[SunShineCleaning]

... to get an over due payment.

OK so that's a bit extreme.

What is the most persistent you have been in order to get payment out of a late payer?

Have you ever come to blows?

[Sean Kelly]

Egg the windows

[Total shine cleaning services]

We call on phone, text and door knock when we are passing, this is then followed by a debt letter threatening court action with a strong emphasis on this is not going to go away, no matter how much the debt is we chase (last one was £10) she offered me £5 cash at the door which I refused to take but we got there in the end, I did have one very bullish customer who rang up and spoke in a disrespectful manner to the missus and to me ( he wasnt happy that we had gate hopped with a ladder whilst he was on holiday so cancelled and refused to pay) I did actually threaten him on the phone which I am now embarrassed about but that was well fed by his bullying nature, actually I drove straight to his house and his wife answered whilst he was out the back doing a bacs payment to me, we should as an industry always take the debt to court if we want to be recognised as pros in my opinion.

Graham

[dazmond]

how much is the debt owed sunshine?

darren lane emailed me a letter that i nearly sent out the other month but they paid up in the end(£40) then cancelled my service.

i wrote a £25 job off earlier on in the year and another £10 a couple of months ago but thats it this year.

i normally write off £50-£60 a year.nothing in the great scheme of things.sometimes its best to let it go.i cant be doing with wasting time chasing a small debt after a few months.obviously if its in the hundreds of £££££s then its a different matter.

under no circumstance would i egg their windows or slivers of bamboo in locks etc......id basically find out where they drank and wait for them when their stumbling out of the pub and march them to the nearest cash machine if they didnt have the money on them.if they refused then its their little finger they would lose and so on until payment!!

[Crystal-clear]

We call on phone, text and door knock when we are passing, this is then followed by a debt letter threatening court action with a strong emphasis on this is not going to go away, no matter how much the debt is we chase (last one was £10) she offered me £5 cash at the door which I refused to take but we got there in the end, I did have one very bullish customer who rang up and spoke in a disrespectful manner to the missus and to me ( he wasnt happy that we had gate hopped with a ladder whilst he was on holiday so cancelled and refused to pay) I did actually threaten him on the phone which I am now embarrassed about but that was well fed by his bullying nature, actually I drove straight to his house and his wife answered whilst he was out the back doing a bacs payment to me, we should as an industry always take the debt to court if we want to be recognised as pros in my opinion.

Graham

I love your Enthusiasm but chasing these people will just raise your blood pressure
And shorten your life over a tenner . You are right they should learn to be human and pay then cancel We had one just like that before £18 was on holiday gate was opened but she claims it wasn't locked or it was open which I can understand but she said I'm cancelling I'm not paying and you are lucky I don't sue you for trespassing and slammed the phone down

Now at that point I was angry how was I ment to know she was on holiday
I can't comment on gate as we are ment to close it

ofc a Burglar only looks to break into propertys which havent been bolted
Because if they see a bolted gate they run a mile as they have no chance
They target unbolted gates only and the customer says we are lucky otherwise she would have sued us

was most likely that she wanted an excuse to cancel and refuse to pay ,

I wanted to write a letter but in the end I just left it
Didn't think its worth the hassle
Each year I have about £500 of rite off its quite high
I was keeping an eye out on how some have chased small debts I'm not sure if its worth it as if you need to go to court it will cost more then you can recover Ie £10,£20 debts

[Ian101]

I used to chase till I got paid now just dump and replace as time better spent finding proper customers - seems to work as now 3 years in and can't remember last time I wasn't paid ?

[Ben wood]

I had one laughing down the phone saying they were not paying after a one off clean once. They payed after I blocked there car in when he was due to go to work I think I made him about an hour late due to this. It was only £15 but he was not getting the better of me.

[Crystal-clear]

I had one laughing down the phone saying they were not paying after a one off clean once. They payed after I blocked there car in when he was due to go to work I think I made him about an hour late due to this. It was only £15 but he was not getting the better of me.

Lol what happens if he calls the police or concil?

[gordonswindows]

Now this was over ten years ago and much has changed but was owed £3.50 x 2 by neighbour.......anyway long story short I painted his front windows with red gloss paint (old tin in shed) and I mean all over, it was an upstairs flat and I did his white door too

Police arrived that night and gave me the option to remove the paint or be arrested..............spent four long rotten days removing the paint with his smiling mug watching me from inside.

But police "made" him pay so I got my £7.00 in the end......worth it? yep every blooming minute of scraping off that paint as bad as it was I was determined to get paid.

Do it again?  NO NEVER God no we are far more selective of who work for these days

Gordon

[richard jagger]

I have just a month back got paid for  debt from feb. In my terms it states they will pay a admin fee per months so a small debt of 80 quid ended up running up a sizable mount.Also, the customer will pay all legal cost incurred in the case of litigation to retrieve payment.
 I knocked at least every time I pasted the house and never left until I go a commitment to pay which would be my excuse to knock and chase them again.The husband told me his wife had paid, and every time I told them how the  amount had increased.
I called by mobile which they promptly blocked so I used my home phone and my wife`s mobile. I send them e mails and mock debt collectors letters ( just written in a format they would use ) WHICH HAD A BIG EFFECT ON EITS MENTION A THERE CREDIT SCORE DAMAGE.Final demands letters before legal action.
     I never ever got  angry or frustration or not showed it, just a dogged persistence to get my money.In my case the wife was sloppy with payment and laid  to her husband. The think with walking away, people quickly tell each other you don`t care if you are a little late." He does not mind been a little late"  "Soft on debt he is" This image none of us can afford.
       I have employed this many time in my 48 years and find they worked well.

