Why!!!????

[Donny]

When I invoice a customer, albeit not a big number, just under 400 bucks, he then says "June is a tight month, I'll make it in July, it will be better then", so, July 1st comes, invoice for June mailed out with past due balance, and work just completed, and the guy just won't answer his phone, emails, texts, or, wont take calls at his folks house when he's there! I mean come on you people, if you want this sort of work done, be ready to pay for it, its not cheap, nor is it expensive either!

I think the next job I get, and if he wants what I'm doing to this so far non paying Chevy owner, I will get like 5 grand up front, this will tell me he's serious and will follow through. I'm ready to end another Chevy contract early, and push it outside and tell him to come get his ****. Getting tired of the dreamers, and jerks who watch those horrible TV shows and read a one page article in the magazine that shows a pile of **** to a nice shiney turd in one page -- they must think its easy, cheap, and quick because the TV shows, magazines NEVER show how much it costs, how much time it takes. Getting tired of this rat race! Hell, I have bills to pay too!

 

[Hemirunner]

Hobby businesses are terrible for this. We went to giving an estimate up front and requiring 50% before we lift a finger to weed out the dreamers and wannabe's.

 

[67 coronet]

i feel your pain donny!i manage a large automotive repair shop here in vegas and there is something that bothers me as well.why is it that this industry has become haggle central!when people buy clothes or groceries or gas,why dont they say to them"i know the bill is $150 but how about i only give you $100".why is it that the average person seems to think they can haggle down prices with me but not even try at any retail store?what do they think is the difference?dont even get me started on nonpaying customers.if you authorise the work,then guess what,you are going to have to pay that bill when the work is done!
thanx for the chance to vent.sometimes you need to just vent to feel better.

 

[Sonny Black]

when I make a commitment to pay...I live up to the agreement.
good or bad I pay for it ........and move on...
so, if you are not happy "tell your friends"
just my 2cents.

 

[shag766]

your in a service business bud and its tuff. i don't know if wanting it all up front is the way to go but a down stroke for sure with a signed agreement of balance due when done. if its paid cash, cool, and if its a chq ??, your call. the thing with a chq and a whole bunch of identification is if the chq bounces, now it's fraud. another way is take the chq and when it clears, come and get you stuff.
.
i have been in the wholesale meat business 25 yrs now and have seen pretty much it all. i also just closed a pay-day loan store i had going for 10 yrs, now thats another f/u world. i know it pisses you off but you still have to turn $$ to live. you will figure it out, good luck. rick

 

[DART340H]

Donny sell his **** for non-payment of services. That will make him think twice before screwing someone else. Screw him back!

 

[YY1]

Almost EVERYONE almost ALWAYS assumes anything they DON'T understand, is EASY and QUICK for SOMEONE ELSE to do.

 

[pabster]

Oh man, that bites. I always pay for the work I get done- I don't try to haggle and I pay quickly. The bonus of doing this is that everyone I work with is happy and gives me great service, along with going above and beyond! My local tire shop has kept my stock rims stored for free because I don't have the space for them and I'm a good customer.

I wish you the best of luck dealing with deadbeats 'n dreamers. Selling his stuff sounds like a great idea to me...

 

[Cranky]

Used to own a furniture store...sales and rentals. When the economy is good, business was good and not too many problems with non paying customers but when things go in the turdlet, then it became a hassle. Same way with engine and rear end building. I pick and choose who I build for anymore and then I want payment up front for at least the parts I'm going to use then if they don't want it after, I at least have a new engine with just my time in it and there's no more picking it up without paying the balance!

 

[Dako]

Sounds to me like you have made MORE than a reasonable effort in attempting to contact this guy. He is flat-out avoiding you. In the next email and text, attach a photo displaying his crap out at the road with a 'FOR SALE' sign on it...asking price: what he owes (I wouldn't put a price if it's worth less). This should get the message across. At this point there is no reason to be nice anymore. I remeber when I was stationed in Corpus, auto mechanics could sell your vehicle...for what was owed...if the owner failed to pay for repairs authorized. This is no different.

 

[egrand1508]

You might consider selling his bill to a collection agency. You'll only get half the money, but belive me they'll ride his *** like nobody's business.

What's really bad is I live in Illinois and we've got a deadbeat state. My work is lucky we don't have much state business, but I've talked to plenty of our vendors who said they had to stop giving credit to the state and requiring payment up front. The local IDOT garages can't get anything done or delivered anymore without a check in hand. I live in a small town of 7,000 and was talking to the drugstore owner about a year ago and he said the state was over a year and $40,000 behind with him. That's a lot for a small business. With the local hospital they are over $1 million behind and over $400,000 with the school district.

