non paying customers .

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jimmer

jimmer

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I am a general contractor .
I do mostly remodel restoration work.
I'm dealing with a non paying customer that owes a large amount of money .

What I'm looking for ?
Moral support , and stories good and bad results from my mopar brethren !!
If your believers I could use as much prayers as possible !!
So because my situation is in a legal process I won't divulge much st this point.
Tell me your stories !
Jim
 
Well......Kitty and I are on the other end of that spectrum. Lemmie splain. We just had our house re-roofed. I called in a claim on our homeowner's insurance policy. They approved it. They issued a check for the first amount and upon completion, will issue a second check for "depreciated recovery" to cover most of the rest.

While the first check arrived, it was made out to Kitty, me and our mortgage company. Called the mortgage company to find out how to go about getting them to endorse it. Get this. They inform me my mortgage was sold......the day before! So I have a check that they will not endorse.

My new mortgage company has me in the system enough to accept payments, but won't be able to offer any other "service" until about 60 days. So, this puts my roofing contractor in a pinch until then, and all out of my control.

Thankfully, he is very understanding as I have shown him all of the associated documents involved.

Has something perhaps happened like this, or have they simply refused to pay? Our contractor was generous enough to even finance the deductible, plus the overage from the insurance estimate, which we will start making on the 21st. But he will be out his main portion until we get this insurance fiasco cleared up.
 
OP, that sux, too many jobs like that and you will be out of business. RRR I can understand your situation, the only way I see that going bad is if the roofer didnt know about it up front(that he was dealing with insurance co.) some guys dont like dealing with insurance claims while others do. Bodywork for example, I ran into a body shop that would only do insurance work and turned me away for wanting to pay cash go figure.
 
Dartswinger70 said:
OP, that sux, too many jobs like that and you will be out of business. RRR I can understand your situation, the only way I see that going bad is if the roofer didnt know about it up front(that he was dealing with insurance co.) some guys dont like dealing with insurance claims while others do. Bodywork for example, I ran into a body shop that would only do insurance work and turned me away for wanting to pay cash go figure.
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Naw, I told him everything. He said he sees and deals with it everyday. Keeping that secret ain't how I roll. It's a big reputable company, and he assures me not to worry about it.
 
I will tell you that when your customer base is over 50% of a hobby it's hard to make it. They think you do the job because you live and die for it and for fun. Work is work. They think they should get it for free because it's so fun blah blah blah.
 
Sorry...that didn't help the OP much.

You have no choice but to sue them. I hate that but they leave you no alternative. You can't work and not get paid. It's how you go broke.

Don't feel bad about it either. They are screwing you. You earned your money.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Well......Kitty and I are on the other end of that spectrum. Lemmie splain. We just had our house re-roofed. I called in a claim on our homeowner's insurance policy. They approved it. They issued a check for the first amount and upon completion, will issue a second check for "depreciated recovery" to cover most of the rest.

While the first check arrived, it was made out to Kitty, me and our mortgage company. Called the mortgage company to find out how to go about getting them to endorse it. Get this. They inform me my mortgage was sold......the day before! So I have a check that they will not endorse.

My new mortgage company has me in the system enough to accept payments, but won't be able to offer any other "service" until about 60 days. So, this puts my roofing contractor in a pinch until then, and all out of my control.

Thankfully, he is very understanding as I have shown him all of the associated documents involved.

Has something perhaps happened like this, or have they simply refused to pay? Our contractor was generous enough to even finance the deductible, plus the overage from the insurance estimate, which we will start making on the 21st. But he will be out his main portion until we get this insurance fiasco cleared up.
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I wish that was the case !
This is not the first time I think they have done this.
I'm the unlucky one .
Not only do they not want to pay they are rotten to the core .
I will say more once it's over .
Due to the fact there's ongoing legal action I will have to be more vague .
Jim
 
yellow rose said:
Sorry...that didn't help the OP much.

You have no choice but to sue them. I hate that but they leave you no alternative. You can't work and not get paid. It's how you go broke.

Don't feel bad about it either. They are screwing you. You earned your money.
Click to expand...
I don't feel bad about wanting my money one bit !!!
I feel bad I didn't heed the warning signs !
The whole situation sucks !!!
Working for free , now more time and stress , as if I need this !
I absolutely believe at some point these people will fall in their own hole they dug !
Jim
 
Well good luck with it, Jim. Sorry you are having to deal with folks like that.
 
