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Original poster

People not paying for work done!!!

33 replies

chickenlickin · 08/07/2010 21:13

My DH is an electrician and has a joint business between him and two others. Has only been going for two years and I cannot believe how many people have thousands of pounds of work done and then say they can't pay! They have a quote and agree to the price and then still go ahead knowing they cannot pay!!!! Is beginning to take the piss!!! I wouldn't go into tesco's and still take the shopping home and not pay for it!!!! Makes my blood boil, have told him to go in a rip all the wires etc out!

OP posts:
SloanyPony · 08/07/2010 21:19

Its unbelievable isn't it...I couldn't do that. I just couldn't. And it must be hard for small family businesses to recover bad debts...though hopefully there is a process?

choufleur · 08/07/2010 21:21

My bIL has had this quite a bit. He's started going to the small claims court and then paying for bailiffs if they still don't pay. He's a kitchen fitter and the bailiffs actually removed a kitchen from a home recently.

I don't think it actually helps him financially but makes him feel a lot better.

tigerbear · 08/07/2010 21:23

Totally agree - I'm self employed and it never ceases to amaze me that companies don't pay on time for the work I've done for them. Not talking individuals here either - these are big universities that I freelance for. I know they're experiencing cuts right now, but FFS, if they agree for me to do the work, know what my fee is and get me in to actually do the work, then think it's ok to just ignore payment terms...
Arrghhhh!

Orangerie · 08/07/2010 21:24

One suggestion, he can ask for a percentage of the work to be paid upfront. And for the remaining in completion. That way he doesn't loose that much if at the end people don't pay (and at least gets the basic costs of the work covered so he doesn't get more loss on top of his fees)

Orangerie · 08/07/2010 21:26

... by the way, I'm not an electrician, have a proper permanent contract yet the company I work for has never paid my salary on time. (Yes I know, only staying because I need to find another job first).

Original poster
chickenlickin · 09/07/2010 07:54

they do ask for some up-front to get materials etc but still some people just think it is ok to then not pay, yet they still have their posh cars etc. We have to sell our things to then pay the suppliers their bill as may still be outstanding then my DH has worked for free AGAIN! Makes me want to do a 'susan' from desperate housewives!! (when she goes in a gives a sob story and then gets the money back!

OP posts:
Pheebe · 09/07/2010 08:04

My DH is an electrician and we have had the same problem in the past. These days on large jobs he asks for payment on completion of first fix and then invoices weekly. He has also encouraged clients to buy their own materials (using VAT as an argument) in some cases because once they are installed you can't go and remove them without going down the bailiff route.

There is a website to sue people directly, something to do with the small claims court but means you don't need a solicitor. Citizens advice would know if you have a specific problem.

trixie123 · 09/07/2010 08:11

I'm sure all of this is true and I sympathise but can I ask a question (and I am genuinely interested in an answer, not trying to pick a fight). Why is it that without exception, the tradesmen I have ever dealt with don't return phonecalls, turn up late or not at all, don't have the right part, take far longer to do the job than they originally say and take short cuts on the job that they would not be happy with in their own homes? I would give a LOT to have the phone numbers of reliable, conscientious, well organised and capable electricians, plumbers etc. Anyone on here live in Herts?

ApocalypseCheese · 09/07/2010 08:14

I always pay in stages, 1/4 upfront then 3 more payments until completion, builder said i'm a dream customer

TheBeast · 09/07/2010 08:17

Money Claim Online is the court website where you can issue proceedings for unpaid debts online. It gives detailed guidance and is relatively simple to use.

If the claim is for less than £5,000, it is run in the small claims court and legal fees are generally not recoverable.

ApocalypseCheese · 09/07/2010 08:17

The people I have in have taken far longer than anticipated but I seriously can't criticise the high standard of work, I also have his full name, address and both phone numbers.

GoodDaysBadDays · 09/07/2010 08:19

trixie, they're not all like that but the problem we find is that so many are that no one trusts any of them and the good one's get treated like shit because of this.

Dh is a carpenter, has been self employed for 20 odd years, with our own company for 3 until we went out of business 18 months ago and tbh it was the best thing that happened to us (once we got out of the mess)

Now he works for a large company as a contracts manager doing what he is told monday to friday taking home regular money with no constant chasing payments.

We've come to the conclusion that if you're a good guy who bends over backwards for customers and always does above and beyond you still get treated like a second-class citizen but the majority.

But that didn't change the way he worked and over the last couple of years had more jobs with problems paying than not.

