The busy season is here

sun is out and the phones are ringing! scheduled 5 jobs today before 1030am

I didn't see the 5 jobs, but I did pick up 3 so I agree....the season is here.

Despite this shitty weather we are seeing a busy season we are ready sir front and center

Im doing push ups with a bluetooth scheduling jobs and drinking coffee out of a camel back

bring it on!

Picked up one this morning before breakfast, but it opens the door to retribution if I decide to go that route.

A year ago, I cleaned for a guy with lots of rental properties who never paid me for my work.  I even discounted the job originally, but he still claimed sticker shock over $160 for what would normally be $275.  We fought over it for a couple of weeks prior to me telling him to never call me again.

This time, it was a very polite gal on the phone who wanted to schedule a full house cleaning on an empty rental home.  Turns out, when I searched for a satellite picture of the home, it was that same house.

A little more research and I found out that the caller was the guy's daughter, but the ownership has not changed.

So, I could call him on it and cancel OR I clean it and leave both the old invoice with the new invoice....plus late charges so that he knows that I figured it out.

I didn't care to deal with the courts for a small judgment, but add the invoices together and I sure as hell would file the claim.

I am still trying to decide...............

I would just cancel the job and tell them why. Tell them if they would like a cleaning the balanced needs to be paid prior.

"Hi ______, This is ______, I was calling about the service you have scheduled with us for (date) and I see you have an outstanding balance from previous service......."


would be the most professional way to handle it imo rather than showing up and leaving 2 bills after service.

I would call him to get payment over the phone for past invoice, telling him you can't schedule another until that;s resolved. Then if you do get lucky enough to get paid, then inform him you no longer do business with his type and you won't be showing up for that next appointment .........being screwed once is enough isn't it?...I don't ever give a person a second chance after screwing me out of hard earned money, but I guess I'm just not a big fan of working for free.

Cancelling would probably be the most professional way of handling this, but I still want a pound of flesh. This guy owns probably 40% of all businesses in that town and to conduct himself in that fashion irritates me to no end.

I guess I could take the high road here, but it may not go that way.

If they paid the past balance and then paid in advance for the next job I would still do it,    not that I would want to but I would.  

I would give them zero breaks on anything and probably estimate quite high so they either take it or dont but again would have to be paid before work is started.

ACpower1 wrote:If they paid the past balance and then paid in advance for the next job I would still do it,    not that I would want to but I would...................

I sure wouldn't, but we're all different. The way I see it, after screwing Rob once, he's the type to do it again given the chance, and/or just be a flat out pain in the a$$..........screw him I say, I'd play along like you're going to help him, until the payment is received on the past due, then blow him off, or leave him hanging, if you want to get a lil even.....(Sorry my van broke down, and will take 14 months to fix the mechanic said)

I can understand wanting vengeance.

However, it could very well blow up in your face. Someone who owns 40% of the town, probably "owns" a few important people in important positions. This dude makes a practice of screwing over people, and most likely knows how or has a way of continuing to do it.

I certainly would not tempt getting burned again. Instead I would burn him in a better way, and that's refusing service until the old bill plus penalties are paid, AND the future invoice paid in full UP FRONT.

Let someone else get burned, IF there is anyone left willing to put up with him. At this point you've given him enough.

trust me if we werent talking about business Id get real unprofessional lol

but business is business, many times you have to take the higher road when you dont want to.

To me a bad review is not worth it if he decides to bash you real hard and make up stories etc.

I agree that business is business, but I will not let myself be held hostage by fear of a negative review. The guy is a manipulative jerk who will screw over people when he can when it comes to money.

If he wanted to start a negative image campaign against me, I am certain that his skeletons would fall out of the closet pretty quickly.

Still, I will be meeting with the daughter tomorrow at the house to be cleaned. Who knows, maybe she inherited the property and the Dad is no longer part of the equation. Outside of that, I will be insisting on payment prior to cleaning.

