Have my first non paying customer. What are my options?

[ComputerProVA]

Hey guys, I am a daily visitor but a first time poster, this place has been an absolute wealth of knowledge for me, its really great that a place like this exists for small business owners in this industry. Many of you have businesses that are much larger and more profitable, but I hope to try and contribute when I can! As of now I am just a one man break/fix operation out of my home in my 2nd year of business, but I have recently started to branch out into B2B Break/Fix as well as Managed Services (God bless reoccurring revenue). I have just picked up Karl Palachuks "Managed Services In A Month" and have been browsing through tons of threads with some great info! Also having gotten married and had a baby girl this year I have a new fire under my butt to learn and soak up as much as I can and turn some larger profit! So far I am on pace to do 4x my first years net and I truly believe it is because of this site, so thank you to all you guys! Anyway on to my current dilemma!

I have my first client that's dodging payment. The original call was for a laptop that wasn't booting, the customer said she tried to reinstall windows from CD and still was getting nothing on the screen. Long story short I went to pick up the machine on site, diagnosed the HDD as bad, it was clicking (loudly) even though I asked her about any strange hard drive noise previously, so to try and salvage I offered to provided a replacement drive and a OS reinstall with all the necessary drivers (love Snappy Driver Installer!) and updates (). By the way the laptop is a decent i3 machine with 4 gb ram and my quote would have been much less than a new machine which she said she was thinking about. She readily agreed even with an on the spot
quote.

So it has now been over 2 months, she continues to answer the phone the majority of time that I call, but always gives me the same excuse that she is "waiting on an expense check to clear on Friday....". I have been very, very calm with her and told her no problem, I understand ect. Now most recently I told her I would need to get a CC# from her to simply keep on hold unless things fall through AGAIN next Friday. When I had her on the phone she said she was driving and would call me back when she got into work, no problem. Guess what happened? Yep, never heard from her and now shes not answering.

So I have her address as I picked up the machine from her home, but really what are my options? I'm pretty sure I won't hear from her again.

Can I keep her laptop and sell it after a specific amount of time?

Is there some way I can go after her for the payment?

Its a small bill just over $200 dollars, but still!

Also I have already decided to start taking CC # up front, at the very least when parts are involved!
So lets just get that out of the way

Thanks in advance!

Jesse

 

[Kitten Kong]

Hi Jesse.

As I see it, theres a number of things you can do.

Go to her address, knock on the door, she answers, give the client the laptop back (less new hard drive - but the original one (if you still have it)). Call it quits - walk away.

Pass her account over to some collection agency. Yes there will be some fees from this, but you will get at least some money back.

Take her to court. I trust and hope, that you have everything signed for. Ie, when you initially booked her machine in.
Everything dotted, and crossed. Ie, time, date you contacted her. By what means, what you said, what she said..

Loaner Laptops.
Basically, never give a loaner out, unless its one you can afford to lose. I.e a old clunker, which will go on the net etc. If in the future you do decide on a loaner, you could install deep freeze on the machine. Which basically means, once the machine has been restarted, then its back to how it was originally. Ergo, any and all data which was saved to it, gone. (unless client has saved it elsewhere). This will entice the client to have their machine back quicker.

As for keeping her laptop, and calling it quits. Now that really depends on your local laws. You would need advice from a lawyer or accountant on that one. I know what I can do in the UK, but the US is a whole different kettle of fish. Especially when your laws change from county to county, state to state etc.

Do you charge a diag fee upfront?. If so, its almost an enticement for the client to have their machine back asap. If they don't collect the machine, they lose the diag fee.

Any and all parts required. Theres been a number of threads on TN to do with this.
Some members request a deposit upfront for purchases.
Some front the entire bill.
Some pass over the checkout card to the client. Get them to purchase it, whilst you increase your labour rate to compensate for the gross youv'e lost.

I know your new to the business. So just be wary of anything like this happening again in the future. Be wary, is all I can recommend.

I really do hope you get this sorted though.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Depends on the laws in your state. It is abandoned property and most states require you to keep it or even turn it over to the state. Many techs will advise you to have somekind of abandoned property clause in your work order paperwork that transfers ownership if the bill goes unpaid.

In the meantime I would put the machine back like you found it give it back to her and tell her to take her business elsewhere. You will be out the labor but not your parts and not have to deal with a client who will come at some point and accuse you of stealing her PC.

You could probably sue her but that would just make matters worse.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Did I miss read something? You gave the client a loaner laptop while you worked on hers? If THAT is the case then you have out right THEFT going on. Call the police.

