Forgot to Send Billings

[NBI Lawn]

I was going through some of my last billings and found some I forgot to send from October/November :hammerhead:. Do I just send them or should I put something in with the bill apologizing for being so late?

What would you say if you put something in with them :confused:? I am leaning towards that because I feel like a bum for being late.

[MarcSmith]

you could away play the "post office game"

Send the invoice and then a little note "I notice that I have not seen payment for this invoice, and I'm sure it was just overlooked or misplaced with all the commotion around the holidays."

Nothing is a lie... and you are not placing any blame...

Or..."I was going through my quarterly statements and I noticed that this invoice never got sent out. Please accept my apologies for getting this invoice to you so late."

either way I you'll be ok. Its an easy mistake to make...and most people realize that we are human and not perfect.

[B_gerrits]

I like Marc's idea of blaming it on the mail contact the accounts with a friendly reminder that the invoices have not been paid and you were wondering why?.

[OhioMowerGuy]

yeah I would blame the post office, they have lost a few of my checks this year

[NC Greenscaper]

What's wrong with calling them and explaining you missed them. They will like your honesty.

[MarcSmith]

I still like the "I notice that I have not seen payment for this invoice, and I'm sure it was just overlooked or misplaced with all the commotion around the holidays." not a single lie or missreprestnation. You have not recieved a payment for the invoice. and it was overlooked or misplaced...you just never said by whom...:)

Still nothing wrong with honesty either. its not like you are trying to send them a bill from a year ago...or hood wink them....

[B_gerrits]

I still like the "I notice that I have not seen payment for this invoice, and I'm sure it was just overlooked or misplaced with all the commotion around the holidays." not a single lie or missreprestnation. You have not recieved a payment for the invoice. and it was overlooked or misplaced...you just never said by whom...:)

Still nothing wrong with honesty either. its not like you are trying to send them a bill from a year ago...or hood wink them....

I agree with Marc actually no misrepresentation or lies actually they were overlooked just not saying who overlooked them.

[topsites]

Nah, don't blame it on the mail that's just going to open up that can of worms...
Next thing you know you'll have customers blaming their late payments on that :nono:
Yeah that ain't gonna work out so good, I don't think.

I would just say I forgot to send them, or send them and say nothing...
Or you can choose to say they were misplaced somehow, yup.

[Roger]

you could away play the "post office game"

...
Nothing is a lie... and you are not placing any blame...

...

I like Marc's idea of blaming it on the mail contact the accounts with a friendly reminder that the invoices have not been paid and you were wondering why?.

I agree with Marc actually no misrepresentation or lies actually they were overlooked just not saying who overlooked them.

Mark this thread as one to return and read, when a new thread is started about professionalism and "why we, as LCOs, don't get the respect we deserve." Those kind of threads appear quite often, and many posts try to explain and provide answers. This thread, plus many others, will help provide the answer.

Have we sunk this low that we cannot accept the responsibility for our mistakes? This seems to be the new American way, "... I do not want to be responsible for my actions, ... my task is to find somebody else to assign blame, ... I am a victim, I only need to find the other party that put me in my predicament."

[lawnman_scott]

I agree with roger. why try to overthink this? its not like they don't owe the money anyway. most people are short on money around christmas anyway.

[freddyc]

Just tell the truth without a lot of mumbo jumbo..don't blame the mail you willlook like an idiot.---EVERYBODY blames the mail---didn't you ever hear "the checks in the mail" BS?

you wrote:


"I was going through some of my last billings and found some I forgot to send from October/November "



So just add,

I was going through some of my last billings and due to the confusion of leaf cleanups and the heavy fall schedule, I found several invoives that I failed to send from October/November. I apologize for the delay in billing for this work that was done in XXXXXXXX..



They aren't going to like getting overdue invoices especially right after Christmas, but if you try to BS them they will kick you to the curb---they're just not that stupid.

[MarcSmith]

Roger, and that why I gave three responses...a cop-out, and two honest answers...My dad was a cop, so I learned about the whole "not Lying" long ago. it get hard to rememebr who and what you lied about...if you tell the truth its easy to remeber since the facts never change.

In all Honesty I'd had more trouble with the banks getting deposits screwed up than I did with the USPS...And with Quickbooks, never missed getting an invoice out either....

[NBI Lawn]

I was going through some of my last billings and due to the confusion of leaf cleanups and the heavy fall schedule, I found several invoives that I failed to send from October/November. I apologize for the delay in billing for this work that was done in XXXXXXXX..

They aren't going to like getting overdue invoices especially right after Christmas, but if you try to BS them they will kick you to the curb---they're just not that stupid.

That is almost exactly what I wrote to them. I do feel bad since this is a crappy time of year to be getting bills.

[Luvs2Play]

I would send them the invoices, if you care to put in an explanation, that would be fine, but with the customers, they know that they didn't pay for the service. Should they feel any better for not paying than you do for missing getting them in the mail?

[MarcSmith]

but with the customers, they know that they didn't pay for the service.

very good point.

I had to have one of my garden windows repalced under warranty. of course the window was covered but not the labor, even though I suspect faulty isntallation

after about a month on not seeing a bill I called the sales guy to thank them for the warranty work and I especiialy thanked them for the covering the labor as well.....

Got an invoice less than a week a later...and paid it,

[grass_cuttin_fool]

Actually I had this happen to me in Dec. As I was getting the totals for 07 from each account I found that I had not invoiced my monthly contract people. I made out the invoices and mailed them on Christmas eve. I put a note in them explaining my oversight and that if this put any burden on them for Christmas that they could take 45 days to remit payments.

Out of 5 customers...3 paid with in a week and the other 2 paid this week.

wayne

[DAR57]

Grass cutting fool, Thank you for taking the high road in this and showing remorse in offering to wait as it wasn't their fault you don't have their money. Your Dad must be a great role model! I would bet you don't lose many customers either.