I have a friend who is owed money,
but the girl just gives excuse after excuse
how would i get it over that the bill needs paying


Alan

AlanGibson71 wrote:

I have a friend who is owed money,
but the girl just gives excuse after excuse
how would i get it over that the bill needs paying


Alan

Hey Alan,

here's a thing that might help:

might it be that you let her get away with the excuses? maybe it's time to push her on her responsibility.

something that might help is to be flexible in the state you have when asking her.

you can go from subordinate to equal to dominant, in all directions. Look at what you're doing now. if you're asking her from a subordinate position you might try to do this from a more equal or dominant position..or the other way around.

Hope that helps

have fun

Bart

I have found these people helpful for advice Consumer Direct - Template letters in the past. I was once due a refund for some shoddy building work I had done and really struggled to get the money and this website helped alot.

If your friend doesnt want to get too formal with the person maybe detailing the consequences will 'unite' the requests for payment which will make them harder to dodge. Such as

"so, we agree that you will pay on Friday"

"Yes"

"Just in case it does not happen on the Friday for whatever reason, what do you see as my next step? What would you do if you were me?"

AlanGibson71 wrote:

how would i get it over that the bill needs paying

get it over to who the girl or your friend ? It's really his decision as to whether the bill needs paying and hers as to whether she's going to pay. You can influence both of course. If you want to influence her, and you say bill which kind of suggests a service has been provided and not paid for, then make her aware of consequences. I have been mostly very lucky with my clients and only ever not been paid when a company has gone bust which has only happened a couple of times. Some clients have taken their time though. I had one client who owed me thousands for over 9 months. In the end I wrote to the company secretary at his home address and the bill was paid. I think if you connect people with personal consequences things tend to happen faster. I don't know where you're from but you can get court poroceedings issued fairly quickly, this will separate most of the stragglers from the genuine non-payers. Whilst people are blissfully ignorant of consequences their behaviour comes easy. Turn up the heat a little.

Hello Folks
thanks for advice, i think i have a few angles to go at. if all else fails i will have to go court route hopeful this will not come to this

thanks for replies

Alan

AlanGibson71 wrote:

I have a friend who is owed money,
but the girl just gives excuse after excuse

Is there a written agreement?

If not, the money was a gift.

Hi Michael
The Money was an order she had got out of a catalogue. and although the amount is now under 100 pounds its become less of a priority for her.

thanks for the reply

Alan

AlanGibson71 wrote:

The Money was an order she had got out of a catalogue. and although the amount is now under 100 pounds its become less of a priority for her.

I'm not sure that that answers my question. Is your friend the vendor, or did he buy something from a catalog for her under the impression that she would pay him back?

If the former, there's no friendship to be lost between them anymore -- she destroyed that when she stiffed him -- and a small claims suit should rectify the issue.

If the latter, there's no friendship to be lost between them anymore -- she destroyed that when she stiffed him -- and a small claims suit should rectify the issue... IF she promised in writing that she would repay him.

Even an e-mail from her to him saying "I'm sorry I haven't paid you back yet for that thing you ordered for me" would likely do for a loan of a hundred pounds.

I would initially send them a letter saying that unless you are paid by a certain date (two weeks is about right) then you will go to the small claims court. Post the letter and get it signed for. On the very rare occasions that people don't then pay me I fill in the form for the small claims court and send them a copy. I attach a note saying something like "I will submit this unless the invoice is paid by 22 March 2010. You will then be liable for the court fees which will be £200" Give a couple of weeks for them to respond. I have only had to do this 4 times in 20 years, and only on one occasion did I have to submit the form. You can get a copy from. Making a Claim I can be very flexible if people have problems but sometimes it is just about shifting priorities.

Sometimes when a bill remains unpaid it is helpful to simply chalk it up as the price you paid to learn a lesson of some kind.