 

[bigredbird]

Car builders can do what home builders do: charge 1/3 up front to cover materials, 1/3 when work commences, to cover labor/pay employees, and 1/3 on completion. If they can't come through with the first payment, it's a no-go from the start. If they skip the second one, work stops. And if they skip the last one, you hang on to the goods. Tell them how this works from the beginning, and they'll know they need to have all three payments on hand NOW or they could lose two payments plus the work commissioned. (Get a lawyer to draft this stuff, though, if it's gonna hold up in small-claims court.)

When a local shop was bringing my beat-up, barn-found RR hood back to life a few years back, the owner called me about two weeks into the job and said "I need half of the agreed payment now, because this job's going longer than I thought and I need to pay my guys." When I told him I'd come right over and pay by AmEx, he said he couldn't pay his guys with a credit card receipt. Cash only. If I didn't have it, they'd just move the hood to the back of the current-work pile. I got to the bank real quick. :grin:

 

[Cranky]

Why couldn't he pay his guys. I accepted credit cards and had no problem paying my employees and bills etc....

 

[shag766]

same question ?

 

[shag766]

Oh man, that bites. I always pay for the work I get done- I don't try to haggle and I pay quickly. The bonus of doing this is that everyone I work with is happy and gives me great service, along with going above and beyond! My local tire shop has kept my stock rims stored for free because I don't have the space for them and I'm a good customer.

I wish you the best of luck dealing with deadbeats 'n dreamers. Selling his stuff sounds like a great idea to me...

X2

 

[bigredbird]

Why couldn't he pay his guys. I accepted credit cards and had no problem paying my employees and bills etc....

2009, height of the global depression.

 

[Bruzilla]

Why is it that this industry has become haggle central!when people buy clothes or groceries or gas,why dont they say to them"i know the bill is $150 but how about i only give you $100".why is it that the average person seems to think they can haggle down prices with me but not even try at any retail store?what do they think is the difference?

Two reasons. First, the customer has the money, you have the goods or service, and you need to have a balance of interests to affect a transaction. You're wrong about retail stores. Customers haggle with them as well, the difference is they use sales to do it since there's often not a pressing need for something. For example, you're going to be needing some new pants but not right now... wait until they go on sale. And from the store side, you run the sale to convince people now is a good time to buy so you can meet your financial requirements. Auto repair businesses are generally just-in-time operations where there are no sales because your customers show up when something is broke and needs to be fixed right away, and the absence of sales tends to drive haggling.

Second, and more importantly, they know more often than not it will work. There's plenty of competition out there, the customers know that, and we also know most shop owners would rather work for less than not work at all. You say the charge will be $150, and I I'm willing to pay $100. You're always free to say no.

 

[shag766]

Used to own a furniture store...sales and rentals. When the economy is good, business was good and not too many problems with non paying customers but when things go in the turdlet, then it became a hassle. Same way with engine and rear end building. I pick and choose who I build for anymore and then I want payment up front for at least the parts I'm going to use then if they don't want it after, I at least have a new engine with just my time in it and there's no more picking it up without paying the balance!

i had a good friend who owned a furniture store and some of the stuff he pulled to get his money was hilarious, if not border line crooked. he made a lot of money at it though.

 

[shag766]

You might consider selling his bill to a collection agency. You'll only get half the money, but belive me they'll ride his *** like nobody's business.

What's really bad is I live in Illinois and we've got a deadbeat state. My work is lucky we don't have much state business, but I've talked to plenty of our vendors who said they had to stop giving credit to the state and requiring payment up front. The local IDOT garages can't get anything done or delivered anymore without a check in hand. I live in a small town of 7,000 and was talking to the drugstore owner about a year ago and he said the state was over a year and $40,000 behind with him. That's a lot for a small business. With the local hospital they are over $1 million behind and over $400,000 with the school district.

thats spooky as hell, the goverment not paying, wow. i do a fair amount of business with the fed goverment here to canada's biggest air base. its 10 miles away. some times they get behind due to a change in who's in charge but my invoices have a 2% a month charge over 30 days. with them i hope they take as long as they want at 24% a year interest. i know its coming just a matter of when.

 

[Lowhound]

I would ask for 50% up front and tell them if the balance due is not paid on time that I would then charge an extra percentage for everyday that you must store it. For if their vehicle takes up your space it could make you put off another paying customer because you have nowhere to put their finished stuff. Time is money but so is space.