IrishRugger
Senior Member
How do you guys deal with customers that demand you to perform work for them and they take their time paying you for that said work?
demanding customers that are not timely with payment
- Thread starter IrishRugger
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roger3829
Senior Member
- Location
- Torrington, CT
Stop working for them.
BryanMD
Senior Member
A customer = someone who pays for goods and services.
Someone who DOESN'T pay for goods and services = the defendant.
Someone who DOESN'T pay for goods and services = the defendant.
ceknight
Senior Member
Yeah, that's pretty much it. You simply can't go wrong with that strategy.
That still doesn't get you paid. Some customers are one-shot deals. When you're done with the job, they'll never call you again. They need to find someone else to not pay.
There's always Vinny and Bruno......
ceknight
Senior Member
Sure, but the implication was that he gets paid, just not as quickly as he'd like. I assumed the OP's talking about a customer type and how to deal with them in the future; the suggestion on the table is to make darned good and sure those are one-shot deals.
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
Turn the tables on them. They call demanding you. Let them know that when you are finished you expect immediate payment. If they cannot pay immediately then you will put them on the books and get there when you can.
My standard iteration to them is "I spent the time on the job. I dug trenches/working in the rain/it was 20 below/standing in animal manure/mosquitoes almost carried me off/lost 12 pounds working in the heat/etc. You don't need to put up with that to write out a check."
charlietuna
Senior Member
I have a reputation for good service and also that i expect to be payed on time everytime. Anytime i have to call about being payed is that customer's final service call! And never a second chance--that would ruin my reputation !!!
ceb58
Senior Member
- Location
- Raeford, NC
Must be some bad mosquitoes to carry you off in 20 below while working in the heat.:grin:
nolabama
Senior Member
- Location
- new orleans la
mosquito's are bad in iowa
macmikeman
Senior Member
- Location
- Planet macmikeman
Remote control (bluetooth)? relay in the circuits maybe?? Drive up to front of said property and open the contacts using a coded pendant. Thats taking things a bit too far, but for some painful customers that method of enticement to pay has occured to me before.
One trick I use when wiring a new home:
I usually run general-purpose circuits into a switch box first. I do this intentionaly so if there's a problem with the circuit later, it's easier to isolate the switches and receps from the HR at a switch box. When I make them up, I install an extra pigtail on both the hot & neutral. I tie them together with a yellow wire nut and push it off to the side. To a layman, it will not look out of the ordinary.
When I trim out, I undo the direct short and cap off both wires. What this does is keep someone from having good ol' Uncle Fred our Cousin Bob come in after me and trimming the house out. My contract is for the entire job, not just roughing it in. So if Fred or Bob trims out my work, guess what happens?
Yep, short-circuit city! They'll be on the phone to me in a heartbeat! My response would be, "How do you know about all these shorts? I haven't trimmed it out yet". Of course, they'll tell me they're trying to save money by trimming it themselves. "Well, look at your contract. There's a clause in there about others making changes or alterations to our work. Since you've done that now, I'm not only entitled to damages because you breached the contract, but now I need to come out and find out what so-and-so did to mess it up."
And, of course, there's also a clause in the contract about charging for said 'troubleshooting'.
Of course, this only works in a specific instance, and I've never had it happen, but 10 or 12 wire nuts and maybe a half-hour labor.... it's cheap insurance.
I usually run general-purpose circuits into a switch box first. I do this intentionaly so if there's a problem with the circuit later, it's easier to isolate the switches and receps from the HR at a switch box. When I make them up, I install an extra pigtail on both the hot & neutral. I tie them together with a yellow wire nut and push it off to the side. To a layman, it will not look out of the ordinary.
When I trim out, I undo the direct short and cap off both wires. What this does is keep someone from having good ol' Uncle Fred our Cousin Bob come in after me and trimming the house out. My contract is for the entire job, not just roughing it in. So if Fred or Bob trims out my work, guess what happens?
Yep, short-circuit city! They'll be on the phone to me in a heartbeat! My response would be, "How do you know about all these shorts? I haven't trimmed it out yet". Of course, they'll tell me they're trying to save money by trimming it themselves. "Well, look at your contract. There's a clause in there about others making changes or alterations to our work. Since you've done that now, I'm not only entitled to damages because you breached the contract, but now I need to come out and find out what so-and-so did to mess it up."
And, of course, there's also a clause in the contract about charging for said 'troubleshooting'.
Of course, this only works in a specific instance, and I've never had it happen, but 10 or 12 wire nuts and maybe a half-hour labor.... it's cheap insurance.
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macmikeman
Senior Member
- Location
- Planet macmikeman
In my locality, state law prevents that scenerio from occuring. My sincere thanks to the lawmakers for helping out in that regard. Licenced only allowed to perform electrical work, and the permit holder or his crew only.
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