With the millions of amazing customers in the world!

You're going to get some bad eggs!

Sometimes you can tell and structure your quote accordingly in the hope not to get the job.

Other times you find out at the last minute - which also happens to be the time the invoice gets sent.

Some of the reasons a customer doesn't want to pay the invoices are completely ridiculous!

“I didn't expect you to make such a mess” “There is dust everywhere”

You asked for all cables to be chased in the wall! I don't know how I was supposed to do it without making a mess!

“I didn't think the extras would be that much”

I quoted for 2 sockets and you asked for 8 extras!!!!!!

You can get into a sticky situation sometimes.

This podcast will help you deal with those customers or even help make sure it never happens.

Tool box Talk For Electricians Helping electricians reduce stress, gain back time and earn more money.

Good morning, I'm your host of tool box talk for electricians Ben Poulter.

As mush as you hope it never happens to you, it just does one day and you never see it coming!

In this podcast Im going to tell you some stories of customers who have tried to not pay the invoice along with a solution to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

There was a customer where I really didn't see it coming, we got on so well from the first time we met when I wired his extension.

As like many customers they ask you for the best price because they have a number of houses and a business where they also need an electrician.

I had been doing work for him for around 2 year, every invoice was paid in full without question.

Then one day I was asked to just pop into the shop, there was something not working right.

This appliance was around 10 years old, it had seen better days.

You could repair it, but the cost of the repairs was going to be the same as a new one.

When I suggested buying a new one, I could tell they didn't like that.

But I had to go out my way to go and test it, so I charged my normal fee.

He got the invoice because I spoke to his wife a few weeks later.

I popped into the shop too, but again it never got settled.

In this situation I decided to put it down to experience as I knew he would never call me again because he didn't want to pay the invoice.

A year went by.

I heard nothing from the customer, no payment or not phone call for any more work.

Until I went and bumped into him at a party! The worst time too, as I had had a few beers and I do have a big mouth.

Well that day he paid me in cash. I still don't do any work for him, but I'm not out of pocket anymore.

The lesson I learnt from this was to always tell the customer what it's going to cost, If it's a call out £55 for the first hour and £35 after that.

May if you feel the need with a new customer get them to sign a contract or just confirm it via email.

This way if a job totals up, you have some evidence of the agreement.

Builders can be a great contact to have in your network.

They are forever doing extensions and always require a good electrician, if the builders get on with you, they're going to put a lot of work your way.

Again, you get some bad eggs - Cowboy builders.

I got a call one day from a builder, someone who I had never met or ever heard off.

They were building a house on a plot of land and needed a spark.

As an electrician, its a dream to wire a new build, everything is fresh and you and make things nice, neat ands tidy.

Basically do your best work as it's all brand new.

I got the drawing from the builder and emailed him a quote.

He agreed on the quote. I normally ask people to sign the quotes, but these days confirmation from an email is fine.

The house was up and the roof was going on, perfect time for me to jump in and 1st fix.

Boom - Banged it out in a week

All boxes on, all lights wired

All cables clipped, along with TV points too - I was well happy.

I worked hard mind you all week, hard working electricians are hard to come by these days.

As stated in the quote, 50% of the invoice was due. This would cover all the cable and some of the wages, so a good start.

I normally give it a week before following up, but there was no answer on the phone.

I gave it another week and nothing. Now I got on well with the builder and everyone on site, so i popped in to see him.

Of course the main man wasn't there, but the project has not stopped, boarding was happening.

The gang of lads building were a little cold with me, when we had a good laugh before.

I get it, he's not going to pay!!

Another week of emails and calls with no luck.

This is where I came up with a plan, it was complete bollox - but I had to try something.

Small claims court is a nightmare.

I left the builder a voicemail.

“I'm just giving you the heads up. I have tried to recoup some of the losses on the job and sold all the copper cable to travellers.”

I told them where it is and to just take it all.

As the cable isn't paid for, I assume you don't want it.

Any problems give me a call.”

The same day that invoice was paid! Then in the evening I had a text asking If I had let the travellers know not to visit the site.

Well that was easy, I never even asked any.

I never 2nd fixed the new build and never heard from him again.

I have told that story a few times, he is known to do it to all trades!

The lesson I learnt there was to ask around with other trades, if a builder finds you on google its a bit of a red flag.

Think about it, he's a builder. He is bound to know someone who can recommend an electrician.

The funny thing is that travellers have a reputation of not paying. I have done a lot of work for travellers over the years and never had a problem. It is all pound notes too.

This next one is very funny - but I swear it was illegal.

It was a pub renovation, basically the bare minimum to get it open.

Still a big job for all trades.

It was all done in stages, so again stage payments were made.

The final invoice I sent was for around £190.

Now compared to all the work done, the last payment of £190 was noting - but I hate it when people think they can ignore you and just not pay - its rude.

So again - I didn't let it go.

I did however leave this one a while, the pub wasn't open so I assumed he had either run out of money or just mega busy.

But the pub opened and was a big success, packed in the day and in the evening, they must have been drawing in enough to pay my last invoice.

I called in to see the landlord, he wasn't there, and also didn't answer my calls.

Action was needed to be taken.

I supplied some fancy lights, pretty expensive ones too. 5 of them would come to more than the invoice.

So i took them down and put them in the van, when doing so a chippie turned up for his payment too.

He was a big fella and looked angry, When I mentioned the landlord ignoring me he unplugged the till and walked out.

The barmaid was shocked and I was pissing myself. It was all on camera so I'm not sure what happened, but I had to take the lights back to the wholesalers to get my money.

If you think what I did was out of order, at least I didn't take the till.

At the end of the day tradesmen work for a living.

We do the work to get paid to feed out family, when you get ignored for payment it does wind people up.

I have seen builders rip walls down, landscapers rip the garden apart, plumbers pull the boiler off the wall and leave water pouring out.

If a customer is planning on not paying, just don't bother to get the job done.

It never all doom and goom, I had customers let me take there Porsche for a spin.

Invited to family parties of customers

I even have a customer making me a woollen jumper by hand.

These are the types of customers who make it all worthwhile and want you to meet new customers every day.

So keep growing your customer base in your business by using email nails to keep in contact.

I will leave a link to 10 email nails below that you can use in your business too.

Until next time