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Dead Beat customer

tcorn1965

tcorn1965

New Member
Where I come from, go to DA, they put out a warrant, the bond is the amount of the check was written for and they have to cash bond...no bondsmen allowed; you get your money as soon as they are picked up (if they want out). I have even gone as far as sitting outside their house and when I see them take off I call the cops and follow them with details on where they are at! After they bond, I usually have my money within 3 weeks.
 
S

Slamdunkpro

New Member
G-Artist said:
Technically it is your property until paid for in full.
Click to expand...
Not in Maryland, once it's installed and you leave the premise it's theirs.Try to repossess it and you're on the hook for grand theft. Since the customer has paid something, Maryland considers it a civil issue.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
No where in the US of A, have I ever heard of.... you can go back and take down your signs since they haven't been paid for yet. If they're your signs.... then YOU didn't pay for them.

Once they are installed, they belong to the person who ordered them. Not you. Why on earth would you order signs from yourself with some other person's name or business name on them and then go install them on the other guy's place of business ??

Any of you going out and taking signs down off of other people buildings or property are darned lucky you weren't arrested for trespassing and theft... let alone a whole bunch of other crimes.

It's not the other person's fault you're lousy at collecting overdue payments or getting deposits upfront. Just because you're no good a doing the business end of your own business does not give you the right to play cops and robbers.

You... like anyone else must follow the rules of the land. It might be slow and you might not get much in the end, but two wrongs won't make you the victor in these cases.... just lucky if you got away with it, but for the love of God... don't be telling others to break the law such as you have done.
 
beyondgraffix

beyondgraffix

New Member
Thank you everyone for the great advice. I wish i could take the sign back, but it was a wrap installation for another sign shop. I'm definatly gonna do the DA thing though.

Once again thank you sooooo much for all the advice.
 
ProWraps

ProWraps

New Member
in the begining we got burned several times on installations by national companies. now, its cash up front for installations only. no cash, no install. thank you drive through.
 
P

pointjockey

New Member
No No Gino if you were in GA you would be dead wrong.

Gino said:
No where in the US of A, have I ever heard of.... you can go back and take down your signs since they haven't been paid for yet. If they're your signs.... then YOU didn't pay for them.

Once they are installed, they belong to the person who ordered them. Not you. Why on earth would you order signs from yourself with some other person's name or business name on them and then go install them on the other guy's place of business ??

Any of you going out and taking signs down off of other people buildings or property are darned lucky you weren't arrested for trespassing and theft... let alone a whole bunch of other crimes.

It's not the other person's fault you're lousy at collecting overdue payments or getting deposits upfront. Just because you're no good a doing the business end of your own business does not give you the right to play cops and robbers.

You... like anyone else must follow the rules of the land. It might be slow and you might not get much in the end, but two wrongs won't make you the victor in these cases.... just lucky if you got away with it, but for the love of God... don't be telling others to break the law such as you have done.
Click to expand...
 
Rustyrussell

Rustyrussell

https://www.austinsignco.com/
Start charging in advance.

Do the legal D.A. Stuff , But learn something and start charging in advance. I always have 10 to 20 work orders and all of them are paid in advance. Only 2 or 3 accounts that we will accept delayed payment from , Mostly state and school districts.
 
P

pointjockey

New Member
who mentioned a van? For a $55 filing fee you can retrieve any physical property thats not paid for. If you are chasing down Labor its much more difficult...if the nut actually paid you with a bad check he/she is toast. Have only had one dead beat and he stood there along side a County Sheriff as we removed it from the building.

ProWraps said:
i doubt that. gino is absolutely right. you go remove a wrap from a van, and see what happens.
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Edserv

Edserv

New Member
Bad checks suck.
We're trying to get cc's up front as a policy for new customers.
Our internet site only accepts payment prior to orders. I think most people expect to pay for things up front.
Credit, in my opinion, is becoming a thing of the past. Back when we used to have land-lines, newspapers, and mullets.

Chris
 
G-Artist

G-Artist

New Member
Gino, for being a merchant member you sure don't know much about merchant law, the UCC or anything, do you?

Once you "sell" the sign and there is a balance due you are now a CREDITOR and creditors have rights under the law. One of them is repossession!!!

As a creditor, you have "security" interest in the property. You are in fact "loaning" money. I'll assume for the moment that all the proper boilerplate language is on the invoice, which was signed by the person ordering the merchandise, or was a seperate writing thereto.

The terms of the loan, a.k.a. 'credit', is governed by the laws of the specific state wher the transaction took place. Those laws are what determine a creditor's rights.

Here's a blurb from the Legal Services Network of Connecticut (legal aid)

What can creditors do to me if I do not pay my debts?

