[Spruce]

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.

You're right Slap bash.

We shouldn't let ourselves be walked over.  But the cost and agro involved isn't worth the hassle.  It doesn't make economic sense in my opinion. 

Even if she went to court and offered to pay £2.00 a week and as Vin says, then stopped, what is the next step? Back to court?

Even if he did get the money, will it stop her trying her luck again with another windie.

I've had one customer in 12 years (10 years wfp) pull this. For me that's 1 customer in 953 that I have had or have on the books.

If they owe money and move locally, I will find them eventually on principle and extract what they owe. But I won't take them to court for a small amount.

[Phil J]

Egg the bitch's windows. Won't get your money, but it will sure feel good 

[hasti]

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

I will second that 

[Johnny B]

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

I will second that 

I third that. I have one at the moment who owes me 12 euros for a clean that I did for her 3 years ago. She now wants me to clean them again, and has been asking for a couple of months. I have agreed to if she pays what she owes, plus the fresh clean upfront. She says all the right things, but I still haven't been paid, so her windows continue to be minging. It's like a game with some people. I used to stress over a few unpaid cleans, but I now inwardly laugh about it. Yes, we may be seen as a soft touch sometimes, but these people who think they have the advantage over us always lose out in the end, whilst we can move on and keep on  servicing our genuine customers.

John

[SeanK]

These types of people do it with everybody, I dumped one a few years back and found out that she hadn't paid
the grass cutter and a guy for clearing out her gutters.
I'm sure there's a lot more on the list so it not just shiners that are easy targets.
Luckily theses types are few and far between and as long as you don't let them run up too many cleans we shouldn't get
stung for much.
I have mates who are self employed builders and they have lost thousands over the years even after chasing it through
the courts.

[AuRavelling79]

Had one a bit like this but always apologetic (not saying "you won't take me to court" like yours) her cheque bounced too. Only £24.00 + £4 for bounced cheque.  I went on line and printed the forms ready for court and sent them to her - saying they would be entered in seven days. I also attached a letter saying i would be adding my initial solicitors costs of £24.00 for a letter thus totalling £52.00.

She still didn't pay. So my little rottweiler (Mrs Gold the accounts lady) said let me try. She went round and got paid cash on the spot.

Work that one out.

Oh and last month the ex-custie asked me to clean her windows again and I just laughed and said "you don't remember me do you?" and just shook my head.

[Walter Mitty]

With residential customers, my bad debt per year is anything between zero and about £200 maximum.  I know I should chase the bad ones but I have trouble detaching from it emotionally.  I've had enough problems in life without listening to a bad payer's bullpoo.
Honestly, it's easier for me if they just say that they're not going to pay me.  It's when they start lying that I can get wound up - so I don't let it get that far.
I know a guy (not a window cleaner) who saved up all his junk mail and delivered it in one go to a non payer.  Personally, I think he would have been better off filling it in with the bad payer's contact details.

[Walter Mitty]

Oh and last month the ex-custie asked me to clean her windows again and I just laughed and said "you don't remember me do you?" and just shook my head.

I've had a couple of incidents like this down the years.  Not remembering the face of the person they had ripped off was more insulting than being ripped off in the first place

[PoleKing]

Had one a bit like this but always apologetic (not saying "you won't take me to court" like yours) her cheque bounced too. Only £24.00 + £4 for bounced cheque.  I went on line and printed the forms ready for court and sent them to her - saying they would be entered in seven days. I also attached a letter saying i would be adding my initial solicitors costs of £24.00 for a letter thus totalling £52.00.

She still didn't pay. So my little rottweiler (Mrs Gold the accounts lady) said let me try. She went round and got paid cash on the spot.

Work that one out.

Oh and last month the ex-custie asked me to clean her windows again and I just laughed and said "you don't remember me do you?" and just shook my head.

I'd've said yes.
Then not gone.
I'd hope they'd see me at least 5 or 6 times and I'd say yes each time.
Getting to 10 would make me smile as much as farting as I walk out of a packed lift.

[Carl2009]

I went to court twice in the last 6 years. The first to recover £300, the second to recover £75. I won both. I didn't have to attend. I did both through Thos Higgins. It was a bit of hassle for the second one, but like the OP it's the principle. She ended up paying well over £200 to me to cover my costs. I probably got back £45.

I live in a small village and this woman was well-known in the village, though not to me. I don't know what sort of reputation she has. I risked alienating people in the village with my actions, a calculated risk but in the end it didn't work out like that, mind you I didn't broadcast the situation. I did feel that a principle is worth standing up for and if word got around I'd sue, well it might stop me or someone else getting mugged off.

Personally it winds me up, so if it's a reasonable amount I'd go for it. Warning though - I sent a bill, final demand, Letter before Action and only THEN did I go to court. Do a bit or research and approach it professionally is my advice.

A bounced cheque is a cast iron win.

[A Gartland]

£10.... have written plenty off over the years, but that one irked somewhat... they got CCJ for their troubles...

[Arnold Palmer]

Carl2009 touched on an important point there.

If you take her to court and "win", what do you actually win? You'll end up worse off financially and will have made yourself an enemy.

After she's been ordered by a court to pay up what's to stop her mouthing off about how terrible your service was and how you'd bullied her into paying?

I've only ever threatened court once. Not for window cleaning as it happens but £300, which after sending a letter demanding payment or going to court, arrived within a week.

I'm not saying move on or leave it. I keep a record off every one that's not paid before moving or whatever. You just never know what might happen.

[slap bash]

I see the point of not going to court, but  I remember a time when customers in her salon would have there hir done then find fault and refuse to pay. E took a few to small claims court. Its was just a matter of a short time and it stopped . All you need is it to go around that window cleaner don`t allow none payment  and believe me it will stop. I bet other businesses are paid pronto. Its because we are in what they call informal sector that customers  perceive none payment as the norm. The problem we are not allowing our industry to mature. As its just like to much trouble.
If we allow the status quot why should we have public liability insurance and other professional trappings.
When WFP  became  popular we made the first step into a professional business and we need to move on still more. I do realize there are many who feel progress is  just to hard to change to. But its for the fellas who will come after us that we need to change . AS many of our children will be window cleaners its worth the change or are we building a business to close down after we are gone to the big window in the sky.

[HampshireWindowCleaning]

Millions of people are in debt in this country to all manner of different businesses, it's not just window cleaners that don't get paid. Unfortunately we live in a society of debt.
There's not much we can do to get the money if we get knocked as the amounts owed are usually a very small amount and not worth chasing. The only way to cut our losses is to NEVER clean more than once if the customer hasn't paid. If they havn't paid for the first clean, what makes you think they will pay for the second and third cleans?

[Rich Wilts]

The fact that most people are honourabele and do pay their bills., even if they do owe more than one clean.

We've been trading 17 years and I can honestly say I can only recall two jobs that we've not been paid for. One was for £40, we got £20 out of her in the end and the other was a weeks worth of commercial work for a client about 8 years ago.

[SeanK]

Yep have always had a pay before the next clean policy so have never been stung for more than one clean.
Allowing customers to run up a tab honourable or not is off no benefit to me so totally agree with Hampshire on this one.