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Dealing with Non-Paying Customers

Posted by Kevin Stempien on September 23, 2011 at 7:16pm in Business Growth, Expansion, and Current Opportunit

Just curious how people in the business deal with customers that refuse to pay.  I've had mediocre success with small claims courts.  Anything near $1,000 usually involves a contract that I get a down payment from the customer, so I haven't had any trouble in that area.  It's more so the random service calls or pool openings people don't want to pay for.

 

The reason I'm asking this is because I was browsing the web today and found another pool company's website that had a "dead beats" section that listed the names,addresses, phone numbers, and money owed of non-paying customers. 

 

Opinions anyone?

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Replies

  • Rick Hamilton September 25, 2011 at 7:03am
     First is to look before you serve.  I check home value, get signed contracts, run credit reports, and listen to hear of any warning signs (if price is their first question, run etc.).  Then if  I fullfill my contract and they don't pay, I attached a lein on their house and send the sheffif with a leagl claim and follow all the way to the selling of their house on the court house steps if they are so hard headed, then no more work for them list.
  • Rob M September 24, 2011 at 6:20pm
    Putting up a "dead beats" section seems a little unprofessional. (and possibly illegal if you put up all their personal info!) I would never give business to a company that did that. In my opinion, the best way to deal with non-paying customers is using a collection agency. Then keep a personal "dead beats" list of customers to never do business with again.
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