The actions that creditors can take depend on the kind of debt it is.

1 If you are behind in paying rent, your landlord can take legal
action to try to force you to move.

2 Utility companies can cut off service if you do not pay,
except during winter months (November 1 - May 1) if you
are a “hardship” case. (See the Legal Aid pamphlets, Rights
of Utility Customers and How to Keep Year ‘Round Utility
Service).

3 If you owe money on a “secured purchase” – something that
can be “repossessed” by the seller – you must pay on time to
avoid the risk of losing the purchase before you are finished
paying for it.

4 If you owe money on something that cannot be repossessed,
the creditor may take legal action against you to try to collect
the amount you owe. If he or she wins the case, you may be
ordered to pay a certain amount a week. If you do have to
defend yourself in court, you will probably need advice from
a lawyer.
 
dwt

dwt

New Member
Any time I take a delayed payment i have the customer write out a check each installment due when the work order is signed. Personal drivers license for enforcement purposes and NO post dating but I will delay deposit until the specified time of agreement. If the client tries to screw me it's theft of services.
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
To avoid situations like this in the future, don't do signage for Menard's unless you don't mind waiting 5years for payment. Apparently they use their contractors as a credit line to get stores up n' running, and eventually re-negotiate payment to those pressing the issue, to include a portion of it paid out in gift certificates.

I apologize if anyone takes offense, but I wouldn't mention it if it only happened to us.
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Once again the coven of incisive legal minds shoveling on this sand pile fail to comprehend the difference between criminal and civil issues.

Law enforcement enforces the law, not contracts.

Someone stiffing you is a contractual issue, a civil matter. Removing that sign you made without due process is a criminal matter. Your local constabulary cares not a whit for civil issues other than serving and complying with various court orders, it's only concerns are criminal matters.

You repossess a sign. To law enforcement you are stealing it and off to the slammer you go. They have no interest civil matters like any claims of non-payment without any attendant due process, like a court order.

However if you get a court order, law enforcement will assist you in your repossession efforts. Even then, what do you have? A useless sign in which you have invested time and materials for which you're never going to see a dime. Is it really worth it? The object is to collect your money, not repossess the sign.
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
^^ agreed to the reposession comment. I've brought up that same suggestion before to my boss and he swiftly shut me down... that it was a waste of time, not worth our extra effort, and ILLEGAL. it sucks, but technically its still their property... or at least its ON their property, and I doubt your allowed on it if your intentions are to take down their sign.

I once sold a big screen TV on craigslist, check bounced after they picked it up, I know where he lives, and I can't do crap about it but wait for the legal process to follow through... which takes money out of MY pocket while I wait. I should have become a lawyer. All the fees over the years would have simply paid for my own college.
Anywhere you go, the work is only 10% of your pain... the other 90%?
...collecting payment.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Ha Ha G….. you’re a funny one. :ROFLMAO:


Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I can tell you this much…. I ain’t pretending to know the law. It’s happened and I’ve dealt with things like this on & off over 35 years in various ways. Luckily it doesn’t happen often, but the one time I went back after a deadbeat, I was almost arrested for trespassing, removing stolen property in my possession, criminal harm towards the owner, and some other bodily criminal charge… just for standing there. I didn’t have a gun or nothing, but the mere presence of my being there was considered criminally threatening and bodily harm. I was on the phone with my lawyer and he said get the Hell out of there as fast as possible or I can’t help ya, because I don’t do criminal law and that’s just what gonna happen to you.

Our method is now collecting 50% deposits and making sure we have the money/balance before we install the signs if we feel uneasy about the customer. I’m not in the banking or repossessing business and I don’t have the legs to run like I used to when confronting Dickheads like we’re talking about.

We’ve sued a few clients and one had to wear a bracelet on his ankle for about 6 years until his debt was paid off. He gave me counterfeit bank documents and we still couldn’t take the signs down. In fact, the sign is still up to this day and looks great, although there hasn’t been anyone in the building for almost 8 years. It took close to two years of his trying every trick in the book to get out of paying.

No…… liens, lawsuits and sheriff’s sales against a business is about the only thing one can do to make a deadbeat’s life a mess. The outcome all depends on how much money you’re willing to sink in to it and how good his attorney is.

Oh, and don’t take the term Merchant Member’ so literally, G. That’s a title I received for the method in which I signed onto this site. I didn’t pick it because of my knowledge or lack of in any particular area.


One last thought, G. Have you ever used any of those methods or pamphlets you wrote about there… or is that something you just found on the internet ?? My experiences were all tried by yours truly and have been tried out by yours truly. I don’t write fiction.
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