Evening all

I know it's common place in our industry not to get paid from these b******* customers who think they can let you come into their factory at the drop of a hat install a new three phase board, wire and connect 2 machines which "need to be on" by monday and then have you waiting for over 3 1/2 months for your money!

I have an order from them, have phoned a dozen times, sent 5 or 6 emails and have been in twice to see them. Still no payment. My next call is a letter from Napit legal people, but have any of you guys used this service or anything else? I do know people who would go down and "pay a visit" but I'm not prepared to go down that road for obvious reasons.

Use Thomas Higgins. Search on line for them, Used them once and they were the dogs b*******. Last time it was £2.00 for an official letter to be sent which did the trick. If that dosen't work then they proceed late letters then with small claims.

Have you considered taking a deposit before starting the work?

Thomas Higgins

This was a days work back in December which was a bit of a rush job, I had done a couple of jobs for them before and had no problem, they had won loads of work and had been doing weekends and evenings to get the orders out so I thought they must be good fo the money. Literally I got the call Thursday morning, order Friday morning did the job on the Sunday no time for a deposit.

This was a days work back in December which was a bit of a rush job, I had done a couple of jobs for them before and had no problem, they had won loads of work and had been doing weekends and evenings to get the orders out so I thought they must be good fo the money. Literally I got the call Thursday morning, order Friday morning did the job on the Sunday no time for a deposit.

Ive used thomas higgins before. Cant rate them enough, manged to get a dodgy payer to cough up £7000 they owed me with just one letter. They only charge £2 for the first letter.

We used the ECA debt service a few weeks ago to go after a guy that owed a couple of hundred pounds, it was more a principal thing as it was a rush job and then a return visit with a promise of a cheque which never happened.

Their first letter is free and it worked a treat.


Stu

Go in to main office, tell them they have 5 mins to cough up or you are going to remove it. If they don't, turn it off and rip it off the wall.



Nick

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"be careful of what you write"

Apt footer Nick!, lol.

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Those who make no mistakes do very little work!!......

Rulland

Comes from learning the hard way, got knocked back in the nineties for nearly £20k, took years to recover

Now I don't play so nice. Depends on the situation but if it was just a factory like the OP, I would defo go in there after a 3 1/2 months and create, I find a lot of these firms rely on you being "civilised" and when you are not, they pay up to get rid of you. Bottom line is , you have done the work, they should pay, end of.

Nick

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"be careful of what you write"

Thomas higgins are junk basically. If you call their bluff, they dont do a thing. As for small claims, they always refer you to their 'friends' down the road who charge a lot.

There is a company in liverpool called 'final demand ltd' which have a lot more teeth.

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Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine....

Every man has to know his limitations- Dirty Harry

You can only rip the thing off the wall if your small print says' all goods and services installed or not remain the property of xyz electrical and we reserve the right to recover them at any time if you dont pay'......or something like that

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Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine....

Every man has to know his limitations- Dirty Harry

The legal title to any goods or items supplied by Us to You whether pursuant to this Contract or otherwise shall remain with Us until all monies due to Us from You, whether pursuant to this Contract or otherwise, shall have been paid. Until such time that title in any such goods or items shall pass to You. You agree that You will not sell, transfer, gift or otherwise deal with such goods or items to Our detriment but that You will safely store and care for such goods and items in a satisfactory condition at Your own risk and You hereby authorise Us to enter upon any property at which the goods or items are stored and remove the same.

Very true Pete, but what you have to remember is that they "don't" want the hassle, its easier to give you a cheque there & then rather than you stop production in their factory, it works , believe me!!!

Nick

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"be careful of what you write"

Pete

Is Final Demand Ltd, the same ones that used to have on their business cards the statement: "we don't f**k about"

Nick

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"be careful of what you write"

Are you sure? Given the customer is in breach of contract are you not entitled by common law to the restitutionary measure of taking the goods back? I belive the statement above merely expressly 'reserves these rights'.

Assuming of course that they would allow you on their property to remove it with without trespass :-)

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Everyone loves a fireman - but hates the fire inspector.

Nice idea but not really the way forward!

Tom

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Tom .... ( The TERMINATOR ).

handyTRADESMAN ... haha

Castle Builders

Why did Nick Clegg cross the road? Because he said he wouldn't!

I can resist anything..... except temptation! ( Karl Gunn ).

Timothy

You have got to remember that they are the ones in the wrong here and they know that. After 3 1/2 months, they have had ample opportunity to query the work, its obviously working otherwise they would have called you back and they have no legal reason to withhold payment, I have yet to come across any employee that just works for a firm that will get in your way when you tell them that you are owed money, its not worth their while. You are not aggressive and you don't threaten anybody, just firm & to the point. Explain to them that by doing what you are doing, its going to cost them more money, so its a better option for them to give you the money and thats what you want.

Or you could sit back, be nice & get turned over, its your choice & your money at the end of the day. I know what I would do.

Nick

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"be careful of what you write"

I tried with TH sometime ago and found them to be not very helpful. Its best to get down and get a court order after the obvious 7 days letter to them. THEN... after you get paid you can get your own back... but dont get caught!

I know that you felt 'safe' with these creeps... but I ALWAYS... get a deposit... I have said this sooo many times to you all over the years... keep the money tight!! Deposit when you start and weekly / interim draws!!!! I also keep banging this away to my son who is very busy.

Tom

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Tom .... ( The TERMINATOR ).

handyTRADESMAN ... haha

Castle Builders

Why did Nick Clegg cross the road? Because he said he wouldn't!

I can resist anything..... except temptation! ( Karl Gunn ).

Just about 6 years ago I had a shopfitting company. We did a lot of work a long way out of town for a main contractor. The new Brewers Fayer pub was just about complete when we heard that the main contractor was slipping into the abyss.

We were already owed silly money by them but, well, when you get on a "roll" in these situations there is little you can do. We spoke directly to the client, Whitbread about them paying us directly for the work on that job or we'd be going down there mob handed and start ripping out.

We were surprised at how quickly we were warned off both legally and physically. Our eyes and ears down on the job phoned to say that a "security" firm had turned up on the job. We decided to take a less confrontational rout.

Long story short, we got screwed for the lot, £186k.The main contractor did go bust immediately after that job. There had been collusion:
Whitbread got their pub open on time.
The Main Contractors Insolvency vultures got their pound of flesh.
The Vat Man got everything else.
The Main Contractors Directors walked off into new companies unscathed.
We got nothing. Not even a penny in the pound.

We were considered as minor collateral damage. It finished my business eventually.

Oh! how I wish we'd taken them on. Perhaps if the job had been closer... It would have been interesting!

So my advice to the OP is to march in and explain that the big switch is going to be pulled unless a bank transfer is made immediately.
Business is rife with chancers. Don't let them have you over.

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"I learned very early the difference between knowing
the name of something and knowing something". - Richard P. Feynman

Edited: 11 March 2012 at 10:26 AM by FizzleBang

Oh dear me... what a lot of money... still need to keep the monies TIGHT! I am sorry to hear about that though... the thing is... the BIGGEST word in the English dictionary is 'if' and the hardest word to say in the English dictionary is.... 'No!' Try it, I tell my hypno clients this and it does change their attitude... but all the same I have to keep reminding myself to keep it up... so... you want to borrow £20 quid then? NO... haha.. see.. it works!!

regards...

Tom

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Tom .... ( The TERMINATOR ).

handyTRADESMAN ... haha

Castle Builders

Why did Nick Clegg cross the road? Because he said he wouldn't!

I can resist anything..... except temptation! ( Karl Gunn ).