What kind of sick and demented customer...?

[treeman82]

What kind of sick and demented customer sends you a blank check? I sent this customer of mine a proposal back last thursday. It was for a $7,200 clean-up of the property. I asked for $3,000 down. The guy never called me to dispute the price or services listed, and I have only met him once. I spoke with him yesterday and apparently he had sent out the check on Monday. I got it back today with the contract. Contract was unsigned, but that will be fixed on Friday no big deal. However included with the contract was a check; written out to my company, and signed by the customer... however it was LACKING a dollar amount! The guy pays his bills on time, so I am not worried about getting the rest of the money... It is just that nobody has ever sent me a blank check back before. There is a lot of work to do at this place between the tree work, and landscaping and all of that other stuff. All of the permits are taken care of already. What should I do here fellas? Should I just cut myself a big check and start kicking butt with the trees and clean-up? I was really hoping to be able to hold off with the pruning until the maples leaf out and I have the time to be out there, as well as have JPS come out for a good week. PLEASE HELP!!

 

[treeclimber165]

I'm about certain you will handle it differently, but you asked for opinions and I'll give you mine.

I have NEVER collected for work before it was done. I've had customers give me checks before completion, but it never was deposited before the job was complete. On a job of this size, you said that you asked for a $3K down payment. I would have asked for weekly payments for work COMPLETED. To let the customer think that I cannot even cover expenses for a couple days is unacceptable to me.

I would call the customer, confirm how much the check should be written for, and wait untill I had completed that much work BEFORE depositing it.

 

[Shespen]

Sounds like a real problem!
I know a lot of people that wish they had the problem of someone sending them a blank check.

Seriously though, you asked for $3000 down so I would fill in $3000.00. Don't be afraid to give him a call and tell him of your intentions. Go through your schedule book and try to pencil him in and let him know when you will be there to do what work. I agree that you should wait for the maples to finish leafing out and concentrate on removals until the spring transformation is over. Explain to him why you want to wait and he will respect you for it. If you don't explain this to him and just wait then he may think that you are just shining im on or that now that you have the money, there is no hurry. Communicate with him often and even drop by if you are in the area just to check on transformation status. If he is the kind of person that just wants it done and doesn't want to be bothered then don't bother him. Send him a letter with your intentions and let him call you if he has any questions.

Sounds like a great account!

Steve

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I say write the check out for the full amount and do the work a little at a time, as you feel like it. In fact, just have a party, then send him a note saying you want another check.

You probably want to do the right thing though... so you should assume he made a mistake sending the check blank, which I'm sure he did, and give him a call to figure out what he wants you to do with it.

I still like the party idea...

 

[DDM]

Just Send him back a Note asking him why the hell he sent you a check Made out to the phone company?



Then be honorable and ask him what amount he would like you to fill in.
I received a 330.00 money order Blank
from a Ebay purchase and the Item i sold him was for 55.00 He explained that his wife had addressed them wrong so i mailed the Money order on to the individual that was supposed to receive it .And filled in the guys name before i mailed it! That wasnt the first time his wife had done that he Told me.LOL

 

[treeman82]

This job will be over and done with by the end of the weekend. The guy is the kind of person who just wants it done and wants to be bothered as little as possible. He doesn't live there (lives 3 hrs away)

 

[treeclimber165]

If you are going to finish it this weekend, you should call the guy and see if he prefers for you to wait untill the job is done (to HIS satisfaction) and then fill in the entire amount? He might just not want to be bothered filling out 2 checks for one job.

But either way, I just don't understand the reason for asking for a down payment. I'd hate to be viewed as some fly-by-night living hand to mouth and not able to afford running a crew for 3 days without a deposit.

 

[Treeman14]

I'm with Brian on this one. Its unprofessional and just plain tacky to take money before the job is done. Hold the check until its finished, then fill in the total. I thought JPS was coming to work for a week. How'd you get done so quick without him?

 

[treeman82]

Brett, this check is for one part of the job. There are several parts. The part I need John around for won't be paid for, or started for another few weeks. Sorry for any confussion there.

 

[Nickrosis]

It's not at all tacky to ask for a down payment. People in all different industries do that and have never had a problem with it. In fact, I think that a $10,000 down payment in the middle of winter is a great thing! Customers who are willing to do that should be rewarded with a discount or something. With that kind of money, you can pay off a lot of bills in an otherwise slow time. And by the way, if there was anyone who didn't need money, I don't think they would be on this board.

 

[Newfie]

This seems like a pretty easy problem to solve. Call the guy and ask him. Sounds like a good client you have there. It would be ashame to ruin that over wrong assumptions or miscommunication.

As for the whole idea of a down payment I don't believe in asking for money until the work is done and I don't expect anyone to ask me for money until the job is done.

Unfortunately in most small businesses, the owners are competent at their trade but fail miserably as business people. Instead of creating a thought out business plan and properly capitalizing their business when starting, a vicious cycle of taking money for the next job to cover expenses for the current job develops. One bump in the road and things slowly start to disintegrate. Most contractors I know that are no longer contractors were excellent at what they did, whether it be tree guy or stone mason, but could not ever catch up and surpass the initial dollar vaccuum of getting started. The SBA can be instrumental in putting together business plans and capitalization loans for equipment and the like.

 

[Greg]

If you are working for a good customer who you know will pay and not change the job on you I would never ask for a deposit. However with a new customer and a job that requires outside resources like a crane, ariel lift, etc, I see no problem in asking for a deposit to cover those fixed expenses. I've heard of tree guys showing up with a crane, and then the customer wants to change terms, or put the job off for a few weeks becasue they don't have the money right then. Of course the crane wants their money for just rolling up to the house.
Greg