how long to wait before getting less polite?

One of my major customer hasn't paid couple of inovices totalling over £3000 which were due in mid March, intially they claim these were paid, but after checking records they admitted these weren't and should be paid immidiately, this was over a month ago, reminding them again politely over 2 weeks ago they said payment will be processed "tomorrow" and apologised for the delay, still no payment, and last friday another polite reminder sent still waiting to hear.

This is quite big organization so don't think they are planning to go bust or something, and previsly always good with payments. But not sure whats happening now, still waiting for the payment work done in Feb.

When do you think I should change my tone? or send less polite letter with 14 days notice? To be honest don't want to offend them or lose the business but can't aford to wait forever for the payment either. So looking for advice whether I should stay put or start chasing money as debt.

They aren't even bothered to explain why its taking so long.

Generally with large organisations, the accounts departments see their job as hanging on to the company's money as long as possible and will delay, distract and lie to achieve their aims. They usually have no influence over the purchasing department.  

Go in with guns blazing. Today!

Just tell them you need immediate payment this week or you will pass the debt on for collection and that all future work will be 100% up front. As there is no reason for them not paying for the last month they cant really have any objection to this.

I've done this to a couple of times to some bad payers, they paid up and are still customers to this day

Stop sending in the letters!  It is like you saying to a kid, I am warning you, do that again and you won't..... then when they do it, you just warn them again!

Go in to them and demand to talk with the finance director about money they owe you.  Why not send in a debt collector?

On a wider note, having a good clear credit control policy with clear escalation steps is always a good idea. What happens and when; it's clear for you and it's clear for the client too.

I think this is really good advice. You may also want to have someone else chase payment, if you are also making the sales.

Good credit control from the start and getting the clinet to sign an agreement to your payment terms from the start is essential. Also make sure your invoice is signed off and accounts have this. A good chaser aslo helps

With the companies that have gone to the wall in recent years I really wouldn't try and put any confidence in that statement. Of course I don't think anyone honest plans to go bust.

Good advice given and hopefully your problem will be resolved imminently.  In my line of business I could obviously write pages on this subject.  Remain polite at all times, even when escalating the action.  Get to the decision maker and do some fact finding - i.e. what is the real reason for non payment?  Listen more than you talk.  Obtain a commitment and confirm in writing.

In future, contact the customer as soon as the account is overdue, even before then to confirm that payment will be made on time (but there are different schools of thought on that approach) and ensure that all your customers understand your payment terms and expectations.  Professional credit management gains respect. 

Please contact me if you think I can help further.

Christine

No need to get impolite, just get firm! Instruct a third party such as ourselves (www.creditcontrolsupportwales.co.uk) that keeps the relationship with your customer sweet so you can do business again should you wish.

All our services can be accessed online so no hassle there and we're always on the end of a phone should you wish to talk things through.
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Alyson

This I think is juat how it is this year for me. I do the repairs to PC's and laptops and they are not picked up and paid for.

The price is well known and agreed to before work starts.

For me the loss is not to high, but chasing the customer is.

In the end when i say i will scrap the Pc and sell it on to recover my cost (with their data wiped) this can get them to talk to you.

This has only happened this year and I am in my sixth year.

My daughter's Equine vet has an escalation policy where the unpaid debt goes up in stages at 21 days, etc, where the interest starts adding on, sounds like a good idea to me!

Our vet gives a small discount if the bill is paid within 30 days.