As long as payment is made, I will perform the service. No discounts and no freebies....just what is being paid for. I will still be my normal polite self (I know no other way), but will not linger long when done.

theres a guy local here.       Christopher Gough,     hes a really sleezy realtor that has screwed over tons of people.       He wrote me bad checks and I would have to go drive all the way out to his wifes office to get a new check.  

This was a long time ago,     hell never try it with larger companies but the o/o hes all over.      Hes done it to painters,    landscapers,   carpet cleaners,   etc

he literally carries around an outdated check book from a bank account he doesnt even have anymore.  

when you see his realty signs no kidding almost every one will have a drawing of a penis going into his mouth that someone tags on there.       which is no surprise given how many people hes screwed over. Im guessing its some poor guy he screwed over bad so he makes it a point to tag all of his signs.. its actually really funny. who ever it is, they are on a mission.

his wife is a whale that used to be on baywatch and hes like 15yrs younger than her,    shes like 300lbs now

they inherited the snohomish windermere realty and probably are just driving it into the ground

HAHAHA.....I admire the guy taking his time to go around and tag all those signs. That takes dedication.

Years ago, I rented the movie "The Sphere" and was so utterly pissed off at the ending, that every time that I went to a Blockbuster (when we still did that) I made it a point to take each copy of that movie and move it so nobody would be tempted to rent it.

Aren't we so different in characters ? Everyone has different attitude dealing with sleazy people.
As for me, I agree with AC, I will still do the work ONLY after the guy paid the old invoice and pay the future jobs in advance, no credit card payment over the phone and no checks, credit card swipe transaction and his or her signature depending on whose card, that way I'm protecting myself right and left against this sleazy rich bastard ! But I would still do it in professional way.
This is exactly why I stopped accepting checks from all new customers years ago, it may costs me an arm and a leg every month paying my credit card processor, but it's worth every penny considering someone can just screw me over $ 500 - $ 600 jobs ( happened twice a good 10 years ago or so ). And court winning just don't mean jack anymore, they still don't pay and collecting them is actually harder than winning the cases.

Well, it turned out for the best. The daughter has taken over the empire as the Dad is in very poor health and knew nothing about how he operated. I didn't bring up the past and we just worked in the present.

She paid at conclusion of job....with small tip. I was getting worked up over nothing it turned out.

Talking about tips, I feel that I get more tips when I work by myself, may be because it takes longer to get the job done or I'm more sweaty or they feel like giving $$ to one tech is much cheaper than 2 techs ?

Same here Dp, I try to look as worn out as possible. Come to door limping, complaining about the surgery I had the day before and how all my techs called off sick so I am cleaning solo.

Just kidding, I don't have to do that, I already look pitiful and will be sweaty when done. They often tip me out of pity probably instead of performance.

I received a 75.00 from this lady that I cleaned for her and her 90 plus year old father. I recall from last year talking the to the old guy about carpet protector and he joked that the protector would probably last longer than he would.

When I went out this year he had just passed on. I cleaned as best I could and his daughter surprised me with that 75.00 tip. I think the tip came because I shared with her the story that her farther told about how he and his wife of 70 plus years met.

They met in high school,  his wife walked in the classroom late and he  joked" Here walks in the the teachers pet" She called him a jack ass He said he though he would never talk to her again. One day he was at his locker she basically ordered him to the dance with her. Hopefully she was calling him a jack ass for 70 years

A bit of a derailing here, but I am a sucker for "how we met" stories of long time couples.

I worked with this tiny redheaded girl years ago. She was adorable, real quiet, 4'11", and super shy. Her Mother signed her up for dancing lessons in hopes that she would get rid of her shyness and become more social.

The first day at the dance studio, the instructor had everyone pair of with the person to their right. In her case, the guy to the right was 6'5" 245 lb. biker type.

She was so scared of the guy that she quickly ran over to the guy next to him claiming that they were taking the class together and begged the guy to play along.

Turns out, the guy she picked was also a very shy person who had been trying to get closer the whole morning in hopes of speaking to her, but chickened out when he ran into the giant next to her.

They were married a year later and remain married now for the last 15 years.