 4 days. They soon get fed up with you and pay straight away.   

I like that idea   

Quick update: paid by Paypal.  So once I deduct PP's fees and the many texts, calls and visits I am definitely down on the job.  Maybe next time I should call at her house, knock on the door and when she answers just silently give her a fiver in cash and the number of the local trad guy - probably be a lot less hassle and save me a bit of cash!