Problem/non paying customers

[TFGplumbing]

Well I have been trading about 20 weeks now, And I have to say Things are hard but non paying customers make it harder.

Sunday 1st of April 2012 7:30am

Phone starts ringing OH for ****s sake I thought sunday lye in ruined.

A ladies boiler was leaking all over her kitchen floor and she was crying so I thought ok I will go along.

Boiler: 15/19 heat slave
Problem: Fibre washer had gone on the incoming main where it connects to the HW heat exchanger. Evidently it had been leaking a while as the heat bank on the boiler was HEAVILY corroded and also leaking. So I isolated it and said id be back on monday. Whilst Inspecting the boiler the lady said she didnt know how she was going to be able to pay me... My heart sank great 10 Quids worth of fuel wasted I thought.

Monday 2nd April 2012

Returned to the job, and the lady had concoted a rather elaborate plan to make a fraudlent claim on her insurance to pay for the repair. She had told her insurance company that she has fallen into the boiler(I should mention at this point that the boiler is located in a cupboard under the stairs) And this is what had apparently caused the leak and months worth of corrosion on the heatbank(No this is called "Fair wear and tear" not "accidental damage"), And to make it worse she wanted me to back her up on this in a written report. I Refused As I currently have no desire to be convicted of insurance fraud; So she then turns on the water works oh boo hoo boo hoo. Sorry the care cup is empty water off a duck ****ing back to me I thought.

So basically I wont be doing the job and I know iam not going to get paid what Iam owed so far.

 

[cdodds2004]

you have done correct walking away when you did mate! i probaly wouldnt of gone back after the first call out when she said she couldnt pay!

 

[scotty plumber]

You done the right thing in not signing the papers

 

[WaterTight]

How attractive was she?
Mind you, Wales is a bit far.
Went on a stag weekend there two weeks ago. Found the local women top quality.

 

[TFGplumbing]

How do u guys deal with non payers?? I havent had many to be honest, most my customers are lovely people. I have zero time and zero compassion for time wasters and **** takers

 

[cdodds2004]

i send a couple of invoices, if that doesnt work and its less than say £200 you cant really do much more, tell all the plumbers in your local merchant she is a non payer!

 

[TFGplumbing]

How attractive was she?
Mind you, Wales is a bit far.
Went on a stag weekend there two weeks ago. Found the local women top quality.

She was 50-60 with a face like a bag of smashed crabs mate! lol not a looker!
I should have stay in bed with my very lovely Misses haha

 

[Guest123]

How do u guys deal with non payers?? I havent had many to be honest, most my customers are lovely people. I have zero time and zero compassion for time wasters and **** takers

Turn off the stopcock in the street and pour concrete down the hole. I've heard this works. ;-)

 

[dontknowitall]

You could try sending an invoice for £55. See what happens. Chase with a letter giving 7 days to pay and advising of further charges. Then try small claims court. (Think it has to be over £50 for a small claim.)

Sometimes these things are just best left so there's no hassle.

Hope you get some better customers soon.

 

[cdodds2004]

ill be honest non paying customers make me want to smash there faces in! because she had no intention of paying! not like you did a poor job! wish there was a rogue customers! i could send a couple of addresses in!

 

[WaterTight]

Small amounts are often best left. But it doesn't stop you seething if you think too much about it. You have, afterall, been robbed.

 

[scotty plumber]

ill be honest non paying customers make me want to smash there faces in! because she had no intention of paying! not like you did a poor job! wish there was a rogue customers! i could send a couple of addresses in!

i like it instead of rogue traders lets have rogue customers on the telly

 

[cdodds2004]

makes my blood boil! had a lady in a 6 bed house do it to me! loads of money! refused to pay! thought she was better than me i really had to control myself from bashing my tool box off her range on the way back to my van! i was actually shaking with rage!

 

[JCplumb]

To be honest I've not really had any, I've walked away from jobs where I know they are going to haggle or try to buy cheap parts instead of letting me get them. In Bolton there's a certain element of the 'community' that you can spot a mile off and I either price myself out of the job and mention hefty deposits or I make up some excuse to not do the work. My favourite is to mention that I am not qualified to install a byelaw 30 kit(regardless of what the job is). I see it as a nudge to the next plumber they speak to
Maybe I've been lucky, had a couple of late payers and a couple of 'call round Friday for the money' types but always got the payment without too much fuss in the end.

 

[TFGplumbing]

makes my blood boil! had a lady in a 6 bed house do it to me! loads of money! refused to pay! thought she was better than me i really had to control myself from bashing my tool box off her range on the way back to my van! i was actually shaking with rage!

I know just how you feel! This is my 2nd non payer this year. And the worst thing is I always try and give the customer a good deal aswell. Iam reasonably flexible with my hourly rate and always try and give a fair price.

 

[cdodds2004]

you sound like i was 18 months ago mate when i set up, then realised i have to make a living and everyone isnt my friend! dont rip people off be flexible with price etc but trying to judge people is hard, im starting to get a good rep so im pricing my self out of alot of the work were then non payers are! but still around like the above lady but just got to try and have a 6th sense on these things!

