customers......................................... .

[vitoboy]

a customer calls to question the saftey of my installation.stable block.
he states that he has had the work inspected by another contractor
and it has been condemed.he will not disclose the name of said contractor
or his findings.
he states that i cannot remove my equipment(for free)as it now belongs to him
ill be stealing...
the amount charged has also been questioned(ive supplyed itemised bill) and at this time the
customer has no intention of paying any amount.
i have tryed to discuss the problem but the customer becomes abusive and will not listen to
my explanations of why the work is correct.

i know my install is all good to 17th.. ive worked for the nhs..the mod..and four local councils
and have will have 20 years exp to date but as ive been in bussness for myself only 8 mths
my nic eic registration is not yet complete as ive still to wait another month for my inspection.

any advice on how to proceed would be great
ta.

sorry peeps ive posted this in the wrong place..im a bit new to this.

 

[ghost]

I think he's trying it on with you. The fact he won't discuss with you speaks volumes. Non payers have a habit of quoting it's his once installed, I bet it's not the first time he has done it.
Fortunately, this has never happened to me and I can only sympathise, however I am sure somebody on here will be able to offer advice. I would be interested to hear how other sparks have dealt with people like this before.

 

[acat]

Anything you have installed belongs to you, thats the easy bit. If he calls the police you will be told its a civil matter and anything thats in your possession they should allow you to keep anything that you havent removed stays with him.

I would not recommend that you remove anything because if you damage any of his property that becomes a criminal offence and the police will arrest and charge you if he is willing to go to court.

I would suggest that you go to CAB and get their advice and any further communication is done in writing. Depends on how much you are owed and how far you want to take it just remember that the laws of this country protect the guilty you could end up spending a fortune and get nothing in return.

Chris

 

[Guest123]

Hi.

In the eyes of the law, until all goods are payed for in full they remain yours (or your wholesalers) until you pay them.

If you read the small print on the bottom of your delivery notes you will see it states that goods remain the property of e.g CEF, until payment is recieved in full.

This is worthwhile adding to the bottom of your quotes aswell, stops incidents like this.


If he will not give up any details on the "other contractor" or the "issues" with the job then he is obviously taking the michael!!!

Bill him as you would normally, after the payment terms have elapsed (providing you have them on the quote) send him a reminder with another 7 days on it. If he still doesn't cough up then a letter informing him you will be passing the matter on to your debt recovery agency will do the trick.

It's worth remembering that if you dont put payment terms on an invoice, then it is NEVER due for payment.

I've seen people get caught out by this before.


HTH.

 

[Spudnik]

This is why you should draw up some form of agreement between you and the customer before work starts, especially with larger contracts.

Not very helpful now though i know.

 

[Graeme Harrold]

This may be usefull to some, as Ive known people who have been paid on the back of this. Not sure if its B2B only though.

Thomas Higgins Debt Collection

 

[wattsup]

Customers can be a complete pain, actual jobs done, no complaints, so far, touch wood! ...but loads of time wasters for quotes..sometimes all over the bloody country (the business I'm in means I have to) I give a ball park price via email or phone, if they are interested I call and then give a guaranteed quote, nearly always below the ballpark figure...then they ignore ...kin tyre kickers.
The BBC should make a programme, Rogue Customers

install a secret wireless contactor on an essencial circuit, maybe a ring main!..(only for potential dodgy customers)
Imagine the fun, drive by and energise...wait an hour (to give the customer time to call, or a nother) if a nother de energise...err, it all went off now its back on....continue every day until customer gives up and calls you

 

[vitoboy]

rogue customers...yep like it...
im gonna only have contact via recorded post .inform him he has 14 days to
pay.
after all he's given me no paperwork to say he'll not pay or is not happy with my
work.
after that i guess its to the jolly old debt collectors.its still poor though....guy only
lives 500yrds down the road small village an that.
i know some of my previous employers would say...forget it and go out and earn
the next weeks wages....you'll get used to it......
guess i will init.

 

[saveloy]

rogue customers...yep like it...
im gonna only have contact via recorded post .inform him he has 14 days to
pay.
after all he's given me no paperwork to say he'll not pay or is not happy with my
work.
after that i guess its to the jolly old debt collectors.its still poor though....guy only
lives 500yrds down the road small village an that.
i know some of my previous employers would say...forget it and go out and earn
the next weeks wages....you'll get used to it......
guess i will init.

Use Registered post not recorded. I've had letters go missing using recorded!

Don't ever get used to it. If word gets around you could end up with his mates trying it on as well. Make his life hell -legally of course. .

That debt firm posted by Graeme Harrold looks very good value for money. The initial letter only costs £2!! Looks very cheap even to take them to court and they'll even get balliffs involved as well. And they keep adding to the bill that is owed.. I'd use them for entertainment value alone. Good luck and don't give up!

 

[MarcT]

Some Schemes like ECA offer an arbitration service for cases like this. You could always try invoice factoring in the future. If the customer is genuine then they will want to make a formal complaint. i doubt this is the case, more like a ruse. As mentioned, after the final demand it's small claims. There are always people like this but luckily you can tell most of the time.

 

[Mac]

Ask for a report off the electrician/contractor that condemned your work.If he won't/can't supply one,tell him that you are going to sue him.

 

[saveloy]

Methinks people in this country are getting short of money. I expect we'll be seeing a lot more behaviour like this, this year , as people need to get their crappy electrics improved, without the funds to pay for it.
Be careful out there chaps. Maybe it will soon be time to ask for deposit payments before starting jobs? to partly cover ourselves.

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Methinks people in this country are getting short of money. I expect we'll be seeing a lot more behaviour like this, this year , as people need to get their crappy electrics improved, without the funds to pay for it.
Be careful out there chaps. Maybe it will soon be time to ask for deposit payments before starting jobs? to partly cover ourselves.

I take a 50% up front to cover hardware and they dont get certs until paid in full

 

[saveloy]

I take a 50% up front to cover hardware and they dont get certs until paid in full

I normally ask for a stage payment after a few days on a big job with a big outlay and to be honest I've never had a refusal so far.
My take is that if customers are not willing to share on the costs of an ongoing project then there is a greater possibility of them defaulting on the whole job, plus I am a tradesman not a finance company. I am not in business to supplement their bank account, I'm in business to provide myself a wage.

 

[ezzzekiel]

This is the second post ive read recently with similar storyline and i usually find that violence is the key