I recently supplied and installed a garage door opener for a chap - who lost a leg due to a blood clot, if that matters - and now he is refusing to pay. A verbal quote was given and accepted prior to installation, but he's claiming all sorts of crap like 'I misheard the price due to industrial deafness' and 'I've lost a leg, where's your empathy' and the best one 'I can get it cheaper at Mitre 10, your ripping me off'. now I suspect he wont allow access to repossess the opener, and I have never had to use debt collectors in 30 yrs of business ever so I'm not sure how they work or what they cost. so any ideas thoughts advice?
trade_menow,
May 9, 10:14pm
do you have anything in writing that your customer has signed - if not i dont think you've got much to stand on except chalk it upto experience -but on the other hand if you have something in writing that hes signed send in the collectors
androth2,
May 9, 10:48pm
I heard of a person like that who had a mental illness .He would buy items and then complain they were the wrong ones or order things and then deny ordering
pheonix,
May 9, 11:01pm
You could try small claims. see courts/justice web page for info. You could get a judgement, but then you have to try and collect. Next suggestion would be Bay Collections. Give them a call. Doesn't cost you anything to put them up for collection but they do take a percentage of what they recover from them. Also puts a note on their credit rating. I have done this a couple of times and got something , which was better than nothing.
vivac,
May 9, 11:08pm
Sounds like an asshole using his disability as a "get stuff for free" card. Disputes Tribunal, non payment is a dispute.
kittylittle,
May 9, 11:11pm
how much money are we talking about? And to you consider it worth the effort of small claims? May be best to ask what he thinks is reasonable, take it and move on. In future, have all quotes approved in writing
a.woodrow,
May 9, 11:44pm
Tell him you don't work for free. Give him his three options - He pays the bill in full, you repossess your parts, or it goes to debt collection. Tell him to make his choice of the three
lythande1,
May 9, 11:57pm
Always do a written quote. All you can do is go to Disputes and/or send it to the debt collectors. I found sending them the debt letter usually worked, only once I actually sent to debt collectors and they paid then.
kandjaja,
May 10, 12:06am
Original invoice was $900. I've offered a discount as a good will gesture, he's ignored that and ghosted me.
mrsvonflik,
May 10, 1:17am
Worth a disputes tribunal.That’s a lot of $$$ to lose.
wfl1,
May 10, 5:01am
The disputes tribunal works good if there is a dispute (they are not debt collectors ) It helps if you can provide a paper trail, although a contract can be a verbal one and binding. I took a lady there once who over a dispute. Judgment went in my favor ,but she failed to pay, (that's when most people give up ) I applied for and was granted a distress warrant by the courts ,next she got a visit from a court bailiff, still no pay When the bailiff visited her he took regos of several vehicles and established one belonging to her with no money owing A few weeks passed and a tow truck turned up and took the vehicle, lady fronted up to local court paid amount owing including storage and towing fee for her vehicle A process that took a while but a very satisficing out come for me in the end.
pheonix,
May 10, 5:20am
The dispute is he has done work and they aren't paying. simple. A distress warrant is hard to get as you must show it is quite detrimental to yourself or family because they aren't paying. With that amount oweing I would start with a letter to them. (sent via courier requiring sighning for) with a copy of the invoice. State you have done the work requested of you and require payment within 14 days or you are taking them to the disputes tribunal. Signature required via courier proves they got that letter. See what happens, but after the 14 days , and no money , register your case with the Tribunal. A lot of people pay once they get the letter from the Courts advising them of the time/date of the case. Cost if I recall was about $50 to lodge a case.
articferrit,
May 10, 5:30am
I have asked our accountant for help twice, I think hes a bit 'blunt and insistent' because both of them paid pretty quickly, might be worth a try?
kenrick69,
May 10, 5:38am
I wud go thru small claims thru the courts - very cheap to apply. Tell him he has 2 weeks to pay or u will file and start filling the fomr immediately. good luck
nicc4,
May 10, 5:44am
My first thought reading this was if hes been in business 30yrs and relying only on verbal agreement, then maybe jobs at this price could be written off if not bothering with written contract.
I think whats really needed is a clear terms of trade. Given your business is materials and labour, you could use the Romalpa clause on the materials that they remain in your ownership until they been paid in full. You can repossess item/s, or at least make his life difficult if its not practical.
I'm being facetious, but in this instance, changing the frequency codes on the door opener remotes would be an option!
hammer23,
May 10, 5:47am
I had to do this once and it was amazing how quick the money appeared, in fact your situation was identical to mine. I had engaged a small personal debt collector and his words were to go for the car, it works every time. You could go and knock his door and eye ball him, take back up for moral support. When it gets to to this stage recovering your money becomes a hobby.You will have to insist on 100% cash .Best of luck.
lovelurking,
May 10, 5:47am
Bring back the good old days when a handshake sealed a deal and a mans word was his bond. I feel for you. Employ a debt collector, don’t muck about any more with the 🥕. You’ll get a % of your money owed, he’ll get the bad credit rating.
megan109,
May 10, 6:55am
I agree. I hope you get your money from this bloke?
wfl1,
May 10, 7:58am
I found a distress warrant was simple to get. The first hurdle is to win your case at the disputes tribunal and then you get a court order and you are half way there
amasser,
May 10, 7:29pm
Sounds as though the O/P would be doing the community a favour by pursuing this, to stop a recidivist arse.
kandjaja,
May 10, 8:50pm
An update. after a face to face visit, and a whole lot of excuses which made no sense and constantly contradicted each other, an arrangement was agreed upon. I recovered the cost of parts but not the labour. It'll do - move on.
File a claim, get a judgement, and then it will go to the court bailiff.
We had some joke screw us around for a few hundred bux, they rocked up Saturday morning and were ready to load his car onto transporter, when he suddenly had the money. HE also got stung all the costs so the debt doubled in costs to him.
lovelurking,
May 10, 10:40pm
💡💡💡Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have an on line review system that gives businesses an opportunity to name and shame r soles to warn others or even to give a good review to a nice person. A bit like trip advisor but for business operators only to post on.
neell,
May 10, 11:20pm
Tell him you were wrong and he was right and that there is a free upgrade/modification to his system. When he lets you in to do the upgrade take the unit out.
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