What to do with customer

[killerwill34]

I have a customer that i was suppost to redo his front yard and part of back. I priced everything out gave him a price. He said OK we have to do it. I had my tree guy coming to cut down a tree too. So i ordered the topsoil, got the tree guy to give me a price on the tree and incorporated it into the price. Went to Home depot and bought seed. The day before i was suppost to do it after i had everything ready, he calls me and cancels it which i told him if he was going to cancel to tell me a week in advance, but he tells me the day before. So i sent him a bill for $50 for all the things i did, including returning the seed and canceling everything. He has not paid me, what should i do? Do i go to his door and ask for the money, I want it mailed because i do not want to go near him. But what if he says he is not paying me because i didn't do any work? I have no clue what i should do....:hammerhead:

[sheshovel]

No you DID do work..you made up an estumate,you evaluated the job to be performed,you picked-up and returned materials ,you delt with the tree guy and soil and you cleared your schedual so you could do the work requested.So you did do work.
Demand your money!

[Budget]

The past two years i got into mulching beds. I don't even order any material until i get a check for at least half. that covers material and labor for my helpers plus a little more. So far not one problem with payment.

[Brendan Smith]

The past two years i got into mulching beds. I don't even order any material until i get a check for at least half. that covers material and labor for my helpers plus a little more. So far not one problem with payment.
same here. i always get $$ for materials and delivery up front, never a problem. go get your money!!!

[westwind]

we require 30% down on all landscape work. Go get your money!

[Matt S]

If you had a contract, do a little research on anticipatory repudiation.

[topsites]

Here's what I do with any late / non payer:

Wait 30 days, then send a second bill but add this little note to it:
Prompt payment prevents late fee.

After 60 days, send a third bill with a 30-dollar late fee and add this to it:
Prompt payment prevents collection and related issues.

Now:
If, after 90 days you haven't received your money, go to http://olddebts.com/ and select a package appropriate for your needs.
Please note the commercial packages do NOT include an option to report things to credit agencies as these are intended for business-to-business. You need consumer packages but I like the Instant Collect package myself, which I usually select the 6.95 1-letter deal and pay the extra 3 dollars to report to all 3 credit bureaus so then for 10 dollars I am done.

- If you get paid in FULL (with late fee if applicable), you have the option to delete all traces from credit record, this is a fair option.
- If you get paid without the late fee (assuming it accrued), you have the option to mark the account as 'paid' on the credit record but it still shows as a collection issue.

[olderthandirt]

It should be spelled out in your contract. My contract says that once I've ordered or recieved materials for the job Its considered started and all monies are do whether they cancel or not, also I recieve 10% NON refundable deposit upon signing of any contract and it states that in big letters right below where they have to sign to accept the contract.
Consider it a lesson learned and change your contract so it can't happen again

[olderthandirt]

And if you do not have a contract and report me to the credit union like topsite suggest my attorney will own your azz. Reporting someone to a credit reporting agency requires you to have proof and it better be attorney and judjement proof. You report the wrong person and they will sue, and with out and iron clad contract you will pay so you better be dam sure of your contract before reporting to the credit agencies