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Hi, at the beginning of March I fitted a new grill element and energy regulator to a Bosch cooker ,customer paid ok ,4 weeks later I recieved a call saying it was tripping the electrics ,I called and diagnosed a faulty oven base element ,customer grummbeld a bit ,but I explained it was unrelated but as a good will gesture I would fit free of labour if she paid for the element ,gen element £60 , after fitting the element a few days later she said that she hadn’t had time to get out to the bank and would call the office the next day and pay over the phone , I was a bit suspicious so I got her to sign my invoice to say that she agreed to pay ,(priced over phone ) the next day and that the work had been completed to her satisfaction ,to date she has never paid and not responded to my phone call ,text or a letter we sent ,it’s now getting to the stage where I am thinking of a small claims . The question I have is can I now charge her for the labour and what are reasonable charges for the administration costs we have and will incur ,thanks in advance Cras .
Re: Advice needed
If it was made clear to her that she should pay you the £60 and that she verbally agreed to that then a ‘verbal contract’ is sufficient in law to be on your side. Though, from what you tell us, it is likely she was miffed about another failure of her oven that she never intended to pay you irrespective of the mitigating circumstances. So, your next move would be to insist she pay the sum due within 7 days otherwise you will issue a summons through the small claim court. Which, for her, would incur court fee charges and possibly interest charges in addition. Often a threat of possible County Court Judgement is enough for some to just pay up anyway, but it’s a gamble for you.
Whatever, all this is costly for you and further time consuming. So the decision is simply do you pursue her for the money irrespective of cost as a matter of principle OR walk away?
Re: Advice needed
Some people are so full of it that they don’t expect any court action, I don’t think small claims court is too expensive. I took one to court just after I started on my own, didn’t get the money in the end but it made me feel better getting judgement against her
Re: Advice needed
Thanks for the replies ,this one is going all the way ,not the sort of person who will want a ccj registered against them ,own home professional type ,so we shall see Cras
Re: Advice needed
Bear in mind that if you didn’t follow the correct procedure under the new Consumer Contracts Regulations, ie provide the required written information and cancellation rights to the customer at the time the additional work was agreed, you may find the “verbal contract” unenforceable if your customer defends your claim.
Re: Advice needed
stratfordgirl wrote:Bear in mind that if you didn’t follow the correct procedure under the new Consumer Contracts Regulations, ie provide the required written information and cancellation rights to the customer at the time the additional work was agreed, you may find the “verbal contract” unenforceable if your customer defends your claim.
That’s the pitfall these days with the ‘right to cancel’ bollox we’re all supposed to adhere to, but how many of us actually do it ?
I know I dont ! 😯Re: Advice needed
Well an unexpected payment arrived today ,maybe it was the. Two texts I sent her one on Friday and the other on Saturday evening ,all my fault of course for disturbing her Saturday evening :rolls:
Re: Advice needed
Have one at the moment myself. Went to look at a Hotpoint W/D that was throwing the breaker, disconnected dryer element so she could use it as I didn’t have the part to hand.
Stupidly, didn’t charge for the call and now I can’t raise her no matter what, all calls going to voice mail.
Not nice being used for free diagnostics, when will I learn? 👿
Eddie.
Re: Advice needed
I think we have all been there ,customer as nice as pie and ever so grateful on the day turns into somebody you can’t recognise a few days later and starts trying to twist what had been agreed and complaining it’s all your fault . I have however found that texting people in the past has been very effective in getting people to pay ,it seems to invade there personal space ,and at the very least they will sometimes admit they owe you the money as they tend to text back on the spur of the moment .all good ammo if you have to resort to court
Re: Advice needed
In my experience, a soft approach is always best, even if you fear the worst.
A text along the lines of “Just a quick reminder that I haven’t received your payment for … Payment details 00-00-00 12345678 £99.99. If you can transfer funds in the next day or two, that would be great.” With a bit of luck, you’ll get a text back later that day to say: “Sorry about the delay, now paid online.”
In other cases, the customer may stall as they genuinely don’t have the money, not necessarily wanting to admit that. By remaining courteous and patient, the money usually turns up in the end. In 10 years of trading, I’ve only once not been paid, although in a couple of other cases I’ve had to turn up unannounced on the doorstep.
Re: Advice needed
Had one last year. Rental property. Landlord area manager for large bank. No joy with constant calls. Found out he was captain of a well to do golf club. Addressed invoice to him c/o golf club. Marked envelope ” overdue account”. Got payd within a week.
Re: Advice needed
clockworkone wrote:Addressed invoice to him c/o golf club. Marked envelope ” overdue account”. Got payd within a week.
Great story! :tup:
Re: Advice needed
over the years iv tried and tested different ways of reminding people…
if possible get the money with a day or two the reason is at this point the customer or landlord has just been relieved of the stress of a broken appliance with a nagging tenant etc and their more likely to pay as at this point they have appreciation in mind, leave it a week before billing and its all forgot about( for single jobs not contract)
“a speedy payment is always well received and appreciated!, thank-you”
the above for some reason this works a treat at the end of a text or email gets same day payments by bacs
…Re: Advice needed
I did a door seal on a Hotpoint, the outer wire clamp was missing at the time, tenanted property but landlord was present. I replaced seal instructed landlord if issue we’d supply replacement but since its been used without it shouldn’t be an issue, landlord didn’t care paid, all good.
Got called back as now it’s an issue, called with replacement, no landlord present etc etc but since it was only £15.00 charge, fitted it.
2 weeks passed landlord refusing to pay as” it should have been supplied with seal” excuse.
Sent 7 day notice of court action, ignored.
Issued papers to recover £15.00, ignored.
Went to court, told judge the whole sorry saga. The landlord was an arsehole to the judge and l. Luckily I’m familiar both with arseholes & the courts. I wasn’t too surprised he lost, thanks mainly to his arrogance, he actually paid a cheque there and then, crumpled it up and threw it at me. That was funny, particularly the response he drew from the judge.
Didn’t take much time, was worth it.
Don’t hesitate with people who take the piss. It’s better not to put your business into that position in the first place.
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