collecting payments

[Mijic_Bogdan]

Hello,
I need some advice from you people. I did a tree trimming about 3 weeks ago. I completed the work and the owner paid me 800. I put the check in the bank about a week later and check bounced. reason.. owner stopped it. I called the owner and he said he did not stop the check and to try to redeposit check again but bank said i cant do that because check is not good. Now the owner wont answer or return my calls or open the dor to talk to me. I tried to take a police report but police said they cant be involved in this. Also i dont know the reason why check was stopped because customer never complained about the work i did. pls help me with your advice because i have lot of ppl lately that are not paying me. thank you

 

[tomtrees58]

small claims

 

[Muffler Bearing]

With Drawn

 

[ducaticorse]

+1 for small claim. -1 for showing pictures of anyones kids in attempt to recover money owed.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Photo of his KIDS? Oh you guys arent good at this at all.

You write a storybook about a man who had lovely little kids and a lovely house, then he had his trees trimmed and didnt pay the arborist. And while the guy ignored the arborist and slept soundly, the arborist got angrier and angrier. The arborist then went and cut the whole family up with his chainsaw (this part of the story should have very graphic pictures)
Give storybook to his kids to have dad read it to them that night.

If you want more ideas, im an insomniac that loves messing with people. A lifetime of practical joke application finds itself quite valuable in debt collecting.

Thank me later.

 

[sgreanbeans]

On the serious side! Leave a note on the door, tell him if he don't pay, you will put a lien on his house, take pictures of all jobs before and after, tell him that you will gladly return all the materiel from his trees, and you will put them right in the driveway, up to the door, for his pleasure. Talk to his neighbors, let them know what is going on, play the starving Arborist to them, it will taint his rep in the hood. If you have and old truck you don't use that has signage on it, park it right in front of the house, put a cardboard sigh in the window that reads "Mr. SO AN SO don't pay his bills". These tactics work. I have used them. Sucks when ya do a good job, and they don't have the cash.
DO NOT THREATEN HIM. Only makes matters worse.
Do start the lien, if he don't pay, the lien will be in the paper, for all to see. I believe the cops are wrong, if he wrote a rubber check over 500, i think that is a felony. Talk to the Sgt on duty, young patrol cops hate this sort of thing as it is "boring"
With all that said. THIS IS THE VERY REASON I TAKE A DEPOSIT, for any thing over $1000.00, if they don't like it, then they don't get me. That is for first time customers only, when customers become clients, they have passed the "will they pay me " test.

 

[treemandan]

On the serious side! Leave a note on the door, tell him if he don't pay, you will put a lien on his house, take pictures of all jobs before and after, tell him that you will gladly return all the materiel from his trees, and you will put them right in the driveway, up to the door, for his pleasure. Talk to his neighbors, let them know what is going on, play the starving Arborist to them, it will taint his rep in the hood. If you have and old truck you don't use that has signage on it, park it right in front of the house, put a cardboard sigh in the window that reads "Mr. SO AN SO don't pay his bills". These tactics work. I have used them. Sucks when ya do a good job, and they don't have the cash.
DO NOT THREATEN HIM. Only makes matters worse.
Do start the lien, if he don't pay, the lien will be in the paper, for all to see. I believe the cops are wrong, if he wrote a rubber check over 500, i think that is a felony. Talk to the Sgt on duty, young patrol cops hate this sort of thing as it is "boring"
With all that said. THIS IS THE VERY REASON I TAKE A DEPOSIT, for any thing over $1000.00, if they don't like it, then they don't get me. That is for first time customers only, when customers become clients, they have passed the "will they pay me " test.

Putting a note on his door could get you in trouble with the police. You have to mail a proper collection notice for a awhile then you can start calling.

 

[Taxmantoo]

I tried to take a police report but police said they cant be involved in this.

