My guys finished a rain gutter cleaning in the Coronado area of San Diego on Thursday, work was performed properly, two bags of debris removed from the roof total as well as a courtesy pressure washing rinse down to tidy up the sidewalks. When work was finished payment was asked for and customers commented that I said they could pay via our website by credit card, which was the case.
Customers we were dealing with said she was lining up the work for the homeowners , the lady who set up the job is named and stated she does not live there etc. My guys arrived and was there and would hardly speak to anyone, would not let them in the house to access the balcony so they made ladder climbs to get up there, just not the normal client.
I had a strange feeling going in because when I told her work was payable upon completion she said she was more comfortable paying after a couple weeks in case the downspouts get clogged. Long story short is when I sent the invoice there was no response, sent it again and I was called and told don’t worry we will pay.
Then finally there is still no payment and when answers the phone he says “We will pay you, when we pay you, if we pay you” Now this is the first true dead beat we have ever had! What course of action do I take? I have all types of ideas flowing through my head and most of them will end up with me in Jail, any advice on what I should do?
Thats a shame. From what I know of Coronado, its a high dollar area. Guess there are dead beats everywhere. Is it work going to small claims? Can you put a contractors lien on the house? Depends on what they owe you how far you want to go. Take a couple bags of debris from another job and leave it in their driveway. Just kidding, or am I?
There is a garbage removal company in my town and their policy is if you don’t pay we will drop the double of what we took out. You still don’t get paid but god it would be nice to throw 4 bags of debris on her house.
Take a deep breath and wait it out, give it at least another week or two. Follow up with another call and see if you can get payment then. Offer to show them pictures of the cleared gutters, if necessary. I’ve had a few clients like that, but it always ended up being resolved and paid.
If that doesn’t work and you get the same attitude, start sending invoices with the warning that you’ve done all you can do and have proven service was provided, and that after a given date this invoice will be sent to your collection attorney to begin small claim filings and include his name and address.
I know it’s so easy to get ****ed at these kinds of people but you have to stay stern but professional, and never hostile. Realistically at the end of the day there’s not a whole lot you can do because any action will probably cost more than the job itself… but, if you stay persistent and consistent (ie, don’t change the deadline) with your warnings you’ll probably end up being paid. He/she could have just been having a bad week, for all you know, so don’t jump to any conclusions just yet.
How funny- I swear to god, I [U]literally[/U] just got paid from a gutter job I did… IN NOVEMBER 2011!
Somehow I either lost,never got, or deleted the phone number.
What I did- every time I was in the area, I’d stop by and knock and leave an invoice.
(I guess she finally got sick of wondering if/when I would show up.)
Thanks for that suggestion, just looked at it. Problem is we gave them the same respect we do every residential customer even though I had a real bad feeling going in. I’ll check out the site
It only takes a minute a day to [B]call the customer every day[/B] to “check the status” on an invoice. I’ve had slow pays who have paid me just to get their peace of mind back and have me quit calling.
Simply show up and refill the gutters. Reverse the service you performed. How could you get in trouble for that? If a dealership can repossess a car, why can’t you refill the gutters?
