TSB
General => General Discussion and ??? => Topic started by: cattees on January 19, 2012, 04:08:06 PM
-
It's been 7 months and customer still hasn't picked up her order. She tells me her event was cancelled in September and that she would pickup shirts before year end. Year end comes and she sends an email that event is re-scheduled for this Spring. She indicates she doesn't want to put the money up for some people who haven't paid, but geez I'm not a storage house!! She paid her 50% deposit, & still owes another $350. Just wondering what you do when they don't come up with the balance - should I threaten to throw them out?
-
sounds good to me, I donate them. I give them ample warning, and then off to goodwill or the shelter.
-
Give her 10 days then tell her they are considered abandoned and will be donated to Goodwill or such.
You only do 100% upfront now, right?
-
Tell her that she owes for the other half. She paid for you to print the shirts. You printed them. Its not your problem the event was canceled. She has to options/ Pay now or in small claims court. Do not get rid of the shirts until it is settled. If you throw them out or donate them then go to court you will lose without the shirts.
-
I would love to donate them, but I don't even think the homeless would wear them - they are candy pink with purple ink with a logo of a princess crown that reads October Divas, can u imagine? But I'm thinking I just need to be firmer by giving her the deadline or else & hopefully that will solve it. We have always gotten 50% deposits and have never had any problems - once in a while u just get a bad apple. Thanks guys.
-
strikeoff shirts baby!!
-
I would hang on to them. She may actually pay you...And if she's looking for a reason not to pay, getting rid of them would give her one. "Why should I pay if I can't have them..." Be grateful that she's keeping in touch. When something like this happens to me, the customer mysteriously stops answering the phone.
As annoying as it may be, the nicer you are about it the better chance you have of collecting. If you get crappy about it she can say "He yelled at me. I was going to pay but now I'm not."
-
I had this happen once with a customer. It was a "high end landscaper". . some sort of fancy gardener, works on all the ritzy homes and fancy restaurants.
She's real stuck on looking elegant and high end so after a few months -I said I was going to drop off her shirts to the homeless shelter. . .she freaked the
hell out! NO -I don't want a bum wearing my shirt! Oh no, don't! . . .haha, I wizzed my pants, so glad I thought of it. . .I got my lawn rolled for FREE the next day. . .
-
Another option. You are owed $350. Tell her, You're trying to work with her and understand her situation, but she needs to work with you a little as well. It's been 7 months since you did the job. See if you can her to drop off $100 towards it. Even if it's $50. At this point it's trying to shave how much of a hit you are taking on it. If she does, give her a few weeks and ask for another partial payment.
-
I had this happen once with a customer. It was a "high end landscaper". . some sort of fancy gardener, works on all the ritzy homes and fancy restaurants.
She's real stuck on looking elegant and high end so after a few months -I said I was going to drop off her shirts to the homeless shelter. . .she freaked the
hell out! NO -I don't want a bum wearing my shirt! Oh no, don't! . . .haha, I wizzed my pants, so glad I thought of it. . .I got my lawn rolled for FREE the next day. . .
It's amazing how quickly they suddenly find their wallets when presented with an option that might reflect badly on them.
-
Homer, that is funny as heck. You should have asked here what is wrong with bums.
People find a way to pay real quick usually. They move you to the bottom of the rung if it doesn't effect them directly....like a cable or cell phone bill.
-
This gives me an idea for a website. A community deadbeat list that people can check to find out who's not paying their bills and adjust their credit policy accordingly for these people and companies. This would add a humiliation factor when you let your customer know that he or she has been placed on the list, and it would make it more difficult for them to get terms with other local vendors in the future.
I dunno about the legal aspect though. Maybe you could get in trouble for publishing information without hearing both sides of the story...
-
This gives me an idea for a website. A community deadbeat list that people can check to find out who's not paying their bills and adjust their credit policy accordingly for these people and companies. This would add a humiliation factor when you let your customer know that he or she has been placed on the list, and it would make it more difficult for them to get terms with other local vendors in the future.
I dunno about the legal aspect though. Maybe you could get in trouble for publishing information without hearing both sides of the story...