 

[Roger Welton]

i send a couple of invoices, if that doesnt work and its less than say £200 you cant really do much more, tell all the plumbers in your local merchant she is a non payer!

Definitely let the lads know, it's annoying when it's just a call out that's owing just imagine how bad it would be if it was for a boiler swap.

 

[JCplumb]

ill be honest non paying customers make me want to smash there faces in! because she had no intention of paying! not like you did a poor job! wish there was a rogue customers! i could send a couple of addresses in!

I was thinking about that a few weeks ago after visiting a job where the previous plumber had obviously walked off the job.
Infact I was looking for something like that on the 'net when I stumbled across this forum

 

[rodders]

IMO I dont think it's in anybodys interest to be putting on the internet "if it only this much or this much I'd let it go" (no offence to anybody that has posted on here).

Firstly I would not let any amount "go". I'm not being robbed.

Secondly this forum is open to the general public. Lets say someone comes on here and is looking for a plumber or advice looks at this thread (or similar because this had been metioned a few times) and thinks well they won't chase a small amount so I'll get them in (them being any plumber) and then not pay. I think on PRINCLPLE we as plumbers/gas engineers should chase all payments regardless of the amount, if your one that says "its not worth chasing" well maybe the job was not worth doing in the first place.

Why do you think there are people out there that do not pay? Because they have done it before and got away with it. Letting them get away with it will only fuel this action and sting the next workman/woman they have in.

IMHO.

 

[WaterTight]

If we placed the safeguarding of money-making above the free exchange of conversation there'd be very little you could post here. Certainly not any information on how to perform plumbing jobs, which constitutes the bulk of everything posted.

I'd wager that the type of person who doesn't pay for jobs is also the type who won't be motivated to research about such jobs on a plumbing forum first. Those aren't the methods of a chancer.

As for not letting people get away with it I agree with you there. But sometimes you really don't have a choice. I've been stiffed by someone recently and my only remaining recourse would be to drive 90 miles to an address I was given to invoice and hope they live there. Sometimes it's game over.

 

[rodders]

If we placed the safeguarding of money-making above the free exchange of conversation there'd be very little you could post here. Certainly not any information on how to perform plumbing jobs, which constitutes the bulk of everything posted.

I'd wager that the type of person who doesn't pay for jobs is also the type who won't be motivated to research about such jobs on a plumbing forum first. Those aren't the methods of a chancer.

As for not letting people get away with it I agree with you there. But sometimes you really don't have a choice. I've been stiffed by someone recently and my only remaining recourse would be to drive 90 miles to an address I was given to invoice and hope they live there. Sometimes it's game over.

I agree with most of this. Apart from someone might be on here to save money and just come across this thread. I do understand what you say and as I said I agree with most of it lol some are just chancers and other are calculating... like the woman who was claiming boiler broke when she fell into it... etc

 

[JCplumb]

I notice the 'plumbing questions' forum section is private (invite only? amount of posts needed?)
Anyway, maybe any topics that may be sensitive as this one is could be discussed in a similar section of the forum?
I totally agree with the great way information is exchanged on this forum, but I totally understand the dangers of comments such as 'I don't chase anything less than £xx amount'
Just a thought...

 

[WaterTight]

No I see what you mean. I only do jobbing work and work in a relatively affluent area so my chances of being stung for much are slim especially as now I make sure the person paying is going to either be there when I finish or gives me a deposite in advance but for some guys chucking in boilers with no deposits in areas where there's a lot of money problems it might well be little help that people are discussing how much they'll get go on here.

 

[christian1985]

It is annoying, i fitted a kitchen for this man and after a week he said he couldnt pay, i gave him a week but still wouldnt, there was nothing wrong with my work he said he just couldnt afford it. so i kept calm and took a crowbar to his nice new kitchen, ripped it to bits then left.

 

[DIYBlues]

As a member of Joe Public I wouldn't dream of arranging for a job to be done without having the money available to pay you, on time, on completion of the job.
I would adjust the stopcock in the street so it's only trickling out as she has your number, now you have hers - cash up front

 

[cdodds2004]

im thinking of getting a card reader so people have no reason not to pop there card in and pay, one of the other local lads has one on a pay and go scheme, paid about £200 for unit and it costs him about 50p per transaction or summit small like that, good considering cheques aint guranteed no more!

 

[Reltub]

The thing to think with these people is Karma is a pig and one day they are going to try and rip the wrong bloke off!

 

[rodders]

The thing to think with these people is Karma is a pig and one day they are going to try and rip the wrong bloke off!

Nice thought, but it doesn't pay your bills.

 

[gravytrain]

i've had a few. but generally 99% of people are honest and decent and pay up no trouble.
if you have even the slightest doubt ask for a deposit, this soon sorts out who's genuine and who's not.
plus there's non payers and late payers. some people just take forever to pay and have to receive several
nagging letters.