Ox why would I call the customers people's names? Are they incompetent, absolutely. Are they idiots, probably. But I did manage to get out of my folks house with at least a basic enough education to know not to call people names. I might be stupid, but I know that insulting the person I am trying to convince to do their job is going to have a negative outcome.
I've had my shop now 12 years, and 6 of that it has been my "full time" job.
In that 12 years, this is the first time I have been burned by a non-paying customer. Well, they sorta paid.
In July of 2021 a company approached me to do some really strange work, in an industry that I have never done work in before. They spent several weeks trying to find a shop to manufacture the small quantity, very specialty work, in a VERY short lead time. Ie, 4 parts, completely bastard everything, worthless drawing, they don't know exactly what it is they need, but they needed it two weeks ago.
I have a policy that new customers pay 50% upfront and 50% on completion. That worked fine for them because they didn't have time to formally submit everything and get a PO made. They paid the 50% down with a CC and I got started. I got the parts done, early, (worked over July 4th weekend and on July 4th) and told them to make the payment and they could pick up the parts. To save the 3% CC fee they asked if they could bring a check. No problem. They bring a check for the full amount, pick up the parts, no issues.
Beginning of December they reach out and say that they need another batch of parts made. A different bastard part, same conditions. They say it has to be run through a PO this time. I submit a quote, but since they are a repeat customer, terms are now payment on completion. They say great. Even after some issues with their worthless drawing and specs I get the parts made.
Here is where I am an idiot, and everything falls apart. They are about 45 minutes away, and I happened to be driving by. So I dropped off the parts, saving them an hour and a half drive. The guy I deal with isn't there. No-one else knows anything about the parts. So I call the guy and he says yea great, leave them with so and so. It's a Friday afternoon, no-one is there to cut me a check.
Some of you are either laughing or yelling at the computer screen like a bad horror movie.
In some ways I lucked out a little bit. The companies AP department reached out to me for a W-9, so they gave me their own information. When the invoice got to be 2 weeks late I called and explained who I was and the woman on the phone was very polite and apologized for the payment not being made. Seems the guy who wrote the PO and ordered the parts marked them as delivered, but did not submit the invoice. I emailed her another copy of the invoice, and while on the phone she confirmed that she received the invoice. She said they would run a check the next batch and have it out to me.
2 weeks later I still had not received payment. So I sent emails out again and she responded that she had no invoice and even included a nice screen shot of her computer system showing that there was no invoice due. I had started to email her back that she was incompetent and I don't enter invoices into their systems, that's her job, and she confirmed she had the invoice so clearly she didn't do her job. My wife intervened and typed her a short and terse email in AP/AR jargon explaining that she was incompetent and didn't do her job, but in business speak. I got an email that afternoon that a check would be cut the next run(probably friday).
The following monday a check arrives in the mail. Hooray.
But wait....
There's more!
The check is for just over half of the invoiced amount.
I have found as I have gotten older my patience has rapidly evaporated. People's incompetency and general stupidity has pushed me to the point where I am 100% full boil instantly. I spend probably more time than reasonable double, triple, and sometimes quadruple checking my work. Verifying all aspects to guarantee that my work, or whatever I am doing is correct. When I make a mistake I am proactive, I take care of it before anyone knows it exists. When I fail to identify a mistake before someone else identifies the mistake, when that mistake is identified, everything in my life comes to a stop until that mistake is corrected.
Immediately upon looking at the check I am pissed, beyond pissed. I bent over backwards to get this company what they needed, I was a nice guy and went out of my way to save them an hour and a half drive, I did the work that half a dozen machine shops wouldn't attempt, and they screwed me. I already had my phone out trying to decide whether to call in a tactical missile strike or nuke the whole place into oblivion and walk away from it all together. My wife took the check from me and looked it over.
Thirty seconds later she says, this is a deduction, they deducted from your invoice.
WTF does that mean!
It means they think you owe them money, so they deducted that from your invoice.
Sure enough we sat down at the computer and looked up the two previous invoices for this company, and low and behold, they deducted the two previous invoice amounts from this invoice.
So, now, what the heck do I do? My wife once again saved my hide and wrote another email to the AP lady explaining that they had an unauthorized deduction without providing any backup or explanation, and further the deduction was not approved and never discussed and they would need to submit full payment.
That was monday. No one is responding to phone calls or answering emails. The "Operations Manager" who I usually communicate with is not answering his phone, AP lady is not answering her phone, and no one that I have email addresses for are responding.
My wife explained to me that the AP People are like robots. Stupid robots I asked? They just process the information. If the information they are given is incomplete or incorrect, it still gets processed. Hmmm stupid programmer then. No, they just work within the confines of their task. Some companies give their AP department a lot of room to look at and do things, other companies do not. She thinks once they look to provide backup, they will find that there is none, and make complete payment.
I do not think for a second that they will.
So my immediate thought is Small Claims court. Any thoughts, opinions, experiences? Is it worth my time? When they get a summons will they show up with a big shot lawyer? Maybe... at this point they are going to spend the money they owe me one way or another.
I missed the part that that you didn't send it, but apparently you did not actually learn that:
"insulting the person I am trying to convince to do their job"
is a bad thing, but apparently your wife did learn that?
I also took it that her mail was not so nice, but I take it from your rebuttal that she "honey'd it up" a bit.
Communications are terrible right now for sure tho.
You had the holidays in there, and now it seems that EVERYONE is home sick!
And those that ARE there are running around and picking up loose ends everywhere.
Many people are not in their own jobs,and are covering for others.
The furnace brazing outfit that I use near here was running on 1/2 crew for the last cpl'a weeks.
I think that they are pretty much up and running now tho.
(my parts got done)
I have a customer up in Minnesota that has had several off.
I have another customer that is more local, and I haven't gotten any response from that direction to speak of in a while.
Purty sure that contact is out as well...
etc...
I doubt it's any different on your side of the state.
I also doubt that there was any malice intended.
Likely your guy is out?
And maybe the main A/P clerk is out as well?
Edit:
So, are you saying that you have not done anything to burn the bridge to this customer yet?
All the ranting a raving has been here, or at home, and you are just venting to us?
That's not what it sounded like, but maybe?
But the fact that we get the routine thread about "How doo I find Customers?" and then to read a post like this where there has clearly been mistakes made - and mostly b/c you are special and can't be bothered with standard accounting practices, you either have, have all but, or are clearly looking to burn this bridge.
The next time this guy is looking at a potential one-man-band that wants to make parts for him, he just may say "forget it'....
Enough so - that you are at 35 days, over the biggest holidays, during the biggest "sick" bought, in-amungst the worst employment surge - and you are fit to be tied?
Forget the fact that you DID get a check! Maybe the right hand doesn't know what the left did a few months ago, but it will come out in the worsh. Jist hold'ger britches on sonny!
Now, is a customer that normally pays at 30 or even 45 days (is anyone paying that late routinely these days?) not worth having?
Charge the price that you need to for the "special" work and attention, but when you start asking for special stuff in their office, and it doesn't work out, you can be disappointed, but don't be surprised.
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One Man Band
Ox
