non paying customer

[Ted808]

plumb_know's story has a happy ending- how will mine end?
Well done mate you got your money!
I had a cust that rang me after almost a year saying: 'THE BOILERYOU INSTALLED is playing up!
Naturally I made an appointment went over and found he's had a new bathroom and several radiators replaced and upgraded. I'd spent ages balancing the system before, but ,now found all trv and lock shields on max!
I got on to trying to balance a hot system and he left me to it, sayin

 

[Atouchofgas]

Sayin what

 

[Best]

Sayin what

We will have to guess, for the moment.

The customer may have said, - I will pay you loads of money for getting it all working again,
or it could be, - I will pay you nothing because you are responsible and the boiler you installed wasn't working after one year, so it's your fault!
My bets on the last one.
Typical ignorant people

 

[Atouchofgas]

Or he's being held hostage and is now a gimp

 

[Ted808]

We will have to guess, for the moment.

The customer may have said, - I will pay you loads of money for getting it all working again,
or it could be, - I will pay you nothing because you are responsible and the boiler you installed wasn't working after one year, so it's your fault!
My bets on the last one.
Typical ignorant people

No idea what happened!?
Part 2...
So he left the me to it, but saying ”be gentle with the bill " as he left!
Grrr !!! Got my back up a little. But I pressed on. Balancing the system as best I could in limited time - bearing in mind to be gentle.
The system was hot and how long can I spend waiting for it to cool. 12rads now - 9 before.
Next day he rang miffed that all the TRV's weren't on max ! I tried to explain about balancing and that I could drop in on my way home and tweek it a bit more!
Later I got a tx- can I actually do this job? Well that was the last straw and I replied " better to get someone else" as he is doubting my ability, invoice will be sent for time spent.
Sent invoice.... Not a word since!
So I'm guessing win some loose some.
Like the plumb_know I felt pants about getting knocked ..

 

[jonnyswamp]

Go and knock on his door and have a face to face with him explaining what you have done for the money and don't leave without it
Personally I would have insisted on payment at the time
Don't let him get away with not paying you, doesn't matter whether it's £20 or £200, it's the principle
People like this make my blood boil

 

[Best]

With hindsight you probably should have initially told the customer when you discovered he had new rads & lockshields on max that some idiot has tampered with the system and you would have to sort it but chargeable as nothing to do with your new boiler original work.

Since the customer had the cheek to complain about you turning the TRVs below max etc, I would have retaliated by sending him an invoice together with a letter briefly explaining that TRVs should not be at max setting and that some idiot has been unbalancing his system.
Just to prove a point - send him a photocopy of TRV instructions, mentioning in your letter if he could read it to try to understand their operation.
My attitude as I get older is, if the customer is patronising, I will do same on them.

 

[Chalked]

The trv's should all be able to operate on max. The balancing should be done with the lockshield.
Hope you get paid tho

 

[gassafe]

I would have mode a point straightaway that 3 additional radiators have been added & the system altered to suit this, no way your fault. I would have said get the radiator installer back of the 3 new rads as its there problem!

As for getting paid it depends how far you want to go for whatever you charged? If it's just first hour is it worth it? I always think I'd turn off there gas on the meter (if external) if they don't pay but never had to yet

 

[Best]

The trv's should all be able to operate on max. The balancing should be done with the lockshield.
Hope you get paid tho

But he was right to turn the TRVs below max. Having a TRV on max setting lets a room get to about 29 degrees, which is far too much I think.
I find a lot of customers haven't a clue and keep them full up "because they turn off when room heats up". :smile:
I also turn TRVs down - living rooms about number 4 setting, bedrooms 3 or less.

 

[SimonG]

Heat test with heads off or fully open then I normally turn down to 3 and tell cust if too hot then turn down and too cold then turn up.

Always difficult straight away to be able to tell if somebody else has played or changed something. But once you realise then its xx for me coming out now you need to get the people back who last worked on it. I would have sorted it but dont appreciate taking the stick for somebody else. Either that or charge the idiot triple your normal rate.

 

[hammers4spanner]

I would never have gone back , would of said you need a call back on the muppet who put the extra rads on first.

 

[Ted808]

Thanks guys, yes most of all of the above went through my mind and yes I could have done things differently - I did on the day try to explain to him about balancing but he hardly had time to listen, as he was off out somewhere more important.
The other thing I had a slight zing with him earlier as I arrived. The other problem he was having is that he was running out of hot water- Unv cylinder 140l-2 peepl and a baby-... so first move check the c stat, on 45*!!! Now I know I left it on 60* and I'd been back once shortly after installing and it was down to 45*, so I explained it had to be on 60* bla bla. SO coming back finding it on 45 again, i just shook my head.. Calmly saying that it had to be on 60 or more. To which he replied the water coming out of the basin hot tap is too hot.( The one basin has twin taps. ) "How do you use the hot water if it's too hot." OK.... I said you put the plug in the basin and let in a little cold, adding hot to the mix. He just looked at me like I was asking him to ...dunno fly to mars?! I know this is a simple story, but it really bugged me and sometimes still does! Mad?! On the whole though better being my own boss at least it's only once in a while some douche bag crosses my path, not like every day if you have a douche bag for an employer right?

