What steps do you take when a customer refuses to pay?

[Petefinny]

Hi i have a customer who idid some work for, i had no complaints while i did the work for them but now it has come time for them to pay the bill they are coming up with excuses not to pay me, what do i do now, i cant let them get away with it, anyone had this problem before?

 

[michael c]

there are a couple of threads on this mate try to search bar

 

[Whn1]

What did you do? What excuses are they making?

 

[Petefinny]

I fitted new washers and seals to and a new expansion vessel to there alpha boiler

 

[michael c]

so why wnt they pay

 

[southcoastboile]

I send out late payment letters once over the 28 days. The terms and conditions are set out on the jobsheet which they sign on job completion.

Say if they owe me £40 the late payment letters will be sent out saying outstanding balance in red writing £70.

It is a £30 admin fee. This fee will be canceled if payment is recieved within the next 5 working days. If not the new total is now payable. The last 3 I have had go over the 28 days have all paid up straight away. Its suprizing how many people have been on holiday for a month and thats why they didnt pay in the required time.

 

[Barry98]

Do you want this in the open forum ?

 

[Leo21]

Put Something in writing for a start.

 

[Keefy]

Hi i have a customer who idid some work for, i had no complaints while i did the work for them but now it has come time for them to pay the bill they are coming up with excuses not to pay me, what do i do now, i cant let them get away with it, anyone had this problem before?

What are the excuses so far?

 

[southcoastboile]

Do you want this in the open forum ?

If you are on about my post then yeah, it can only be a good thing that customers know they will have to pay and it may stop them from messing around with the payment. Its completely fair to charge an admin fee as you have to generate more paperwork which takes time, the cost of postage, paper ink etc. I thought I would share it as I have found it usefull and if it does go to court you can claim more money back.