Customer does not want to pay

[family4life8020]

Hi all of u. Well I started my Landscaping Buisness. Well I did a clean up job. Gave her a quote . And then I wrote out a receipt and agreement of the payments of 2 and a total of $1,000. And finished the first day  mowing the yard. With the grass being 3ft high and black berry bushes all along the foundation of the house. She texted me and said she didn't want me to continue, with the job. Cause she said she could not afford it. After we agreed on payment plan. And the service I was going to do. So she asked me the price of what I have done so far. Told her the amount. And she said hell no, just for mowing the grass. I told her I explained to u $400 for mowing and weeding and cutting down black berry bushes. And other $600 was gonna be trimming of all the trees and bushes she had. So what do I do. I did half the job and now she does not want to pay me. When she could have said she didn't want it done too begin with. She said she is taking me to court cause she didn't agree on the bid I gave her.. 

[Donnie-M]

@family4life8020 I'll give you the best advice from a business perspective.  What she did is illegal.  Was she supposed to pay part of the job as soon as you were done?  or were you extending her a form of credit with delayed payments at a later time?

Either way, be firm.  Tell her to pay what she owes and keep a record or record the conversation (if you are a 1 party consent state, law varies).  If she doesn't, go file a suit in small claims court for the full price and all expenses involved with collection including fees.  You did work, she refused to pay, take photos.  If you get a judgment, file a mechanics lien.  Your state might let you file one without even going to court.

But the takeaway is, if your doing a big job, get some sort of deposit up front.  Based on what you have said, you have already established she will lie about what happened, so handle it professionally, and consider this a valuable lesson for the future, even if it stinks right now.

Just read the first quote on my signature.

[family4life8020]

Hey Donnie. Yes when it comes to a big job I always ask them to put half down of the total amount. And talking about her. I walked the property with her and explained, what I was going to do. So total amount was $1,000. For a clean up. And that was a great price for her. Because others would have given her a bigger quote. Anyways we agreed on June 25th and July 25th. Because she only gets paid once a month. So we started the job finished the mowing part. And later on in the day she texted saying to hold up on the remaining job witch was the trimming . She said that we would get paid on the 25th of June. I asked for $400 not the original $500. And still she was like it was a ripoff. Etc. 

[RMConsultingLLC]

Theft of Services is absolutely illegal and small claims court is not even required in all instances. The local police department is the best place to start, as they can be very persuasive when "Investigating for their report".

[PerroneTech]

Oof. That sucks. This type of stuff happens in nearly every business.

Take this as a lesson learned. Payment upfront. It would be easier to argue over wanting a refund for poor services (which you can fix) versus chasing down money for work already done.

Sometimes, I get weak for the people I know. I fix electronics. I have a Numark DJ mixer in my shop. The person who owns it lives upstairs from my business. It has been sitting on the shelf complete for nearly 2 months. Of course, it cost more than originally thought, but I told him beforehand and gave him a chance to change his mind before I ordered parts. He agreed to it. Now here it sits. So, yet another stark reminder, get payment first, no matter how sad they sound. The person who owes me money has even made some large purchases since. Today he will actually be getting a letter warning him that it will be sold in 30 days.

[DinaLRosenberg]

I completely agree with this point of view.. we've all gotten into these situations and I call them "life's tuition". Sometimes we gotta go thru this stuff because we need the lesson on how we are exposed in our business... I love the idea below of using contracts here in square- that way you have the scope of work defined and all the paperwork necessary/agreements should anything like this happen again.

[PartyManiaMD]

Pursue it in small claims court, at least you know where she lives.

I had a landscaper in MA scam me out of $300 a few years ago and every attempt to serve him for court failed. It was mindboggling frustrating. Ever since then I won't pay a deposit or pre-pay for services unless the contractor has a retail establishment that I can visit to verify first.

[RMConsultingLLC]

First off, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BUSINESS!

Now, as new business owners, we all have experienced these types of clients. But do not take it to heart. Instead, focus on growing your business with clients who respect your effort and talent.

For the future, however, I would recommend using the Square Appointments feature, requiring the client to enter no-show protection payment details at the request of their appointment, allowing you to approve or deny the request.

In addition, I would use the contracts feature in conjunction with invoices to get a written agreement with the attached invoice and Credit Card Authorization. 

This way, you can charge the card on file as agreed in the contract, and you have the agreement to verify that the client agreed in writing to pay the fees before performing the service.

Richard Merrill, CEO (He/Him)

Richard Merrill Consulting, LLC

Spokane, WA, USA

Super Seller: I help others.

Beta Tester: I question everything.

Happy Selling!

[alexandriak]

Ugh I am so sorry. many of us have been where you are in various businesses.

Anytime you're going to do a project like that, I would get a signed contract. You can get a legalzoom account for a few bucks a month and have an attorney draw up a contract you can use and slightly edit to make sure it fits the current job and amount you're currently proposing or about to seal the deal on,