Nightmare customer won’t pay
- Thread starter Fdbjg123
- Start date
Now she’s saying I can come back and do everything again and she’ll pay in full minus 5% for the stress I’ve caused her…
Or she’ll pay 50% of the invoice and she’ll drop it.
Do I have to go back after she rejected my offer the first time saying she’d get a ‘report’ instead? I’d really rather not go back now as she’d just be verbally abusive yet again no doubt.
Or she’ll pay 50% of the invoice and she’ll drop it.
Do I have to go back after she rejected my offer the first time saying she’d get a ‘report’ instead? I’d really rather not go back now as she’d just be verbally abusive yet again no doubt.
I would want a substantial down payment against the invoice submitted before I returned or I suspect you still won't get paid as agreed
Don't fall into the trap of going back there.
Stand your ground and forget about the £150/200 discount you offered.
That ship has sailed, now ask for all the money you initially agreed.
Do not engage in unnecessary email exchange.
Send her a final communication before court action outlining the fact that you have done what's in your accepted quote to a professional standard and using the material of her choice.
Give her 14 calendar days to pay and if she doesn't, issue the claim on day 15 using mcol.
We've all come across this sort of people before and the bottom line is that they have no intention to pay from the start.
Next time, knowing what you know now, you would probably disappear as soon as they complain about anything unreasonable (windows in this case).
Do not believe any rubbish she tells you: there's no report from Ivan otherwise she would've shown it to you.
And, unless your work is substandard (we're assuming it's of professional standard), she won't win if she counter sue.
Stand your ground and forget about the £150/200 discount you offered.
That ship has sailed, now ask for all the money you initially agreed.
Do not engage in unnecessary email exchange.
Send her a final communication before court action outlining the fact that you have done what's in your accepted quote to a professional standard and using the material of her choice.
Give her 14 calendar days to pay and if she doesn't, issue the claim on day 15 using mcol.
We've all come across this sort of people before and the bottom line is that they have no intention to pay from the start.
Next time, knowing what you know now, you would probably disappear as soon as they complain about anything unreasonable (windows in this case).
Do not believe any rubbish she tells you: there's no report from Ivan otherwise she would've shown it to you.
And, unless your work is substandard (we're assuming it's of professional standard), she won't win if she counter sue.
To be honest she’s picked apart my work so much I’m starting to doubt myself. These have been her complaints:
-Missed one end of guttering
-end of fascia board not sanded enough
-issue with the garage door colour & finish
-patchy render
-garage door patchy
-fascia boards look like I’ve supposedly watered down the paint (what??)
-she’s now mentioned a stain I supposedly left on her paving. She’s taken 2 whole weeks to mention this
I’ve attached the photos she’s shown of her issues. I offered to come back and rectify all of those shown in images or she has £200 discount. However she says she wants me to redo everything. I’ll also attach the photos I took of my work. I just want to know honestly if I have a case here or if I should just accept the lower money as I’m starting to doubt myself. I appreciate everyone’s responses.
-Missed one end of guttering
-end of fascia board not sanded enough
-issue with the garage door colour & finish
-patchy render
-garage door patchy
-fascia boards look like I’ve supposedly watered down the paint (what??)
-she’s now mentioned a stain I supposedly left on her paving. She’s taken 2 whole weeks to mention this
I’ve attached the photos she’s shown of her issues. I offered to come back and rectify all of those shown in images or she has £200 discount. However she says she wants me to redo everything. I’ll also attach the photos I took of my work. I just want to know honestly if I have a case here or if I should just accept the lower money as I’m starting to doubt myself. I appreciate everyone’s responses.
Attachments
That fascia is water damaged, on its last leg.
Either it needs filling with lots of filler to smooth it or just painted over as you have done and think about it in a few years.
End gutter, I agree it could've been sanded better to remove flaking paint.
Garage door looks ok from pictures, although you can see some patches. Was that of a lighter colour before?
Same for the door bottom panel.
The render looks very good from the pictures.
She's one of them after a free job.
I bet if you walked away she would keep everything as it is for the next 10 years.
Many times, and this has happened to lots of us, I was called to "rectify" others' job.
In reality, these people just want you to pick faults and give them a free report/rectification quote so they can avoid paying the previous trader.
They never go ahead with rectification work.
I fell for it a couple of times, then I learnt and when asked to rectify jobs I just said it didn't need to or I was too busy.
Either it needs filling with lots of filler to smooth it or just painted over as you have done and think about it in a few years.
End gutter, I agree it could've been sanded better to remove flaking paint.
Garage door looks ok from pictures, although you can see some patches. Was that of a lighter colour before?
Same for the door bottom panel.
The render looks very good from the pictures.
She's one of them after a free job.
I bet if you walked away she would keep everything as it is for the next 10 years.
Many times, and this has happened to lots of us, I was called to "rectify" others' job.
In reality, these people just want you to pick faults and give them a free report/rectification quote so they can avoid paying the previous trader.
They never go ahead with rectification work.
I fell for it a couple of times, then I learnt and when asked to rectify jobs I just said it didn't need to or I was too busy.
Yes, I told them it needed replacing and they agreed they would be replacing it soon. My quote was just for painting over and explicitly stated no repairs would be made.
Garage was of lighter colour before. She is annoyed it’s the wrong colour however I painted it the colour she specifically asked me to.
Will I look unreasonable if I refuse to go back to fix everything though? As I said to her before I’ll happily rectify end of guttering but the fascia is damaged and the garage door was stained using the materials she specifically requested.
Should my response be to repeat what I’ve offered and if she still refuses after 14 days, take to court?
Don't go back unless she pays you first.
That garage door ideally would need a third coat, but if that's what you quoted for, that's what she gets.
Also, her paint, her fault.
That garage door ideally would need a third coat, but if that's what you quoted for, that's what she gets.
Also, her paint, her fault.
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court protocol darling...they love their protocols and if they sense you are trying to circumvent them you will lose the case
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….. and your point is?
This is important to remember. I have won 4 (criminal so a little different) court cases over the last 12 months. I’ve been award around £400. Never seen a penny. And don’t hold out for receiving it either. There are always reasons/excuses. “I don’t have enough money for food, heating” etc. If they have children then forget it. BUT, the principle of this and the conviction they have against their name makes it worth it. It also stops them thinking they can get away with it, protecting others in the future.
Small Claims, will not normally allow payment for legal representation, it might cover the OP's out-of-pocket costs.
Nor will it be in a court, it will be in camera - in the judges office, and quite informal..
Nothing to stop the OP, having won his case, passing it to the bailiffs to recover the amount, plus bailiff fees..
Not unreasonable at all, tell her to pay up in full, or you will see her in court. As she has been so unreasonable already, and abusive, just point out to the judge there was a complete breakdown between you and your customer, such that you didn't feel it appropriate to return under such circumstances.