Sounds like uttering and publishing over $100, which is a felony here in Michigan.
My county prosecutor has an economic crimes unit set up specifically to handle bad checks and the like. If the cops refuse to help, you can try to talk to a different cop, or try the prosecutor/district attorney's office.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Putting a note on his door could get you in trouble with the police. You have to mail a proper collection notice for a awhile then you can start calling.

I did not know that, I have done it in the past with no issues, but its not to say, whether one could come up in the future.
But now I do


And knowing is half the battle
G.I. JOE

 

[GlenWimpy]

Call his wife , tell her what happened! THIS will get his attention! This has worked NUMEROUS times for me!

 

[Koa Man]

Small claims court judgements are not enforceable and the person being served doesn't even have to show up. I had a tenent served a supeona by a sheriff for unpaid rent. She didn't show up at court, I won the judgement, but the court said they had no power to enforce it. I could take it to District Court ($$$) and they had the power to force payment. It was for $1800 and not worth my time.

As far as putting a lien, I am a licensed contractor and when checking on putting a lien on someone's house, I found out tree trimming is not considered home improvement, therefor I could not put a lien on the property. I eventually collected after an implied threat. He told me you shouldn't be talking to your customers that way. I told him, "You are not my customer. You are a A-hole who thinks he can get away with stiffing people." This was for only $85. We were working in the neighbor's property and had me cut some branches on his tree that was touching his house.

 

[ducaticorse]

I did not know that, I have done it in the past with no issues, but its not to say, whether one could come up in the future.
But now I do


And knowing is half the battle
G.I. JOE

Putting a note in the MAILBOX will get you in trouble.

 

[ducaticorse]

Small claims court judgements are not enforceable and the person being served doesn't even have to show up. I had a tenent served a supeona by a sheriff for unpaid rent. She didn't show up at court, I won the judgement, but the court said they had no power to enforce it. I could take it to District Court ($$$) and they had the power to force payment. It was for $1800 and not worth my time.

As far as putting a lien, I am a licensed contractor and when checking on putting a lien on someone's house, I found out tree trimming is not considered home improvement, therefor I could not put a lien on the property. I eventually collected after an implied threat. He told me you shouldn't be talking to your customers that way. I told him, "You are not my customer. You are a A-hole who thinks he can get away with stiffing people." This was for only $85. We were working in the neighbor's property and had me cut some branches on his tree that was touching his house.

They are sure as #### enforceable in MA. They will absolutely track you down and arrest you if you don't pay. Not the police though, it's a constable service that has the power from the courts to arrest. The person who has won the judgement has to initiate the process though.

 

[Don't-B-Stumped]

Take the bad check to the local DA. Its illegal to do what he did.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Putting a note in the MAILBOX will get you in trouble.

Now, I knew that! so does M-80's! Or dog doodoo!!!

 

[treemandan]

Putting a note in the MAILBOX will get you in trouble.

Just as setting foot on someone's property in these circumstances will. In fact anything done outside the given channels ( which do suck and are expensive) will have the police intervening quickly these days I am pretty sure.

 

[redoakneck]

Jump thru all the legal hoops first!!! Doing something stupid may cost you more. If you have the bad check, the police or D.A. should be able to help you. If he cancelled the check then you may have a dispute.

It sure does make you mad. When you get a first time client

1-- Write an estimate and get it signed by both parties

2-- Picture and clear description of work to be done on estimate

3--- Payment in full, or at least half BEFORE work started.

Look around, does the dude have the means to pay??? You have the advantage of being at the house. This doesn't always ring true.

Welcome to the wonderful world of small business, wait till obama taxes you on the money you never got!!!!

 

[treemandan]

Jump thru all the legal hoops first!!! Doing something stupid may cost you more. If you have the bad check, the police or D.A. should be able to help you. If he cancelled the check then you may have a dispute.

It sure does make you mad. When you get a first time client

1-- Write an estimate and get it signed by both parties

2-- Picture and clear description of work to be done on estimate

3--- Payment in full, or at least half BEFORE work started.