 

[Ted808]

Go and knock on his door and have a face to face with him explaining what you have done for the money and don't leave without it
Personally I would have insisted on payment at the time
Don't let him get away with not paying you, doesn't matter whether it's £20 or £200, it's the principle
People like this make my blood boil

I thought of that but you know....I didn't think there was an issue....anyway, what I'm working on is like you say to get paid strait away. Thinking of getting a paypal apy buddy thing... card payment there and then.

 

[Ted808]

I would never have gone back , would of said you need a call back on the muppet who put the extra rads on first.

Yes! The other bloke probably legged it becuase of this kind of attitude, or never got paid or something.

 

[Ted808]

With hindsight you probably should have initially told the customer when you discovered he had new rads & lockshields on max that some idiot has tampered with the system and you would have to sort it but chargeable as nothing to do with your new boiler original work.

Since the customer had the cheek to complain about you turning the TRVs below max etc, I would have retaliated by sending him an invoice together with a letter briefly explaining that TRVs should not be at max setting and that some idiot has been unbalancing his system.
Just to prove a point - send him a photocopy of TRV instructions, mentioning in your letter if he could read it to try to understand their operation.
My attitude as I get older is, if the customer is patronising, I will do same on them.

It's tough knowin what to do in all different sutuations, he wasn't really listening and to explain balancing or anything was hard- on the phone he always seemed distracted and on the day I was there he was on his way out- leaving me to it!! That's why I decided to just walk away -wasted enough time on him, and to much moaning about it, fact of life stuff happens... page over hey?

 

[rpm]

Thinking of getting a paypal apy buddy thing... card payment there and then.

Would never use paypal as it`s based in Europe and we are leaving soon! lol

No seriously, don`t use paypal try another card payment taker.

 

[WHPES]

If I had found that someone had altered the circuit I would have pointed it out that this would be what has caused the problem and they should get the person who put the extra radiators in back to put it right.

 

[Best]

It's tough knowin what to do in all different sutuations, he wasn't really listening and to explain balancing or anything was hard- on the phone he always seemed distracted and on the day I was there he was on his way out- leaving me to it!! That's why I decided to just walk away -wasted enough time on him, and to much moaning about it, fact of life stuff happens... page over hey?

Happens to me all the time. Selfish or just plain stupid people. I suppose we need to think of money and be careful to do nothing much until the customer knows they need to pay. Probably because your customer had left you to it, you should have texted him or left a letter stating someone has added rads and someone has also tampered with the valves and you would money for labour to fix.

 

[Ric2013]

If I had found that someone had altered the circuit I would have pointed it out that this would be what has caused the problem and they should get the person who put the extra radiators in back to put it right.

Or that you'd be happy to put it right if the customer preferred not to call the radiator installer again, but obviously you'd need to be paid for your time. Was it a DIY job gone wrong, I wonder?

 

[DaveTidy]

No idea what happened!?
Part 2...
So he left the me to it, but saying ”be gentle with the bill " as he left!
Grrr !!! Got my back up a little. But I pressed on. Balancing the system as best I could in limited time - bearing in mind to be gentle.
The system was hot and how long can I spend waiting for it to cool. 12rads now - 9 before.
Next day he rang miffed that all the TRV's weren't on max ! I tried to explain about balancing and that I could drop in on my way home and tweek it a bit more!
Later I got a tx- can I actually do this job? Well that was the last straw and I replied " better to get someone else" as he is doubting my ability, invoice will be sent for time spent.
Sent invoice.... Not a word since!
So I'm guessing win some loose some.
Like the plumb_know I felt pants about getting knocked ..

I always hit them with a couple of payment letters and then the I will pass it to a debt collector if not paid within 'x' days and you will then have to deal with them as the debt will have been sold, that normally does the trick as they don't know who will be coming to them for money.

I got the letters from here a couple of years ago, saved me a lot of hassle; just put on stamp on each and post them a few days apart and don't ring them, they normally ring you to see who you are passing debt to.

letters

 

[Howsie]

Middle of the night. Stop valve in the road. Off. Cement.

 

[DaveTidy]

Middle of the night. Stop valve in the road. Off. Cement.

Only if it's quick drying and Xmas Eve....

 

[Ted808]

:lol: