Just thought id mention this.
I used to clean the showroom windows of a well known, exclusive, brittish branded luxury car manufacturer owned by VW in Brooklands for a couple of yEars. I do alot of commercial work in that area and being a car Nut, i popped in one day to see if they wanTed them done and they agreed.
Now for me i aLready have alot of work on that round, and doing this extra job was supposed to brEak up the monotonY a bit for me, oggle the cars whilst i clean...you know it was a little job i looked forward to doing after standing in commercal car parks staring at flat glass all day.
They started paying late after the 3rd clean, and at one point they owed me for 3 months worth of invoices, so i put them on notice stopped all cleaning and they paid up. After that i changed terms to payment on delivery, and sent it to their accounts department, which they agreed to pay before the next clean date was due. Id say over the two years i cleaned for them, they paid 2 bills wthin the time limit, often they lost the invoices, or a new person was dealing with it, and a couple of times i halted window cleaning until brought up to date, hassle, hassle, hassle.
I said to myself if it happens again, im submitting a 7 day demand notice. It did, so i submitted the notice and they paid on the 7th Day. I said to them that now a 7 day notice has been submitted, a further late payment would incur charges in accordance with the late payment of commercial debts Act.
So, i carry on; the manager wants me to wash some cladding, and i do it, and the windows and submit my bill to the accounts department. And no payment.. halfway through the following month i issued a notice of interest and compensation charge, and they paid just the outstanding balance the next day.
I called them up about the extra charges, of interest and late fees and they said they didnt have to pay it as the bill is settled, and i didnt give them 7 days notice. So i pointed out that a 7 day notice was already submitted, and i dont need to submit another one. I also pointed out that right from the beginning dealing with their department has been a pain in the backside and i have been very patient with them, and if they continue to delay paying this late payment charge, not only would i escalate through the courts, i would add retrospective charges and interest throughout the lifetime of our business dealings for the trouble i had put up with. They responded that they are passing it over to their legal department. At that point i knew that i wasnt going to carry on doung business with them.
Anyway, nothing came through, so i sent a final letter of intended court action for the outstanding interest and fees, plus retrospective charges and fees, and they settled immediately. They then sent me a narky letter via email that they no longer require my services...
So just a lesson, if you do business with these people, dont expect to be paid on time, and be prepared to be messed about...alot, and dont be afraid to use the late payment act. It does work..