Help, I need a get out.

[Grebo]

Sometime ago somebody wrote a thread on ways to get out working for certain customers.
Well one of them has ask my OH if I would quote him on a new dodger, I do not want to work for this man.
I did a small job for him last year  & it took him 9 months to pay up ! Will some vague excuse, when I happened to catch him on his boat, that he thought I was away & didn't know what the bill was. *ollocks to that.
I believe there was one which started with the phrase, your reputation precedes you........

Suzi

[Mike8560]

 you could just be too busy to go  or give him a big price with a Dow payme to cover it

[SteveMoke]

You could do the same as he did Suzi, keep dodging him with the same excuse 'I thought you were away' when you bump into him or bump the estimate up to cover your last dealings with him/he'll go some place else.

[fragged8]

you could try saying . no thanks.  :o

[Mojo]

I would vote for telling him your to busy to do the work.

There is no sense in avoiding him. Just tell him straight up - sorry, no can do.

Chris

[bobbin]

Or simply say you have reservations about working for him because he was so lax about paying you for your last effort!  You don't do what you do for "the fun of it", you do it to make money.  And forking over the pork is what good customers do when the job is complete and installed. 

I'd be honest, direct, and polite, and let him know how things are. 

[bobbi campbell]

I have a costumer like that and I swear that I never work for them again. It seams like they catch you when you are low on work. I thought of ways to avoid them and I thought the next time they called I would tell them I was booked up and the soonest I could squeeze them in would be a month. Most people want work done now . They don't want to wait. A lot can happen in a month and by then they have something else that is more pressing.

[BigJohn]

I'm sorry sir but we had an unsatisfactory business relationship in the past and I have no reason to believe this time will be any different, that coupled with a backlog of work from preferred customers leads me to say no-thanks!

[Grebo]

Thanks gang, I will see how brave I am feeling on the day.  ::)

Suzi

[jojo]

Yeah, Suzi, that seems tough. I never worry about payment because the owners always bring the boat (or seats)to my driveway, and so I get payment when they come to pick it up.
But when you go to a marina to install canvas, the owner is never there, so it's like the honor system. Is it kosher to ask for the whole payment up front?

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

Is it kosher to ask for the whole payment up front?

In this case, YES.

Few things in business can be as fustrating, consuming and distracting as chasing people around for money.  Like your a bank or somthing, or you don't have suppliers to pay.

[R.A.F. CaNvAs]

I'm sorry sir but we had an unsatisfactory business relationship in the past and I have no reason to believe this time will be any different, that coupled with a backlog of work from preferred customers leads me to say no-thanks!

A firm and direct approach I find is best in business.  A loose translation of the above text would be :-
You've got some gaul coming back here again !
You still owe me compounded interest from the last time....
How long will it take you to open your wallet this time ?
I can't be wasting my time on you ,
I have proper clients that are prompt with their payment.
There's the door , now fork cough. !     ;D

[Grebo]

I'm sorry sir but we had an unsatisfactory business relationship in the past and I have no reason to believe this time will be any different, that coupled with a backlog of work from preferred customers leads me to say no-thanks!

A firm and direct approach I find is best in business.  A loose translation of the above text would be :-
You've got some gaul coming back here again !
You still owe me compounded interest from the last time....
How long will it take you to open your wallet this time ?
I can't be wasting my time on you ,
I have proper clients that are prompt with their payment.
There's the door , now fork cough. !     ;D

;D
One day.
When we are about to leave Spain may be.  ;)
We don't actively advertise at all, all business is by word of mouth & boy have some of them got big ones.
I never avoid customers I don't like, but neither do I out & out confront them.
A large proportion of my business is done with a discussion on the boat, either I hand them the quote or send by email, receive 50% deposit & get the work done before their next visit. I send them pictures of the completed work & then either I get paid the balance when they arrive on the boat or if they are away for a long time they transfer it. 99% of the time it works well.
Any discussion about alterations to designs or anything like that is done with email & pictures.

This chappy is a great mate of another of my customers who I have done loads of work for & never have trouble with him paying up.

Suzi

[gene]

You could email them a link to this post.

gene

[kodydog]

We have all had PITA customers and we've all given them second chances. Some of my best customers were a real pain the first encounter. They had been burned before and leery about being burned again. Once they saw my work and style of business their attitude changed.

Your situation is a little different and you know this man better than I. I've met plenty of people who are just careless with their finances. I work for a designer who bounces checks. Not on purpose. Just careless. The first time it happened I freeked, but now I just call her and tell her it happened again.

You said, "I do not want to work for this man", so there may be something going on I don't know about, and like Greg said there's nothing fun about chasing around some dead beat trying to get your money.

My point is customers are hard to find. Maybe it would be better to give him a second chance but set up the payment different. Or tell him he has to be there when you deliver the job.

And like Mike said, charge your pain in the ass customers more.