Look around, does the dude have the means to pay??? You have the advantage of being at the house. This doesn't always ring true.

Welcome to the wonderful world of small business, wait till obama taxes you on the money you never got!!!!

Taxes! That's it! There is a line on the tax form for upaid invoices or something like that. Add up all your upaid invoices, add interest and collection fees and submit it. I think 100 % of that total comes right off your gross income. So that helps.
And when I was younger I used to mess around with those who didn't pay. I didn't have the risk I have now and would never step on the outside of the law because if you leave a trail to your door the police will be knocking. I came close to being in trouble and with age I realize that is trouble I don't want.
Once or twice I did sue over unpaid invoices, sometime I lost , sometimes I won. Still, just cause you get a ruling in your favour doesn't mean you will see the money... ever, and you are paying and working the cumbersome system. If you look at it another way, the system works in your favour too its just that it protects deadbeats who know they can hide behind the mask we call Civilization.
Another way to get paid is to find a collection agency that will buy your unpaid invoice from you.There are places out there that will buy them face value no questions asked. There is more to that of course but if you want the money rather than play games...
I think I could get away with putting a line in my contract that state all unpaid invoices warrant a return of any and all debris removed from property. Hey, if they sign then that's that huh?

 

[banshee67]

on an obviously much smaller scale:

the only person ive ever had problems collecting money from, from selling firewood, was a cop.
2 cords, paid for the first one cash, dropped off second one when only his wife was there, she knew i was coming, she said she didnt have enough cash on her... "can i mail you a check"... that should have been first red flag, why wouldnt she have a checkbook!?
several weeks go by.. no check in the mail..all my voicemails and emails go unanswered..after about 3 weeks , i get an email back "sorry, life got in the way" is what he says! he says that he SENT the check already, and i should have it in a couple days (he only lives about 12-15 miles away in the first place..) another week goes by.. no check.
i call and email more, no answer from him at all. i try to be nice and ask if maybe he put the wrong address on the envelope, and type out my address for him again to make sure he sent it to the right place and tell him to give me a call, leaving my phone number again... another week+ , no answer. well past a month since i delivered his wood, and no payment. i continue leaving him voicemails about 2 per week, along with emails, no longer being nice, just bluntly saying "its been over a month now, i have no check, you must not have sent it, or its lost in the mail in which case you need to write me a new one or i can come by your house and pick up the money".. i guess my offer to come to his house changed his mind, he finally responds (through email of course) and says that he put the check in the mail 2 weeks ago..still sticking with his story that he "already sent it a couple weeks ago", he leaves it at that. at this point i feel like im about to get screwed, by a cop non the less (surprise surprise)..he just keeps on with his BS story that it was already sent.. i wait a couple days, still no check, its been almost 6 weeks since wood was delivered now, so im calling and emailing still.. saying this is no way to treat me.. i delivered a good product and you are trying to rip me off for a couple hundred bucks..
.. well low and behold, the check finally arrives in the mail, postmarked 3+ weeks AFTER he said so adamantly argued he had sent it... i cant believe he would be dumb enough to think i wouldnt read the date on the envelope when i got it.. he basically strung me along for over a month , lying to me, then finally gave in and wrote me a check after i was up his ass for it for 1 1/2 months.. did he really think i would disappear? at one point i was ready to go get my wood back..im glad it didnt come to that, cause im sure i would have ended up on the losing end of that as usual, him being a cop and all..
the best part of all, after all that last winter, the lies, the games, never apologizing, never thanking me, just disappearing after finally sending the check, he emails me this year for wood again! lol
to make a long story short about this time around, he wanted his 2 cords the second week of october, i tried to schedule delivery with him several times, he took at the very minimum a week, or more, to return each phone call or email, so i gave up on him. he never picks up, he screens all his calls, and tries to communicate only through email. he blew every chance he had at a delivery the past 2 months, and now i got him leaving me voicemails and emails saying that "ive tried getting in touch with you several times and have yet to hear back from you, if youre not selling wood this year, let me know"... i think the guy is insane.. honestly. somethin aint right
turns out my good friend knows him as the neighbor of his ex girlfriend, and validated my story that the guy is weirdo, not that i needed any validation.
thats my little rrant about collecting money from idiots.
my lesson learned: no checks for firewood!

