I am currently being cheated out of $440.00 on a roof etc cleaning job.
The strange part is, I worked for them 4 years ago and got paid!
I was told when I finished, that she and her husband were going through a divorce and that if I emailed the bill to him, he would pay it.
He didn't and I get no reply to emails to him or calls to her.
I stopped at her house tonight and her kids were home. They said "Mom is gone to the mall to get her nails done"
They remembered us from cleaning their roof and doing some pressure washing. I had a copy of the invoice and the paperwork for taking a lien out on the house with me and asked them to give it to her and to ask her to please call me.
It's a sick feeling, getting cheated out of $440.00
Anyone had any success with liens?
Chuck
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
I know that people have had success with liens against me Chuck. You'll just have to wait until they sell the house or something like that. It hurts worse because you were the one who physically did the work, for nothing. It would hert less if you had an emplyee do the the work, then there wouldnt be AS MUCH anger involved and personal deception. Either way brother, unfortunately this is business.
Last year I cried to my buddy how some lady cheated my out of $200. I wanted to take her to court and do other kinds of score leveling. He owns a 20 truck plumbing company and described how he has never been owed less than $50,000 in the past 3 years, to suck it up and act like a business man, to move on and don't waste your time chasing little money.
Chuck I'm not saying don't do anything about it, but this is business brother. There are some scrupulous people out there. TRY not to punish future good peoples because of a few bad ones. Stay on top of it. Create a contact for her phone # on your phone and tag it as "Bitch who wont Pay", and call her every chance you get. Don't let her breathe unitl she pays. Hopefully she'll break down and get sick of you calling and just pay up.
On the bright side you can write it off on your taxes as a loss. Also make it more than $440. Good post Ed, in the time it takes us to complain about this $440 we could have sold 2 more jobs, and made up for the loss.
Hey Chuck,..if I'm reading this right it looks as though you made a deal with the wife,..and she said the husband would pay. I think she is going to say you agreed to the arrangement, and it's not her fault he's not paying, and in turn the husband is gonna say "I didn't have any arrangement with you" and you're maybe gonna end up without being paid because of an implied/verbal agreement to her terms. You quite possibly are gonna be an innocent bystander in their divorce.
As far as I'm concerned the person making the original arrangement for the work is the one on the hook.
But it could be tough in this situation if this is how the deal was done.
Jeff
-- Edited by Raystown Roof Cleaning Central PA 1-800-236-0322 on Thursday 20th of September 2012 05:42:41 AM
My advice is to send them a letter, maybe certified, with a pleasant but firm tilt saying that your be happy to break the payments down in to a few installments to make the payments work for them, then forget about it. It never pays to chase people down and to let it distract you from your focus. Easy to say, hard to do, one thing about roof cleaning, the hard costs are low to clean a 400 roof. The more you do, the more exposure to getting stiffed.
About 50% of our clients sign our quote, and we collect about 25% at the time of service, we do leave a bill at the service. We do collect sales tax, they only remember the quote amount, less sales tax quite often.
We find that 75% of our clients pay with in 7-14 days.
Thanks everyone. This being the 1st time in 23 years, I can live with it, but I don't like it. I thought it odd that she drove away, without a word, just before we finished. When I called, she said if I emailed the bill to her husband, he would pay it. they were going through a divorce. So, I did. Never heard a word from him nor has she replied to 3 phone calls. I will put the lien on the house, if she does'nt pay me within a week. I will call her 1 more time and let her know 48 hours in advance. It's just business.
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
Thing is, I make it clear to customers, that I require payment upon completion and don't do billing. Because this was a previous customer, I didn't mention that.
The only customers I HAVE TO trust are out of state people who call to have their Florida home cleaned, prior to their arrival.
Then I leave an invoice in plastic, inside their lanai area weighted down.
I do have quite a bunch who call from out of state, but so far, all have paid when they get back to their sparkling clean Florida home!
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
Thats good and simple Ugly. Hey Chuck, to really seal the deal on this matter, slice off your ear and mail it along with this letter. You'll then get paid, I promise.
Thanks Ugly, I already got the lien paperwork and her county records, made a copy of those and took them to her door. Only her kids were home, so I left the paperwork with them and told them to ask their mom to please call me. They said she was at the mall, getting her nails done. { With my money! } Thanks I made a copy of your letter for any future problems. I hope none come up again! Ed, thanks for your help too. I thought of that right away and took her an ear down!
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Serving Englewood Rotonda North Port Cape Haze Venice Port Charlotte Punta Gorda Boca Grande Charlotte and Southern Sarasota Counties in Florida.
Nice touch Ed, I was originally thinking a finger to go along with the letter but an ear is thinner and more flexible to fit in a envelope. No need for utensils Chuck just get a good grip with your hand and you can pull it right off.
Great letter Ugly, I'm going to use it today on a guy that owes me $. I've gone to his house a dozen times and left notes, cards and voicemails, but no response. This might open his eyes some.