Getting paid...

[larudee@pacbell.net]

Brian,

Easier and cheaper than small claims, lawyers, etc. is a collection
agency.  There are plenty of them on line and easy to use.  How do I
know?  I checked into it once, selected an agency, sent one final letter
to the client telling him that I was referring the account to [name of
agency] in [name of city] if he didn't pay in xx days.

Didn't have to, but wouldn't hesitate to do so next time.

Paul Larudee

Brian Trout wrote:

> Just had something I thought I'd run by the list...
>
> I've made some mistakes in the past, and I'll admit
> that.  Hopefully, some of these experiences will have
> taught me valuable lessons.
>
> One that's still a bit of a thorn in my side...
>
> Left PA to move to LA in March.  Had a job (reed organ
> rebuild) sitting in my shop waiting to be started.  I
> didn't have time to do it before I left, so I called
> up the customer and asked if I could bring the organ
> with me to LA and return it in May, when I had
> scheduled a return to the area.  (Incidentally, I had
> two of these things to be returned in the same trip.)
> Rebuilt both of the reed organs in LA and returned to
> PA with them as scheduled in May.  The first one I
> knew there would be a delay of payment because I was
> doing the work for another technician who was then
> going to do a bit of cabinet work and return it to the
> customer, paying me upon completion and return to the
> customer, all understood up front.  No problem.  Got
> paid just fine.
>
> But the other one...  Delivered it as scheduled.  Sat
> down and played a song on it, slowly pulling out all
> of the "bells and whistles" all the way up to full
> organ.  The thing sounded fantastic and I practically
> received a standing ovation from the family and a few
> neighbors who came in to hear.  Pulled out the bill
> and handed it to them, to which they replied, "We'll
> see to it that you get this right away.  We're not
> going to pay it, but our daughter who lives upstate
> who will be getting the organ..."
>
> Well, I would have liked to simply loaded the thing
> back into the truck and driven away, but I couldn't do
> that.  It was a rented truck and I was 1000 miles from
> home.  So I left it there and asked that they please
> not put off making payment as I had a considerable
> amount invested.
>
> And you know what's next, you can see it coming.  It's
> going on 6 weeks now.  I haven't been able to reach
> them by phone.  At 4 weeks, I did send off a letter
> reminding them that I haven't received payment and
> that I would appreciate them sending it promptly if
> they haven't already.
>
> I guess the question is, what's next?  If it was just
> a $75 tuning, I could swallow hard and really not miss
> it so badly.  But this bill was about $1000.  (Should
> have been more, but I stuck to my estimate.)
>
> Any suggestions on collecting?
>
> (This is what I get for 'trusting' a retired pastor.)
>
> Thanks for letting me vent a bit.  This one's been
> bugging me.
>
> Take care, all.
>
> Brian
>
> =====
> Brian Trout
> Grand Restorations
> 3090 Gause Blvd., #202
> Slidell, LA  70461
> 985-649-2700
> GrandRestorations@yahoo.com
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail
> http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/