That time of year again (collections)

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PCTREE

PCTREE

Treehouser
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
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6,051
Location
Charlottesville VA
OK so as many of you may know Im not the most savvy of businessmen. We do all of our jobs on a verbal agreement and up untill recently that has worked out pretty well but right now We have 4 jobs dating back to the summer storm still unpaid, totalling over $10k. The one that really tics me off is a chick who is a teacher at Columbia university in NY. She owns a house here in town right next to UVA, high rent neighborhood. She called me all freaked because a BIG tree fell on the house and her tenant was expecting a baby yada yada ya. I dropped everything and started it the next day, took 2 days $3500. Well surprise surprise after we finished she became unresponsive to phone calls..... So now because we dont have a signed contract the burden is on me to prove she owes me the money:|: We have to pay to have VA have NY serve her a warrant and then go to court and make our case, this if it goes in our favor will merely prove she owes us, then we have to start collections. Everybody I have talked to has agreed if the debt isnt over $5k it isnt worth doing:|: What really gets my goat is her insurance co. was covering the bill so she has actually MADE MONEY on the whole deal. As I say I have other jobs owing all of which are rich folks, seems like they all know we have little recourse against them.
Have I vetched lately how tired I am of being in business.....
 
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We have called the university but they wont return our calls either. Problem for the THCA is I only have her cell phone # which she doesnt keep on.. We have found out where she lives but I would prefer not to go to jail over this. Im hoping that she doesnt show forthe court date and we can attach a lein to the house and hit her with finance charges. Maybe I can use these as my retirement fund since I dont have anything else:lol:
 
Keep searching Google for her name and address. You'll eventually find other info like her phone number, groups she's associated with, etc.
 
Oh, that just stinks. I would go by her house and even if you did not knock on the door, leave a bill with your phone number. We all have stories like this and it just is not right. You ask for a service, you pay for a service.
 
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vharrison said:
Oh, that just stinks. I would go by her house and even if you did not knock on the door, leave a bill with your phone number. We all have stories like this and it just is not right. You ask for a service, you pay for a service.
Click to expand...
Yeh but problem is its a 6 hour drive for me to knock on her door and Im sure she knows it...
 
How many bills have you mailed to her? You could even include a return envelope.

ooops, too slow. Gigi's on the ball! 8)
 
We have a few Treehousers in the NY area. :/: How far away is she from TWM Robert? He doesn't seem the type who has much problem collecting debts.
 
do you have a crane?
just go put a tree near the same size back on the house,
f it

i return the debris to the clients yard and driveway
might not be their debris, but it;ll be the same volume of material that i hauled

im a jerk and if it comes to it im doing it all out

i put 12 yds against a door once because the lady cussed me all day, then asked me to bring her some chips sometime...she meant a pickup load
i gave her a man cab load
she called and demanded we haul it off...sorry you asked for a load of chips...and thats a load
she ended up paying a guy i know to haul it off, he charged her to load it take it to his house spread it out and repeat several more times

sorry bout your luck...no signature, no cut

i have a dds that owes me, and its killing me right now, we had to clean up a homeless camp and remove the vegetation so they couldnt hide there
hypes, condoms, feces
had to buy new gloves and wash the tools and boots off

i hate the homeless around here, filthy bastards
 
Contact her insurance agency. Insurance fraud, if she collected from them is likely a felony.

If you know that she collected or planned to collect from the insurance company, then telling her that she might have felony charges coming might be all that she needs to pay up.

There is a spotlight on the local news "Get Jesse" where the lead person on the segment goes out to right the wrongs, usually consumer is taken advantage of by business. Maybe there is something that can be done the other way around.

I like the TreeHouse Collection agency. Having somebody "noticeably" and legally take a bill to her office would probably get her motivated. Someone loudly saying that he has a delinquent bill for Ms. X as he comes into the office, or something. Insisting loudly that the bill needs to be delivered in person, since she has been ducking the bill for months, after the contractor dropped everything because of trying to help her with her storm-damaged house, and expectant mother tenant.

Or pay a lawyer for a half hour to write a letter and have it delivered Certified to her office.
 
Ugh, good luck Paul. It was because of this same problem that I started requiring all my customers to sign the bid form saying they agreed to pay that amount. But it's still only enforceable if you sue them in small claims court. Why is it always the people who can most afford to pay that end up stiffing you?
 
The fact that you do all jobs on a verbal agreement blows my mind..........good luck though
 
All my work is verbal as well, except for most commercial properties. They usually want written bids.
I figure a man's word is his bond, and if he's planning on ripping me off then a piece of paper isn't going to stop him.
 
I'd go all out even if it was only $50. A deal is a deal, and remember collection costs you incur are collectible debt as well.

;)
 
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That is what I have always thought too Eric, however of late Ive had a bunch of other contractors tell me that its not worth the time and money out of pocket for anything under $5k:?

Shoot mark my words she wont get away scott free.
 
Skwerl said:
We have a few Treehousers in the NY area. :/: How far away is she from TWM Robert? He doesn't seem the type who has much problem collecting debts.
Click to expand...

Who is TWM, I don't see him in the member list?
 
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