 

[ComputerProVA]

@Cadishead Computers and @nlinecomputers Thanks for the input. I actually did not supply a loaner laptop, I was simply saying that the specs of her broken machine were decent making it worth the repair. I do have all the invoices signed but, I do not charge a diag fee yet. It something else I know I need to implement and I think after this fiasco I will.

I guess you guys are right, pull my HDD, replace with the old, and giver her her machine back. Lesson learned and yet another reason to stop cheaping out and buy the TN Business Kit. Won't be worth doing to much more over a couple hundred bucks.

Thanks guys!

 

[ComputerProVA]

@nlinecomputers No,no loaner was given.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Well in that case I would do as I originally said. Put the machine back together as you found it, take it to her, explain that you have no time to wait and didn't want to be accused of stealing her property, hand it back tell her no charge and please call one my competitors for your future computer needs.

 

[Kitten Kong]

@ComputerProVA sorry Jesse. My bad. I misread the op. I thought I saw you leant a loaner.

I would edit my post, to remove it. And I will edit it partly. But I feel it does stand though, if any tech does decide to do a loaner.

 

[Kitten Kong]

@nlinecomputers is right Jesse. Put the machine back in the original condition it was in. Hand it over to her, and simply walk away with your head held high.

It's not like you will be severely out of pocket. I'm sure you will be able to use that drive in another clients machine.

 

[OaksLabs]

The shop I work at has a 30 day policy on the intake receipt we give to the customer. We tell them (about a week before...) that we have an abandoned computer policy, and in 30 days the PC will become ours to cover the unpaid cost of the repair.

 

[ComputerProVA]

I'm almost kind if happy to do this! I feel like this is the right thing to do (head held high indeed!), and yes of course I can just reuse the HDD. I like the idea of adding in a clause to the invoice @OaksLabs, thanks for the idea.

Jesse

 

[Kitten Kong]

I'm almost kind if happy to do this! I feel like this is the right thing to do (head held high indeed!), and yes of course I can just reuse the HDD. I like the idea of adding in a clause to the invoice @OaksLabs, thanks for the idea.

Jesse

Jesse, You would have to ensure that what your thinking of is legal in your state.

 

[Rayspcsolutions]

Jesse, You would have to ensure that what your thinking of is legal in your state.

+100 ... Whats seems like a common sense approach to us can land us in a whole lot of hot water when it comes to the differing state by state legalities of personal items left abandoned.

 

[nlinecomputers]

It isn't legal in Texas. One of the reasons you want to get a diagnostic fee upfront. That way if they back out of it you can tell them to pick up the PC.

 

[ComputerProVA]

Jesse, You would have to ensure that what your thinking of is legal in your state.

I would hope giving her back her own computer is legal! I was only agreeing with reverting her machine back to its original state and returning it!
I will have to get her to answer the door though. Maybe a well spoken voicemail will do the trick!

 

[Kitten Kong]

I like the idea of adding in a clause to the invoice

I would hope giving her back her own computer is legal! I was only agreeing with reverting her machine back to its original state and returning it!

Jesse, I'm referring to this part. Of adding a clause to the invoice.

You need to ensure that having an abandoned policy is legal for your county / state etc. As others have said, in some states it is legal, whilst in others it isnt.

You would need professional advice on this. Not from a forum of repair techs. (No offence intended to anyone here).

 

[ComputerProVA]

Jesse, I'm referring to this part. Of adding a clause to the invoice.

You need to ensure that having an abandoned policy is legal for your county / state etc. As others have said, in some states it is legal, whilst in others it isnt.

You would need professional advice on this. Not from a forum of repair techs. (No offence intended to anyone here).

Ah. Understood. Good advice yet again, thank you. Do any of the legal forms in the TB Business kit cover this?

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Yes definitely check it out. We have a 40 dollar diagnostics fee that gives some incentive to pick up if they back out. But as far as non paying customers, we hold onto the machine until they pay. They get it back when the bill is paid.

 

[Kitten Kong]

Ah. Understood. Good advice yet again, thank you. Do any of the legal forms in the TB Business kit cover this?

They may do. However, as your laws vary from state to state, maybe even county to county (I wouldn't know, I'm across the pond from you) it would still be advantageous to have it checked out by a local lawyer / accountant in your area.

I can say, you can turn right at a red light in X county (and you can)
I can also say, you can turn right at a red light in y county (and you can't). Get my drift?

 

[ComputerProVA]

They may do. However, as your laws vary from state to state, maybe even county to county (I wouldn't know, I'm across the pond from you) it would still be advantageous to have it checked out by a local lawyer / accountant in your area.

I can say, you can turn right at a red light in X county (and you can)
I can also say, you can turn right at a red light in y county (and you can't). Get my drift?

Yes, you're right. Thanks for all your help.

Jesse