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Thread: COD late payments

  1. #11
    Moderator IanF's Avatar
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    I would ask to see the invoice from this more competent person and ask if you can contact him to find out what was wrong. Just say you want to approach this as a learning experience. If nothing comes of this ask him what he thinks your service was worth and accept whatever he wants to pay you and write off the rest. Just inform him if he undervalues your work, you won't work for him again, you don't work for peanuts.
    I once had a guy who only wanted to pay for the printing and not design, treated him as above. When he came back for changes I told him as our artwork was worthless to him we had deleted it. He went white and we never saw him again but was not happy if you let customers walk over you they will. Good luck with this dealing with unreasonable customers is hard, so look for reasonable ones.
    Last edited by IanF; 17-Feb-11 at 04:20 PM. Reason: grammar
    Only stress when you can change the outcome!

  2. #12
    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    If the customer only starts to complain about your service when payment is overdue and you've started taking active steps to collect the money then I would have difficulty taking that complaint seriously. It is remotely possible they had genuine issues about the service you provided but if their concerns hadn't been raised before now then I wouldn't accept that as a reason for non-payment. I would start the legal letters and proceedings based on the work being signed off on the jobsheet.
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  3. #13
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Sometimes it helps to remind them:

    Having to call in someone to "fix the problem" without them letting you know there was a problem is not grounds for non-payment. It is grounds for a counterclaim, which they will have to prove just as rigorously as you will have to prove delivery of your service.

  4. #14
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    Hey guys,

    Thx for all the replies.

    Yup, this client only sent me this e-mail yesterday, complaining about the work I haven't done etc AFTER I handed him over yesterday morning. So the debt collecting company obviously called him asking for payment & informing him that he has been handed over.

    E-mail after e-mail, no reply.
    SMS after SMS, no reply.
    But when handed over, then he suddenly sends me this snotty e-mail.

    I told him that if he wasn't satisfied with my service, he should've contacted me & I would've gone there & fix whatever wasn't fixed. But no, he doesn't do that.

    Being the owner of a sole prop I pride myself on my service. I have gone the extra mile for clients before, because I KNOW how it feels like to receive bad service. Especially in Cape Town.

    I'm not going to let this guy get me down. I'm going to get my money from him & never see him again.

    He still had the nerve to say I was ripping him off with the invoice. I replied, "That is what I charge per hour for labour, & please refrain from making such comments about me & my company".

    When I arrived that day to do the work, he wasn't even there. After I told him what time I would be there.

    Once again, thx guys for the replies.

    I'm not going to let this ONE "client" get me down.

  5. #15
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    Update:

    Handed this guy over to debt collectors. R880 invoice. I got R320.

    Oh well, it's better than nothing....

  6. #16
    Email problem daveob's Avatar
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    just curious - how much did the debt collector keep ?
    Watching the ships passing by.

  7. #17
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew_ZA View Post
    Oh well, it's better than nothing....
    Goes with the territory, I'm afraid.

    And way better than throwing good money after bad.

  8. #18
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    The debt collectors retain 20% of whatever is recovered. Pretty good deal seeing that they do ALL the admin. They call the client, make arrangements for payment, keep you updated etc.

    The minute they called this guy, I was paid within 24-48 hrs.

  9. #19
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    Hey guys,

    I'm going to post this question in the same thread.

    Scenario:

    I dropped off a business card at a small company. Day or two later PA calls me. "Help, I cant login to XP & I have to do wages today"
    I goto the client, quote them, take the PC to the office, fix it, and return it a few hours later.

    Before returning it, I send a fax with the invoice, stating on the coverhead, "Terms strictly COD"

    Drop PC off, client says, "We don't keep cash on the premises, is an EFT ok tomorrow?"

    My question:

    How do I prevent this from happening? I clearly stated it's COD. When the PC is plugged in and she can see it's working, I can't exactly plug it out & take it with me saying, "When you pay me you'll get it back".

    Irritates me so.

    How do I make SURE she understands, no cash paid when I'M THERE, no me coming out to drop it off. ( Need to inform the client ina professional way so they don't get cocky about payment ).

    Thx guys

  10. #20
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew_ZA View Post
    Drop PC off, client says, "We don't keep cash on the premises, is an EFT ok tomorrow?"
    Say "An EFT now would be better..."

    If they give a reason why it can only happen tomorrow and it seems genuine enough, it's probably worth the risk vs the schlep of coming back.
    But if the explanation doesn't satisfy, start disconnecting and say "No problem, I'll come back with this once the payment reflects in my account."

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