[steve123]

Whats the least amount you have taken anyone to court for?
I have a customer who has tried every trick in the book, promised to drop cash round, not got cash when ever I call, too ill to deliver, given cheques but not signed them, then when she did sign it the damn thing bounced.
I told her I would take her to court and she just laughed and said I would not bother for £52.
That was enough for me. it will cost me £25 to do it but first thing tomorrow I file it with small claims.
I dont care about the money its a principle now. i just want her to have some agro like I have had

[chris turner]

I wouldn't bother with the aggro personally.
Unless agreed in advance if someone owes 2 or more cleans I don't go back until they've paid up. If they don't ever pay then I don't ever go back and just write it off and find a better customer.
I don't go chasing debts, if they can't be bothered to pay then I can't be bothered to clean there windows,  simple.

I generally find they come crawling back though, in actual fact a couple of months ago I had a former customer ( who I'd not gone back to as she owed 2 cleans) come out and pay me what she owed, from over a year ago, and asked if I could add her to my rounds again if she pays upfront from now on. I agreed and she paid for the next 3 cleans upfront..

[Nick Day]

It is easy to do, but you must give seven days notice in writing...."if the money is not received by... time and date.. you will take legal action to recover the debt and all legal costs"
You will need proof of the debt.

[Perfect Windows]

I'd never take anyone to court.

It's certainly not worth it for £52. 

If she's bounced a cheque, you have a cast-iron case.  However, if she's got nothing better to do and decides to defend the case, you're stuck at least half a day off work to go to court.  Then, if she says she can only afford £2 a week, what are you going to do?  Would it be worth chasing her up for her £2 every week? (and you know you'd have to chase her)  Then if she just stopped paying you your £2, what would you do?

Move on with a smile on your face.  Life's too short to waste it on her.

Vin

[combat1]

My bad debts run at about 3% per year, so £3 in every hundred.
I clean and dont clean again until I have been paid.
The worst case scenario is losing one clean.
I send statements at around three weeks overdue and most pay.
Most forget to pay. For the others I dont need them.

[Spruce]

I bet she is less bothered about it than you are.

You are the only one stressed out about it. You are the one who will end up with ulcers, not her. You are actually poisoning your self.  She is just the catalyst. You can be in control, not her.

I'm with Vin on this one.

Life's too short to waste it on her. As you get older you will appreciate the  truth of these words more and more.

Move on with a smile on your face. You can hold your head up as you have done nothing wrong - she has.

And thankfully, these customers are few and far between. I would do an extra couple of cleans a day to clear the debt in my head, then write it off.

And yes, in 12 years of window cleaning we have had one like her.  Just one. Thankfully I went on my gut feel and only cleaned once. We usually let it go the 2 and then no more until payment is received.

[Nick Day]

This is purely for info...you will not be required to go to court. you put your case in writing, she puts hers...job done.
Its okay for people to say they cannot be bothered... they just make the problem bigger. There seems to be an undercurrent of people who know that you cannot be bothered. Everybody needs to make a stand. Working for nothing is a bummer, and you should not stand for it!!

[SeanK]

This is purely for info...you will not be required to go to court. you put your case in writing, she puts hers...job done.
Its okay for people to say they cannot be bothered... they just make the problem bigger. There seems to be an undercurrent of people who know that you cannot be bothered. Everybody needs to make a stand. Working for nothing is a bummer, and you should not stand for it!!

Sorry mate but you will have to go to court and as somebody who did make a stand I would say forget about it, for
that sort of money its not worth it.
You will spend x amount sitting waiting for your case to be heard she will tell the judge that she wasn't happy with the way
the windows where cleaned or some other crap and the judge will either award it in your favour or hers.
Even if it goes in your favour there's still no guarantee that you will ever see it.

[SeanK]

PS your case will be in front of every other person who is in the small claims court that day, total nightmare.

[cat9921]

Whats the least amount you have taken anyone to court for?
I have a customer who has tried every trick in the book, promised to drop cash round, not got cash when ever I call, too ill to deliver, given cheques but not signed them, then when she did sign it the damn thing bounced.
I told her I would take her to court and she just laughed and said I would not bother for £52.
That was enough for me. it will cost me £25 to do it but first thing tomorrow I file it with small claims.
I dont care about the money its a principle now. i just want her to have some agro like I have had

Dose she have a cat    Run it over 

or

Just move on son she is not worth it 

[bobplum]

HOW MANY CLEANS WAS IT STEVE

[Nick Day]

Once again, if you use the online system, you do not go to court!! It is all done on line.

[MNWC]

Try these people http://www.thomashiggins.com/

[SeanK]

Once again, if you use the online system, you do not go to court!! It is all done on line.

That's only if the person admits to owing you the money if not you still have to go to court.

[SeanK]

Better still that person could admit liability but say she cant afford to pay you the full amount, its then up to you
to say what she pays and how she pays it until its all recovered.
If she doesn't agree to this then you go to court and if the judge thinks you where unreasonable they could award the case in
her favour.
The whole things a joke.

[duncan h]

PS your case will be in front of every other person who is in the small claims court that day, total nightmare.

No you don't. Not were I live anyway.
You and her may be sat by a table.
I say do it. She will end up with a CCJ.
She wrote a bounced cheque, so cant say unhappy with clean

[SeanK]

PS your case will be in front of every other person who is in the small claims court that day, total nightmare.

No you don't. Not were I live anyway.
You and her may be sat by a table.
I say do it. She will end up with a CCJ.
She wrote a bounced cheque, so cant say unhappy with clean

Just speaking from experience, funny enough that's what my solicitor told me before taking action, you will just
be in a room together.
Maybe it depends on the day.

[SeanK]

PS your case will be in front of every other person who is in the small claims court that day, total nightmare.

No you don't. Not were I live anyway.
You and her may be sat by a table.
I say do it. She will end up with a CCJ.
She wrote a bounced cheque, so cant say unhappy with clean

Your honour I wrote him a cheque even though I knew it would bounce because I wanted to get him away from my front door
as he was getting aggressive.
Nothing is straight forward in a court case.

[rosskesava]

This is purely for info...you will not be required to go to court. you put your case in writing, she puts hers...job done.
Its okay for people to say they cannot be bothered... they just make the problem bigger. There seems to be an undercurrent of people who know that you cannot be bothered. Everybody needs to make a stand. Working for nothing is a bummer, and you should not stand for it!!

I'm one of those who couldn't be bothered.

I couldn't be bothered enough about it in the first place to get that wound up by it in the second. I've got much better things to fill my head with than those types of thoughts.

The decent customers far outweigh the very few who take advantage.

[slap bash]

WEll done some one sticking to his guns and thanks for showing the customer window cleaners don`t take crap. I really mean it for to many  just walk away and the customer know we windies are easy pray. We will do nothing as we are spineless bunch. If we stole there hose pipe they would do something about it. For sure.