[CAUT] still another billing question

[wimblees at aol.com]

Bob

Along the lines of what Jim said, there is nothing wrong with calling 
the professor to ask him if he knows when your check will be mailed. 
When you call him every week, (after 30 days), he might get the hint 
that he needs to get the bill to the business office. He will either 
see to it to get the ball rolling, or find another tuner.

Now, if can't afford to loose this account, I'm afraid you're going to 
have to play by their rules. But then, charge them accordingly. Go 
ahead and charge them more from the beginning. If you add a surcharge, 
they won't pay it. But if you give them an incentive to pay early, they 
might do it. Inother words, if you normally charge $100 for a tuning, 
bill them for $110, and give them the incentive of paying $100 if they 
pay within 30 days.

Wim

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Hull <hullfam5 at yahoo.com>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Tue, 23 May 2006 08:20:36 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [CAUT] still another billing question

Billing questions have been on the piano tech list
recently but this one has to do with college contract
work.

One of the colleges I service takes a long time every
semster to pay.  I'm still waiting for payment on this
semester's work and I finished tuning in late March.
They take 30 days from the time they get the bill
(supposedly) and they don't get the bill until the
professor signs off on it and turns it in.
It may sit on his desk for weeks before he turns it
in.  In trying to solve this problem from previous
semesters, someone in the business office said I could
send a copy of the bill directly to them, bypassing
the professor, and they would submit it as approved.
But it hasn't seemed to help.

Do you think a late fee is in order, if so, how much?
The utitlity company and phone company print on their
bills "The amount due is xxx.xx if paid by dd/mm/yyyy
and after that date it is xxx.xx" higher amount.

Out of respect for the small business or actually
micro-business man it would be nice to be paid
promptly.  My main school pays within 2 weeks of
receipt of their bill.

Bob Hull

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