Slow Paying Customer Policy

[Porritt, David]

Terry:

 

As others have said I'd surely require payment for your last board
before I'd even start on their next one.  Do you take credit cards?  You
could easily and instantly get your money over the phone before you ship
a board if you did, and this would give them the opportunity to be slow
to pay MasterCard!

 

dp

 

David M. Porritt

dporritt at smu.edu

________________________________

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Farrell
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 7:07 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Slow Paying Customer Policy

 

I'm looking for some opinions on setting a policy for a slow paying
customer. A company I have been building soundboards for several years
now has consistently been a slow payer. The last invoice they paid up
was for $3,500 - it was finally paid this February - they got their
soundboards in May of last year - eight full months to pay. And it was
like pulling teeth. I currently have an unpaid invoice for them - I have
sent three copies of the invoice - the last one with a very personal
note in red ink - emailed and phoned them. They owe me $1,500 - they got
their soundboard panels last October.

 

My policy has always been to take a soundboard order, build and ship it,
and then bill. Everyone I deal with pays promptly (thank you guys!) -
except this particular crew.

 

I love building soundboards for anyone. But I gotta get paid! I received
another order from this same company for more soundboards. I definitely
need to have all previous invoices paid up before I start on their new
order - I know that. I know many folks who do this type of work will ask
for 50% up front and the balance upon completion.

 

I have always been very timely with constructing and shipping their
orders - even on short notice. I'm thinking that because of their
demonstrated reluctance to pay their bills, it would be reasonable and
really the only sensible policy to ask for payment in full with shipment
of soundboards within two weeks of receipt of payment in full.

 

I hate to have to play hardball - and I know I might even loose this
customer because of it - but if I don't get paid, what good where they
anyway? I have little doubt that I have wasted enough time over the past
few years to have built a soundboard for someone else in the time I have
spent tracking down these slow payers.

 

I'm a one-man-show. I have no administrative help. I'm reasonably
efficient building soundboards and related things. I'm very inefficient
at administrative tasks. I probably spend ten times the amount of time
doing administrative things that someone more efficient at those tasks
could be. I just don't have time to spend being a bill collector.

 

Any opinions on a fair, efficient and productive policy for this client?

 

Terry Farrell
Farrell Piano

 

www.farrellpiano.com
terry at farrellpiano.com

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