Uncollectable Rate/%

[Jason Pallas]

Just curious - what would most of you estimate your uncollectable rate to be? I know numbers are a sensitive issue in this forum - not asking for a $ amount, just an estimate of % of money against the gross that remains uncollected after 1 year.
Ours is about 5% in a bad year - and closer to 2% in better (average) years. Just wondering how close this is to everyone else.

[JimLewis]

Less than 1%.

[BigJim]

Less than $100,we always get the money first for any one off jobs, and keep a good track of regulars.Unfortunately theres always a few that stiff you,but bad debts are tax deductable here so not a total loss.

[Richard Martin]

Total uncollected debt in 7 years is $80.00 and I will get that 80 bucks!:angry:

[TJLC]

If I'm reading my Dome book right it says "bad debts from services rendered-previously reported as income" is a legal deduction. Yes I have been stiffed for a little over $100.00 in my 3 plus years of business. I'm sure I'm one of the lucky ones, compared to some.

[awm]

110.00 from the locust stiff. shes got enough bad debts to people ,she is the town joke.doubt ill get it ,as i just as soon not have anything to do with her. 30.00 from a lady at church .hmmm
25.00 from a fella that pulled a pistol when i went to collect.
these people are stupid.i dont think this guy has been out to the local walmart etc since that day. saw him on the rd one day an he had grown a full beard,an didnt look nothing like his self.
about 25.00. i wish he was reading this,id tellim forget about it .
hes paid enough already.whew:rolleyes:

[Bob Minney]

First 2 years about 3%
Since - under 1%
How about adding the biggest single loss? Mine was $210.00 to a landlord for aerations.

[walker-talker]

$280 from the owner of a real-estate management firm. He used to be the first to pay every month. The last bill of the season, last season, never paid.

MATT

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

One deadbeat last year for $75. Couple years ago, I had 2 older people that tried to stiff me for about $100 each. Within 6 months, both of them died, made a claim on their estate ( with a late fee added) and got my money!!

LAWNS AND MOWER

[rodfather]

$3000 from a rich widow who spent all of her dead husband's money after he died.

[thelawnguy]

In my 9 years, I've written off a whopping $20 (yes TWENTY).

[Jason Pallas]

Biggest single loss - $3,200 - Landscaping job that the contractor died on - had a heart attack and died one day before he was gonna close on the sale of the home and pay us. His A$$H$$LE sons felt no obligation to pay any of the sub contractors. We all got the shaft and the family walked away with millions - the old man was very shwred and had an iron-clad will that absolved his estate of nearly all his debt. That one stung - I the money ear-marked for a family vacation. OUCH.

[morturf]

Jason,
Just curious, didn't any of you file a contractor lien against the property? That way no sale of the property could be final until the debts are settled. These are cheap to file and the county won't transfer the title till these are settled to the satisfaction of a judge. You might only get a percentage but at least it is better than none. I am just curious.

I have only been stiffed for $500 in 25 years. I knew it was coming and was charging accordingly. :D This guy ran up debts to bookies and they always get their money. He ended up in the clink. I guess i really didn't feel like i got taken. My father got it for $50 in the 40+ years he ran the business when a lady he worked for ran off with the parish priest!! Just can't trust anybody!!

[Lawn Dog2001]

I still have $25 owed out to me from October.:angry: I know it is silly to fuss over $25. It really burns me up though.:blob2: I hate being stiffed.

This is the first year in a long time I have had any money unpaid at all. So I cant complain too much. If I ever got anywhere near 5% unpaid accounts I would do something else for a living.

[Turfdude]

less than 1/2 %
Under $500 per year and do upper $300K per year. Yeah any unpaid debt sucks, and so do the clients reasons for not paying, but you chalk it up as another learning experience, dump the account and move on. Only one account was over $200, took them to small claims and got paid after ruling.

Bob

[Evan528]

Im stilled owed 1200 dollars From a landscaping job I did in august!!! Boy this boils my blood:angry: !!!! They received a check from the insurance company for my work and they chose to spend it instead of paying there balance with me! I will be seeing themin court the 19th. I have a signed contract and even a letter from him stating he is aware that he owed me the money but is running short.... He is actually wasting his time and defending against me! This is the biggest sum of money I have ever been stiffed with!

[LAWNGODFATHER]

$52,000 one year. and took a big hit, guy died and lawyers took all the money left. Family got more bills to pay.

Up till now I'm with you guys that said much less tha 1%.

And Richard Martin/Crabgrassman, need Sal, Vito, Guido, and/or Tony to help collect?

I like that attitude!!!!!

[Just Cut]

$40.00 in the past four years

[HBFOXJr]

About 5/100ths of a percent over the last 3 years but it is a line item in my overhead costs.

[Lawn DOG]

I have been trying to collect over $3,000 from one client for about 1 1/2 years. Got a few others equaling about $1,500. Too hard to collect most of the time I just right it off. It probably averages about 1/2%. I might try a collection agency. The problem with me trying to collect is my time is way to valuable to spend chasing dead beats around or hanging out at courthouses filling out forms. But hey if a collection agency can get it and only wants a 1/3. Its better than nothing.

[Albemarle Lawn]

Only $45 was unpaid, once five years ago.

Everyone else has paid, including a few who did not want to.

I get personally insulted by no-pays, so I try every collection tactic on principle. Some of my tactics have been "on the fringe" of legality so they won't be discussed in a public forum. Let's just say some people got their grass back.

Once I had to chase a guy in a UHAUL truck down. He had me over to his house to cut the grass on Saturday. I finished cutting and knocked on the door. The house was empty. His neighbor said he was moving to California, and that he would be staying at his friends house in a neighborhood a few miles away. The neighbor didn't know the specifics, so I went and canvassed the neighborhood until I found the UHAUL and the dude. He wasn't happy to see me but he paid anyway.

The next morning he would have departed to California. I guess he could sense that if he didn't pay me his UHAUL might not have started in the morning, and what a pain it would be to have to transfer all that stuff over to a replacement truck so his original truck could get towed to the shop for...CROSSED PLUG WIRES!!!

LOL!!!!

K.B.

[Bob Minney]

I came back to this thread because I just finished my numbers for the year. Bad debt was .0035. I thought 1/3 of 1% was pretty good.

[walker-talker]

Originally posted by walker-talker
$280 from the owner of a real-estate management firm. He used to be the first to pay every month. The last bill of the season, last season, never paid.

MATT

I posted this earlier. Sent this guy a third bill. He called ASAP and apologized. "Other 2 bills must have been misplaced" and also said that he has no problems with my services in anyway, shape or form!

MATT

[HLC]

In my first year I grossed about $6000 (i only do this on the side). Only got stiffed for $35. Rich old b*&$#. After months of sending notices and trying to call her, finally got her and asked why she hadn't paid. She said that she couldn't even tell that i had been there. I asked way she hadn't called me to tell me that when she received my bills...she just hung up. She never intended to pay from the start.