*sorry for the off topic hijack*
hope you get your money, persistence pays off, a lot of people think youll give up and disapear, especially if its only a couple hundred bucks, show them how wrong they are, and they will eventually cave!

 

[treemandan]

on an obviously much smaller scale:

the only person ive ever had problems collecting money from, from selling firewood, was a cop.
2 cords, paid for the first one cash, dropped off second one when only his wife was there, she knew i was coming, she said she didnt have enough cash on her... "can i mail you a check"... that should have been first red flag, why wouldnt she have a checkbook!?
several weeks go by.. no check in the mail..all my voicemails and emails go unanswered..after about 3 weeks , i get an email back "sorry, life got in the way" is what he says! he says that he SENT the check already, and i should have it in a couple days (he only lives about 12-15 miles away in the first place..) another week goes by.. no check.
i call and email more, no answer from him at all. i try to be nice and ask if maybe he put the wrong address on the envelope, and type out my address for him again to make sure he sent it to the right place and tell him to give me a call, leaving my phone number again... another week+ , no answer. well past a month since i delivered his wood, and no payment. i continue leaving him voicemails about 2 per week, along with emails, no longer being nice, just bluntly saying "its been over a month now, i have no check, you must not have sent it, or its lost in the mail in which case you need to write me a new one or i can come by your house and pick up the money".. i guess my offer to come to his house changed his mind, he finally responds (through email of course) and says that he put the check in the mail 2 weeks ago..still sticking with his story that he "already sent it a couple weeks ago", he leaves it at that. at this point i feel like im about to get screwed, by a cop non the less (surprise surprise)..he just keeps on with his BS story that it was already sent.. i wait a couple days, still no check, its been almost 6 weeks since wood was delivered now, so im calling and emailing still.. saying this is no way to treat me.. i delivered a good product and you are trying to rip me off for a couple hundred bucks..
.. well low and behold, the check finally arrives in the mail, postmarked 3+ weeks AFTER he said so adamantly argued he had sent it... i cant believe he would be dumb enough to think i wouldnt read the date on the envelope when i got it.. he basically strung me along for over a month , lying to me, then finally gave in and wrote me a check after i was up his ass for it for 1 1/2 months.. did he really think i would disappear? at one point i was ready to go get my wood back..im glad it didnt come to that, cause im sure i would have ended up on the losing end of that as usual, him being a cop and all..
the best part of all, after all that last winter, the lies, the games, never apologizing, never thanking me, just disappearing after finally sending the check, he emails me this year for wood again! lol
to make a long story short about this time around, he wanted his 2 cords the second week of october, i tried to schedule delivery with him several times, he took at the very minimum a week, or more, to return each phone call or email, so i gave up on him. he never picks up, he screens all his calls, and tries to communicate only through email. he blew every chance he had at a delivery the past 2 months, and now i got him leaving me voicemails and emails saying that "ive tried getting in touch with you several times and have yet to hear back from you, if youre not selling wood this year, let me know"... i think the guy is insane.. honestly. somethin aint right
turns out my good friend knows him as the neighbor of his ex girlfriend, and validated my story that the guy is weirdo, not that i needed any validation.
thats my little rrant about collecting money from idiots.
my lesson learned: no checks for firewood!

*sorry for the off topic hijack*
hope you get your money, persistence pays off, a lot of people think youll give up and disapear, especially if its only a couple hundred bucks, show them how wrong they are, and they will eventually cave!

Yes, I am often untrusting working for cops and with history shows good reason. I deliver good product at the agreed price and they ALWAYS play games with me. Hasn't failed yet.