Oh I could go on because this drives me mad but I'll just get all cross

GoodDaysBadDays · 09/07/2010 08:28

The public generally know it costs a lot to recover debts

One sweet little old lady said at the end of her job, which had encountered no problems and dh had (as usual) thrown in a few extras for nothing, 'how much will you take for this job then?' He said it was on the invoice. So the dear old lady said she wasn't paying that (fully quoted in advance and broken down etc etc) so he offered to knock 10% off. She refused said she'd pay half and that she knew it would be too expensive for him to take her to court so he'd better just accept that!

He said no and she then refused to pay any. That was over a 18 months and we've not had a penny, despite solicitor involvement. The daughter got involved and said we were putting her elderly mother under too much stress so we gave up.

Others make massive changes to what they want then refuse to pay the difference

Many customers use 'oh but it's not quite what I wanted and I do have rights you know' after weeks and sometimes months of free quotation work - obtaining samples, measuring and re measuring, getting other trades to price etc etc

Oh see now i'm ranting and getting all worked up!

Cretaceous · 09/07/2010 08:28

trixie, I don't know where you live in Herts, but do you have a local community website. We have one, and I get recommendations from there. We've been really lucky so far.

My ex-bf had a building company, and he also had problems getting people to pay! He'd do work that was being claimed under insurance, so the customer had the money, but would then spend it rather than pay them. (I think he used to try and get the money directly from the insurance company.)

Original poster
chickenlickin · 09/07/2010 08:53

OMG GoodDaysBadDays!! We have the same thing with an elderly lady and my DH is way to soft, she owed them £4,000 and said she couldn't pay so is paying £100 a month which is better than nothing but doesn't pay the wages or our food bills or kids stuff. trixie - DH will travel! hahaha seriously they were thinking of targeting larger cities etc as where we live (in the country) people are under quoting each other so quotes are soooo varied. But of a nightmare at mo and guess things gonna get worse with the rise in VAT.
Pheebe - what routes of advertising does your DH use? work is thin on the ground round these parts!

OP posts:
LesbianMummy1 · 09/07/2010 09:02

As a childminder I find this too frequently I am currently owed over £2000 for childcare since march and it's various families. It causes problems for future parents as I now only accept payments in advance

Lizcat · 09/07/2010 09:03

Oh how I hate " I ain't got no money" as a vet I hear it at least twice a day. We don't bother with small claims court or debt collectors any more they don't work very often. We irritate them into paying, we are terribly nice we call them up and ask how sooty is and then when are they going to pay. If this fails we pop round and ask them for the money this rarely fails. We are always very polite and never try to enter anyones home.

insertwittynicknameHERE · 09/07/2010 09:05

My brother and dad get this quiet a lot. They go to small claims to get their money back now. It is sad. It annoys me that people feel it is okay to do this, tradesmen have bills to pay as well!!

melikalikimaka · 09/07/2010 09:06

I knew a friend who was an electrician, he never had any problem with payment. He always threatened to 'put their windows in' if he didn't get paid straight away. With the wild look in his eyes they soon paid up.
He can always tell them he is coming to disinstall the parts because they haven't paid for them! After all, it's his property.

hendo77 · 09/07/2010 09:08

I think that's awful not paying for work. Trixie don't know if it helps, but I have always used www.checkatrade.com and never had a bad or unreliable tradesman yet from there. Always say you got their details from that site and then they know you will rate them online.

chinook · 09/07/2010 09:16

I sympathise with all of you. Dp is a builder and has the same problem all the time. We had to remortgage a couple of years ago as he had £20,000 worth of outstanding invoices. It always seems to be the more wealthy customers who do not pay. It makes me so cross when I see programmes on the tv like 'Rough Traders' who focus on the cowboys in the industry yet nothing is done to sort out this problem.

chicken we have that problem here too with underquoting. One big local oompany always does things for cash, to avoid the VAT, or quotes low to get the job, then adds on loads of extra stuff to the final invoice. It is so unfair to dp who works so hard and takes a real pride in doing a good job.

We are on Surrey/Sussex border and will travel if that interests anyone!

GoodDaysBadDays · 09/07/2010 09:17

we used to be members of check a trade and several similar sites, while they are good they're expensive and never generated much work. And there are so many about now the individual site's effectiveness is reducing anyway

GoodDaysBadDays · 09/07/2010 09:22

chinook
what you said is so familiar, I don't watch those programmes any more as they make me so cross, yes there are cowboys out there but there is the same proportion of dodgy customers!

And I second the wealthy being the worst payers !

Mingg · 09/07/2010 09:29

So sue them. Small claims are not expensive, and you can fill in the claim form yourself.

BarefootShirl · 09/07/2010 10:17

I have freelanced for a number of small/medium companies and my terms are that 50% of fee is payable either at the start of the project or one month before completion. That way, if I'm not getting paid then I don't hand over the completed project. Have had a few problem payers but generally OK.

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