This won't help but going forward your can tighten up your contract and payment terms. I have been in the vending business to large and small ag based business for over 40 years with up to 1 million dollar contracts and more. Thankfully over that period of time I have learned who the "A" accounts are and who the bad hombres are so I screen my accounts very carefully. Remember, you don't want them all! Some of the things we use are contract terms upon signature, adequate down payments, proper filing of liens, and progress payments or work stops.
Unfortunately that does not help your current situation. I would hire the meanest bulldog lawyer I could find and sue the bastard for work completed, interest and legal fees.
These sort of stories piss me off as it has happened to me and I have had to learn to protect myself.
Best of luck to you------------DR.
 
Might also look into putting a lien on their house or property until it's paid off.
They can still not pay you even if a judge orders it, but a lien can cause them all kinds of headaches down the road and in the worst case they would have to pay you off to do anything with the property in the future.

BTW, non paying people are not customers.
We have some "not customers" in our business as well.
 
Any business has undesireables, the key is to weed them out any way possible. The auto business was very frustrating due to the customers. I saw Richard Rawlings advising a guy on his new 'garage makeover" show that he should scour the neighborhood and let the closest businesses such as the convenience store know to send people to his garage when they ask about auto servise/tire /air etc. I immediately thought "thats wrong, you don't want every Tom, Dick, and harry off the street coming to your shop for service. There just isnt any $$$ in it.
 
I don't advertise I only work on referral.
I have been very fortunate to this point.
Unfortunately I seem to learn most things the hard way !
I will get through this for sure !!
I will say it's very taxing to say the least no matter what the outcome .
I will admit I'm kicking myself for not heeding the signs !!!
Thanks for the responses !!!
 
The outfit I worked for "pre liened" most every project we shipped material to. I don't recall them ever having to use it to recover their money, but I was pretty low on the information totem pole. Cash customers were "check in hand" before the material hits the ground. You've got to protect yourself. There was a major contractor in this area that made millions by cheating his sub contractors on major highway construction jobs here on the coast. He owed my father money for a job that father was a sub on from 1964 to the day father passed away in 1994. The legal fees to recover the money would have been more than the amount owed. This was his method of operation. Sub it out .. Stiff the sub contractors. When this contractor ordered material "cash up front" and 2000 ton of asphalt runs up a bill pretty quickly. No money, No honey. Jimmer, good luck and best wishes. Protect yourself. Nobody else will.
 
I understand.
I've been through something like this.
Except it was the other way around.
The contractor messed me over.
Don't think it was not me and I'm only giving my side?
They are out of business now.
And by the way, Rusty, there was insurance money involved.
So I'm just curious to the OP
I understand the need for discretion.
But is this a small claims amount?
 
Depends on your local laws, but I wouldn't hesitate to put a lien on the property and to pursue a judgment in court. With a judgment, you might be able to enforce a Sheriff's sale.
 
Putting a lein on the property will get their attention.
Do it yesterday.
 
I already have one in place.
I don't want to say much as the legal process is rolling .
I will be glad when it is done !
 
Yup, move toward a lien on the property.
I lived in this community for a long time,working in the parts store as well as the local garages. I know who pays and who doesent.
One iffy customer right now, i wont let car go until at least my parts and materials are paid for.
Labour, given no choice i can eat it.
Another one owes me a little, and if i never get paid that means they wont come back,fine with me.

Good luck, it sucks when your hard work goes un-rewarded.
 
File a lien on the property...at least you can encumber it and have some chance of recouping your losses some day...if you get a judgement, you're not likely to collect much (at that point, you sic a collection company on them just so the people who screwed you feel the pain, too...if anything gets collected then, you don't get much, but at least they don't get off scot free)
 
Many moons ago, before I got into the parts business, I worked for a electrician.
We did a job at an apartment complex for the elderly. The property mgr decided, on her own, that Rick was over charging. She refused to pay him. I don't know what her reason was, but I remember Rick getting in the van PO'd. As we drove down the road and you could just see he was cooking. He turned around, went back and he pulled every meter to every apartment we worked in.
I remember him saying "that ***** can explain to her tenants and Duke why she's missing meters"
Not legal, and I'm not sure how that turned out, but at the time it was funny as hell.
 
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