Advice please (non payment by customer)

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Hi I just looking for some help as this has never really happened to me.
The other Week I plastered a kitchen for some1 I done the job over 2 days the first day the guy was there the second he was away on buisness. I finished up and posted the keys back through the door (big mistake should of kept them)
He texted asking for my bank details the next day saying he would transfer money over. 2 days later no money I tried ringing sent a text etc then the following day he's phOne is cut off.
Its been 2 weeks now and no contact. I've been to his flat 3 times no 1 in but I can see through the letter box he has been there I've left letters etc.
He's basically trying to f*** me over.
I am tempted to kick in he's door and take all the plaster back but obviously I don't want to break the law for the sake of £360.
Any other ideas on what I can do?
Thanks graham
 
Get a form from the small claims court, fill it in, photocopy it and send the copy (recorded) with a letter attached explaining that if he doesn't settle within 7 days you will file the original form, which will cost him even more than he already owes :RpS_thumbup:
 
kick the window in and go in that way,or knock a load of bonding up and trowel the word cu.nt on the out side wall lol in big writing
 
this is where i always get a bit baffled by the whole small claims thing. if he has no contract, which i dont no if he does or not, what use is a small claims threat. most domestics arent signed and agreed
 
Dunno, and the lad (who has just finished a law degree) told me earlier that the threat can be seen as harrasment!! Fkin lawyers :RpS_cursing:
 
I got payment from a guy by simply walking up his drive with a 4ft crowbar..... I was only returning it officer :)
 
when i do jobs like that i tend to keep the keys till iv been paid
did u supply the gear ?
cos if u did the law says your within your rights to take it all off the walls till you have been paid for them (been down this road myself)
 
Money claim online.
Last time I did it, a claim for that amount cost about £30, which is added to the non payers bill.

If u get no response you can then get bailiffs etc. involved
If he lives on a council estate you've got no chance, but if he's a professional person he'll probably be scared of getting a CCJ and pay up.

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome
 
small claims court is your only way gtplastering,but it is a long drawn out affair,pay an initial fee,but if you win you can claim this back plus expenses etc,this can take months with no guarantee of success,and even if you win he could still not pay or plead poverty, and pay 10.00 quid a month or similair, i can understand your frustrations we have all been there, but my advice is do not do anything violent/damage his property or similair as much as you would like to,as this will just get you a police record and put off potential customers, be prepared for a long haul possibly 6/7 months before your case is heard at a small claims court,but do not let him get away with it ,pure scum these people, all the best hector.
 
this is where i always get a bit baffled by the whole small claims thing. if he has no contract, which i dont no if he does or not, what use is a small claims threat. most domestics arent signed and agreed

Thats partyly why I send estimates through email, when they then reply agreeing, its kind of a contract, not signed, but pretty good proof they agreed to it!
 
call round to his and if hes not in ram an old key in the keyhole and smash it off
 
I thought if you went down the small claims route you had to owed at least a couple of grand or it wasnt worth the legal fees, I could be wrong though, Sometime the threat of court is enough to get paid. or like dan says glue the locks, or s**t in his letter box. Best to use your dogs s**t purely for DNA purposes so you dont get busted......:RpS_thumbup:
 
you are getting over excited about £360, if the money is not paid into your account after about ten days. give him a phone call . or call round to find out if there is a problem.
do not piss about with small claims court you can get a judgement today and he can have it set aside the next day.
the last time this happened to me the man had died his daughter settled me up
 
Go when he will not be expecting you. Late Saturday night when he's sat watching TV, knock on his window and look in so he can't pretend he's out.

Ask him calmly if there was any problem with your work and if not why hasn't he paid.
 
as above. its a pain you should have to chase these selfish ignorant twa.ts but its self employment. you need to catch him to see why he has not payed (bereavement etc). if not, go into town, find the crack den and offer the debt to the skag heads less the materials. you don't want a crack head zombie rummaging through your house at 3am monday morning.
 
Go when he will not be expecting you. Late Saturday night when he's sat watching TV, knock on his window and look in so he can't pretend he's out.

Ask him calmly if there was any problem with your work and if not why hasn't he paid.
Shall he take his ladder?
 
Cheers guys thanks for all your replys.
Par of me wants to kick his c*** in but I'm gonna be professional and send a few letters etc then go through the small claims court.
 
If the debt was £750 or more....you could petition for his bankruptcy lol!
That would REALLY sh1t him up....
 
Haha, didn't see it was a flat. Yeah take a ladder unless its ground floor.:RpS_thumbup:
Ha, it would be funny though. To see his face when GT climbs up to sitting room window. I personally would do it on A Sunday afternoon, when he is most likely to have family visits.

What a **** though, I hate non-payers!
 
Recorded delivery invoice is first step giving 14 days notice of action if his being a prat.. Then on to small claims, done a few myself. No harm in catching him at home one night with a few of your mates round the corner for back up, just to have a polite word as mention earlier.. If all else fails nail his daughter and send him some pics !!
 
catch him in, prob sunday morning, bost the door in take the shotgun out of the bag and kneecap him then then s**t on his doorstep simples:RpS_thumbup:
 
Get an egg box full of grasshoppers or crickets from pet shop for about a fiver and post em through his letterbox. i done this a couple of times once was a computer shop that ripped me off i know a lad who worked there he said they got into everythin
 
Remove one of the windows carefully and fill the kitchen with ready mix concrete and put the window back :RpS_thumbup:
 
I got payment from a guy by simply walking up his drive with a 4ft crowbar..... I was only returning it officer :)


Nice dan

My brothers had a few directors/contract managers over the desk by the necks, for trying to go dark on him, one guy didn't think we'd travel all the way up to his office on a friday, and didn't think we knew where it was...The look on his face when we knocked on the door..
 
ive never really had to resort to physical action i dnt think all i have had to do in the past was i had the keys to the job and still haddnt been paid so i phoned and threatened to remove all thier tools and equiptment/ materials and the such and they wernt getting it bk till i had been paid, it was in my bank within the hour haha.
i also worked on the carpets for a year or so and the gaffer diddnt get paid so he offerd us all 4x our pay to break in to the site cut all the carpet up into strips and leave it all in the middle of the hallway just inside the doorway so it HAD to be cleard before anymore work could get done.
i know of a firm who went bust because they refused to pay the plumbers, well they had a key and let them selves in stole all the copper from the building pulled al the cables out and smashed the walls up, the contractor never recoverd from the loss and went belly up after that job
 
Too early to get annoyed. As said by others call a few times. Then small claims court. Its simple and easy. If youu have to attend you can get anyone from a judge to experienced solicitor or barrister hearing your story.
You have a contract with the guy you worked for, its verbal and obvious in the sense that you offered to do work for a price and he accepted. The fact that he has not replied is to your advantage sincer honest people explain why they have not paid. At this stage there is always the possibility that he intendes to pay and maybe some series of cock-ups have prevented it .. yeah unlikely but you might look daft if he has been run over by a bus and a relative is simply collecting his mail and not reading it. Keep cool and in all your correspondance remember that it might be read out in court by a judge who will take a dim view of nasty or intimidating language. Under no circumstances threaten removal of the plaster

Let everyone know how it ends up.
 
If all else fails, grow a beard, move to Cleckheaton and tell old people stories about the water monster that lives in the walls.
 
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