[SunShineCleaning]

Now this was over ten years ago and much has changed but was owed £3.50 x 2 by neighbour.......anyway long story short I painted his front windows with red gloss paint (old tin in shed) and I mean all over, it was an upstairs flat and I did his white door too

Police arrived that night and gave me the option to remove the paint or be arrested..............spent four long rotten days removing the paint with his smiling mug watching me from inside.

But police "made" him pay so I got my £7.00 in the end......worth it? yep every blooming minute of scraping off that paint as bad as it was I was determined to get paid.

Do it again?  NO NEVER God no we are far more selective of who work for these days

Gordon

Classic !!

[Crystal-clear]

Oh my god Gordon insanity for £7.00

This is the problem its not worth having one over them just let them be and keep your cool plenty of decent people out there teaching bad folk a lesson in life shouldn't be our responsibility cos you might win via words or have them pay in the end but it costs you more in time how many windows could have you cleaned in 4 days

Parking cars in front of drives "not a problem sir what we normally do when a customer doesn't pay is we send one of our vans to block your drive and delay your day as much as possible until the police arrive or council in which case we will move but we aim to delay your day by over an hour"

Lol imagine this being said
Very professional

[andyM]

Now this was over ten years ago and much has changed but was owed £3.50 x 2 by neighbour.......anyway long story short I painted his front windows with red gloss paint (old tin in shed) and I mean all over, it was an upstairs flat and I did his white door too

Police arrived that night and gave me the option to remove the paint or be arrested..............spent four long rotten days removing the paint with his smiling mug watching me from inside.

But police "made" him pay so I got my £7.00 in the end......worth it? yep every blooming minute of scraping off that paint as bad as it was I was determined to get paid.

Do it again?  NO NEVER God no we are far more selective of who work for these days

Gordon

Completely ridiculous. 

[LT carpet cleaning]

Now this was over ten years ago and much has changed but was owed £3.50 x 2 by neighbour.......anyway long story short I painted his front windows with red gloss paint (old tin in shed) and I mean all over, it was an upstairs flat and I did his white door too

Police arrived that night and gave me the option to remove the paint or be arrested..............spent four long rotten days removing the paint with his smiling mug watching me from inside.

But police "made" him pay so I got my £7.00 in the end......worth it? yep every blooming minute of scraping off that paint as bad as it was I was determined to get paid.

Do it again?  NO NEVER God no we are far more selective of who work for these days

Gordon

Completely ridiculous. 

Agreed. The neighbour made you look a right numpty.

[PoleKing]

Oh my god Gordon insanity for £7.00

This is the problem its not worth having one over them just let them be and keep your cool plenty of decent people out there teaching bad folk a lesson in life shouldn't be our responsibility cos you might win via words or have them pay in the end but it costs you more in time how many windows could have you cleaned in 4 days

Parking cars in front of drives "not a problem sir what we normally do when a customer doesn't pay is we send one of our vans to block your drive and delay your day as much as possible until the police arrive or council in which case we will move but we aim to delay your day by over an hour"

Lol imagine this being said
Very professional

I can't work out the tone if 'very professional' (such is text)
I like the parking thing though.
It's inconvenient without being offensive.
Much like not paying a window cleaning bill.

[gordonswindows]

You are all right it was a daft thing to do but back then I cleaned all houses for £3.50 as I needed enough each day for the kids dinner money and bus fares for school and £7 made a difference

Anyway young and daft is about making mistakes and old age is about never repeating them but on occasion this boring old so and so sits back and smiles at that young dafty

Gordon

[H20cleaning]

8am on a sunday usually works

[MATT BATEMAN (OWC)]

You are all right it was a daft thing to do but back then I cleaned all houses for £3.50 as I needed enough each day for the kids dinner money and bus fares for school and £7 made a difference

Anyway young and daft is about making mistakes and old age is about never repeating them but on occasion this boring old so and so sits back and smiles at that young dafty

Gordon

You have a habit of falling foul of the law when it comes to windows don't you Gordon.

[scud]

  I had one that owed me £33, couldn't get it, so parked the van over the end of her drive evrytime I cleaned all the neighbours houses.

  She eventually, after about 8 months, came out with her cheque book and asked me how much she owed, I appeared confused and said, "I have sold it to a debt collector, I am surprised he hasn't been round yet".

  I bet she dreaded every knock on the door for months, was worth £33.

[Paul Coleman]

I usually let it drop.  Maybe a reminder letter or possibly two if the debt is larger.
I know this sounds too soft but the problem is, I suspect I could be capable of some horrible stuff once I started - so I would prefer not to start.