How to remind customers to pay for a detail.

[sudsmobile]

Do a lot of you guys actually get "burned" by customers not paying? The OP got paid. Eldorado didn't sound like non payment was an issue. I've not been paid once and it wasn't because the customer "forgot" their wallet, they just refused to pay. I'm not taking you to small claims court for $40, you win if you need $40 that badly. Is non payment really an issue? Or fraud? I haven't experience it at all, although my customer base tends to be more affluent than average.

[JCCarCare]

I think it really depends on many factors (i.e. what kind of clientele you have, area in which you do business, etc.) A few years ago when I first started, I was getting my feet on the ground detailing. Between networking and gathering clients, I was contacted by a individual who was very nice during the first few conversations. I did what we both agree upon. She handed myself a personal check, which I thought nothing of it...until I went to the bank and the check bounced (big headache). I contacted the client, no response.

My previous post was to the first statement, page 1, is to basically cover yourself. There are customers out there that do not have good intentions and if you see that it is happening to you, that a customer takes foreverr to pay and you are just starting out in detailing by yourself..cash is king. Basically, Adjust your thought process on how you want to handle payments. Let your customer know what you accept as payment from the start, have a procedure in place on how you would remind customers.

I completely agree with you sudsmobile, I am not going to cry about $40 lost, it would more of a head ache just to get the money back. If it was a job that required a few hours and costed a couple hundred, I would be very disappointed, knock on wood that hasn't happened yet.

[SirTanon]

Hey guys sorry for the late update! Busy for me paint correcting alone and had no chance to get back on the forum! After the initial text, the owner came to my house, handed me a check, and a $100 tip for doing a good job and for the late payment. Her husband is booked with me for a full interior/exterior detail. It is great to share these stories knowing that the autogeek community has your back. Thank you all for the support! I was paid $400 for the 12 hours of work for those that are curious!

I love this.

I also think you handled this perfectly. You could have gotten aggressive/pushy, as some in this thread have implicated would be the best way to go about it ("putting on your business owner pants"), but you didn't; You went the high road and kept things courteous, professional, and customer-oriented. In return, your customer not only remains a customer, but has rewarded your patience.

IMHO, had you gotten pushy, you would have lost this customer and any future business that would have come your way.

Also, IMHO, high-end detailing is something that generally draws loyal and honest customers. It's not the same as a corner "wash-n-wax" shop.

[Eldorado2k]

Also, IMHO, high-end detailing is something that generally draws loyal and honest customers. It's not the same as a corner "wash-n-wax" shop.

This exactly.
How did we seem to forget that.

[Calendyr]

It's not illegal to ask a company for a full or partial refund if you're not happy with the work. If a customer came to you and you guaranteed them, for example, that you could remove all the stains 100% from their seating surfaces and you delivered the car without doing what you said and charged them full price, their recourse would be to ask you to perform the work as promised or give them a refund. I don't think that's out of line. It's certainly not illegal. If after all that, you tell them "too bad I couldn't get the stains out and I'm not giving you a refund", their recourse is to contact their credit card company. If they can prove you made certain promises and then failed to do the work, and they can prove that they gave you an opportunity to correct the issue, they have more than a fair chance of getting their money back.

Requesting your credit card provider intercede on your behalf after you've exhausted all other options is not fraud.

I am talking about asking the credit card company to reverse the charge. Unless the business owner as agreed to it, you can get in a lot of troubles having a charge reversed when it was a legitimate payment and the company can prove it.

[sudsmobile]

Simply untrue on it's face. Of course you can "get in trouble" trying to fraudulently reverse the charges, although I'm not sure exactly what kind of trouble you're imagining besides having the reversal "reversed" back on you and being forced to pay including interest from the time of the original charge. A chargeback is a legitimate course of action for the consumer when other remedies have been exhausted. Further, a business owner doesn't agree to a chargeback, he would simply issue you a full or partial refund. My original statement is true. A lot of business owner's don't accept credit cards because they're fearful of giving the customer a legitimate option to recoup money when the business fails to deliver on its promises.

You seem to be implying that customers would commit fraud to avoid paying because every statement you've made has involved the customer committing fraud. I think we've covered the fact several times that for the most part (99.9%), customers are just as honest and trustworthy as we all seem to think we are. You said you accept credit cards. You had any chargebacks? I haven't had any.