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

[Kitten Kong]

Kevin, more than welcome to the help.

As the client has left the machine with you for over 6 months, I would not bother with a 21 day letter. I'd go for a 7 day if that. They have had more than ample opportunity to collect and pay.

 

[ComputerProVA]

Wow, I've been swamped these last couple days and didn't get a chance to catch up on the thread until today. TONS of great info here. I will certainly be tweaking my policy after this mess, and in a way I am kind of glad it happened. It will be forcing me to get more professional with my practices, which is something I have been placing on the back burner for (obviously) too long!

BUT....UPDATE, I called the customer one final time to attempt to drop the machine back off to her so that I could just move on, she promised me that Friday (today) she would definitely have the money and we could meet then. I told her that would be fine but I would need to collect a CC# just in case this appointment fell through and she agreed! So I don't know if it was my constant nagging or what, but she seems to be ready to pay up. I called today to confirm the appointment and.....she answered again! We are scheduled to meet today and hopefully this will be over and done with.

Either way this a open my eyes to lots of things I can do differently and I appreciate the wisdom of the group!

 

[ComputerProVA]

You have the most awesome company name by the way! Lol.

HaHa thank you sir, I really love yours as well! Hope we can still be friends!

 

[ComputerPro]

HaHa thank you sir, I really love yours as well! Hope we can still be friends!

Of course! We're practically family lol.

 

[CheddarPCsKP]

Just a follow up on this one. We sent another letter, advising 21 days to pick up, etc. Customer called bang on the last day "sorry to leave it so long, I'll collect it Friday, been really busy, but I need the laptop for college next term, etc."

Friday came and went, laptop not picked up. Letter sent out same day with 7 days notice. Another call in response, same story. It was pointed out this time that over 7 months had elapsed the bill was upaid, and we've added the cost of four letters to the bill. He was DEFINITELY going to be in at the weekend to collect.

I now have a decision to make - parts or sell it as a refurb.....

 

[Kitten Kong]

Backup the data (just as a cya exercise), then either part it, or refurb.

Depending on which way you think will get the most return on the investment. If its a current make / model, check the parts prices on fleabay.
May take some time in selling all of them.

Quicker return, sell as a refurb.

 

[cypress]

Back up that data but it seems you have done everything you can. I would sell as a refurb if possible.

 

[CheddarPCsKP]

Quite honestly it's worth more for parts. Sold as a refurb it probably won't sell for much more than £180, and we'd have to pay for a licence.

Parts wise there's a good completely scratch free screen, keyboard with very little wear, a 4Gb RAM module, HDD that's tested all ok, a brand new fan, and a motherboard in working order. Given that some parts are generic, and how many of these laptops we see, most of the parts will be used within a few months and including service charges should earn us at least twice the refurb value.

Customers are happy with second hand parts if they're told beforehand and made aware they're saving on new - a cheaper part can make a difference between a customer agreeing to a repair, against saying it's not worth fixing - and having parts on the shelf means a quicker turnaround on repairs which customers really like.