Double Glazing Blogger: Customers Who Don't Pay

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Customers Who Don't Pay

It's one of the biggest pains in the backside that window companies have to suffer, customers who don't pay when you finish the job.

What is the best way to deal with them? In my experience it's always best to filter out those who you think are most likely to be problem customers. You can decide then if you want to deal with them or not. Of course when time's are as hard as these, turning any business down isn't an easy decision. But sometimes you have to think ahead and anticipate what possible problems these customers can cause and how much it could cost you to put the situation right.

Dealing with non-payers at the end of the job is sometimes a difficult one to judge. Do you threaten to take back the products, even if it means leaving holes in their property? Do you threaten court action (once reminder letters have been sent out of course)? Taking back products can often lead to confrontation, and can give the impression that your company is slightly heavy-handed. Though from a contractual point of view, companies are still well within their rights to take back what hasn't been paid for. More often than not, the threat of court action and constant reminder letters usually does the trick. Customers tend to see how long they can get away from paying, though they know at some point they will have to hand the money over.

I would also like to make the point that the company I work for has a policy where as soon as the work is finished, we expect payment straight away. No dragging feet for a few days or over the weekend. When the work is done, it's to be paid for. If the customer has any little niggles (though I'm glad to say we have great fitters who don't cause so many), then we get it sorted ASAP - which means the customer doesn't have an excuse not to pay promptly.

However, a lot of the time it is the fault of the company for customers not paying. Poor customer service, product quality, bad workmanship and lax after-sales care are the biggest causes of customers refusing to pay at the end of the job. If you expect prompt payment, don't give the customer an excuse not to pay.

Labels: customer service, money, non-payers, pay

3 Comments:

Mike @ Roseview said...: "Though from a contractual point of view, companies are still well within their rights to take back what hasn't been paid for."

This is a dangerous thing to say, as it is not true unless you have the customer's permission to be on their property and remove the windows/doors (which, let's face it, you're unlikely to get).

Without permission, once the windows are installed you have no rights to remove them. In short, the windows and doors are considered as part of the structure of the building, rather than a fixture or fitting (I'm not sure whether the same applies to conservatories).

We know to our cost as a result of a job where a customer had a house built, and deliberately (and falsely) declared himself bankrupt once all the major trades had completed. None of us could get our money, and all of us intended to remove our products. However, when we collectively took legal advice we were told very clearly that if we tried to remove anything we would be liable to counter claims that - through legal precedent - had a far better chance of success than our own claims. It sounds ridiculous, but if we'd taken our windows back we would have been in far more trouble than the *@!&*@!! who conned us in the first place.; September 20, 2011 at 1:32 PM
Nick said...: You didn't mention in your (good) post anything about the terms and conditions of sale that your customer signs?
I know many companies that have specific clauses in their contracts relating to non payment. Some are downright fair, others totally one sided in favour of the company.

A good one is where it allows the customer only to withhold 5% if they are THAT unhappy until defects are rectified also stating that there is NO exception to this and any shortfall will be pursued.

I think in our industry we suffer with the serial bullies who are difficult customers from the outset. On the one hand it gives the industry bad name if we demand payment up front, on the other hand some companies ask for no deposit, others for a reasonable deposit and payment upon completion.

What the customers dont realise is that their attitudes dont exactly encourage companies to sort defects out when they keep threatening to not pay.

I wrote a similar post today with a customer who wanted to withold monies because the fitters for legitimate reasons could not turn up that day.

Its not always the fault of the company - most in this industry try and do their best. Its customer attitudes which have gone the other way. Building and home improvement is about the only industry i can think of at the moment which allows the customer to bully the supplier over payment in this way.; September 20, 2011 at 2:03 PM
Double Glazing Blogger said...: Mike - I was always under the impression we could just remove what isn't paid for, but I'm open to correction :)but you can understand why out of sheer frustration why some resort to doing such a thing.

Nick - we do have the 5% clause in it, and do enforce it when required. If a customer starts to say that they're not paying until all problems are rectified, we do press them hard on that clause, works every time I might add! You are also right to point out that if customers are unreasonable with companies, the company is less likely to be well mannered and helpful.

Thanks both for your comments!; September 22, 2011 at 6:39 PM

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Double Glazing Blogger

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Customers Who Don't Pay

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