There is a web site like that...
www.bbb.org (http://www.bbb.org)
-
I threatened a deadbeat customer that I would park my truck with a 4 x 8 sign in it stating that "he does not pay his bills" right in front of his business. I had an envelope with cash in it the next morning when I got to the shop. The funny thing is I still print for them. They are just 100% down now.....lol
-
I threatened a deadbeat customer that I would park my truck with a 4 x 8 sign in it stating that "he does not pay his bills" right in front of his business. I had an envelope with cash in it the next morning when I got to the shop. The funny thing is I still print for them. They are just 100% down now.....lol
100 cool points for this. . LOVE IT. . .
The BBB is the biggest crock of sh!t going. . .it's credibility means nothing anymore, which is terrible. . .such a waste of money.
-
yeah, the BBB is a huge joke. Look at known awful companies...on ripoffreport.com and then compare that to their BBB rating. You do realize that you can actually buy a better rating. You become like a platinum member and your rating stays high. It's a crock.
-
The partial payment thing could work - I'm going to think about what I'll say this weekend and call her next week - you guys are great - I'm all pumped up now!
-
tittie twisters hurt like a son of a too. . .just puttin it out there.
-
The BBB is the biggest crock of sh!t going. . .it's credibility means nothing anymore, which is terrible. . .such a waste of money.
Yeah, they've gone way downhill from what I've heard. Also, their job is to point out unethical businesses. The idea I had was for businesses to have a way to learn about unethical customers.
-
yeah, I know what you mean -kinda like Angies list or whatever it is where customers can review and complain about vendors/contractors. We can complain about customers with unreasonable requests. There are always 2 sides to everything I guess
-
Google Boner's BBQ. you'll see why this isn't a great idea....customers are ALWAYS right, in the eyes of the public
-
As business owners I think that anything that sounds like a good idea to say regarding problem customers should be a warning sign for us to just keep our trap shut. "kill 'em with kindness" says my co-worker. "stick to policy but be nice about it" says I. Both work out pretty well in combination.
All the same, we've all screwed up {some of us more often than we'd like to admit} and have also had our share extenuating situations placed upon as by no actions of our own. Gotta have a little empathy for someone left holding the hat but at the same time you need to clarify that they are the ones financially responsible here, like it or not and there's no passing it off to the print shop. If you can walk that fine line you might have an extremely dedicated client who, even if they never order from you again, will speak very highly of you around town.
-
This is from a production perspective, but hold out and ( win or lose ) you've still got a sh*t load of test-print substrates.
What's this donation bs?
Donate em with prints all over em when they're finally full.
Funky sh*t.
lol
-
Donate em with prints all over em when they're finally full.
...... ;) Ah, a real businessman's thinking.
-
Ha ha. We had a big 'ol order rejected last year and we now have a pretty great clutch of test printers for ringspun cotton. It's a silver lining. Having identical test material will save shirts on later runs.
We actually test print all over our wastage then cut 'em up and use them as rags. It's quick to do with a quilting style fabric cutter and mat. If lint is an issue you can always toss 'em in a clothes dryer with some fabric softener sheets to get the fuzz out. I can't remember the last time we bought paper towels for the shop.
-
I can't remember the last time we bought paper towels for the shop.
we use ours as toilet paper. . .makes a friggen man outta ya. . just watch out for the glitter prints, the wife will wonder where ya been.
-
Yeah the only paper towels I have are for the bathroom and exposure glass.
-
We find that:
A: Producing the order real quick (as soon as sign off and deposit) gets 'em in to get, or we offer to drop off real quickie like while they are still hot to trot. Let them store it. We tell them how great it will be for them to keep the goods until the event, and have one less thing to worry about. Of course they start needing stuff 2 days before the event, so....
B: We wait 15 min past agreed upon time for people who need later access hours. The pubic has little regard for business peoples lives. We wait one time for these folks.
C: We are getting paid upfront more and more in our short time as dekoratuers, and find 100% at time of production equals a zero non-pickup rate.
D: Be flexible by your relationship with the customer. Proven track record equals us being more flexible.
I like the payment of a little at a shot attempt post. We try that at other biz. There are many ways to approach the issue. Sometimes ya gotz to use 'em all :-\