4 Things to do If a Customer Doesn’t Want to Pay

Collections: What to Do When Someone Doesn't Want to Pay | legalzoom.com

Dealing with a customer who doesn’t wanna pay can be quite frustrating.

Whether the person is known to you or not, not paying after making an order makes us feel annoyed at them and distressed.

That fear of running a business at a loss or not in making enough profit to sustain your business and your family.

In this article, I’m going to share some of my tips on how you can deal with a customer who doesn’t want to pay.

1.  Confront them

Like any type of confrontation, it might end in good negotiation or end up badly.

You never know what an aggressive customer may do. The best thing to do is to ensure you have a well set Security System.

Be personally equipped with the necessary protective gadgets or equip your store with a surveillance camera to take the recordings of all the events in cases where you might require to prove liability to damages.

When confronting the person become and find the reasons why they don’t want to pay.

No seller wants to fall victim to a sale gone bad. Some customers may refuse to pay and on top of that, get aggressive and violent.

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After all, we want to get the best products at a pocket-friendly price.

2.  Negotiate

Negotiating may be a good idea to calm things down. Don’t get me wrong, by negotiation, I don’t mean you have to lower your price.

Negotiation may take the form of setting new term terms on hire purchase. Set an installment plan with your customer laying down the price and the payment terms.

You may also consider getting collateral or security as a guarantee of fulfillment from the customer.

Of course, enter into a hire purchase contract with anybody. Know your customer and all the relevant information about them before taking any steps.

Whether you choose to negotiate on different terms, get into a hire purchase contract, or secure the purchase using collateral, it is only right that you get the agreement and its terms well documented.

3.  Report

Another way to deal with non-paying customers is to report them.

The first step in reporting a non-paying customer is to inform your manager or superiors. In case of aggression and any type of violence, you may report the police.

The police will intervene and settle the matter out.

If you have an online store, you must ensure you have the proper identification of the customer. This information will help you if you intend to file a claim against the customer or report them.

Set your system right to avoid falling for e-commerce fraud.

4.  File a legal claim

Filing a legal claim will take two forms;

  • File a claim in a small claims court.
  • Instituting a civil lawsuit.

These are two similar legal redresses you can seek yet they operate very differently. Filing a claim in the small claims court is the lowest legal division where the parties need not have representation.

You can Institute a claim for as little money as possible. On the other hand, a civil lawsuit entails a large sum of money and may be much more costly to Institute.

The right form of legal action to take will depend on your situation and how much money or valuables is at stake.

How to prevent future non-payments

·        Write a contract

Legally speaking, a sale in itself is a contract under a sales and purchase agreement, however, when dealing with large transactions, it may be necessary to have a separate written contract.

·        Request for deposit

Another good way to prevent customers from failing to pay is by having them pay a small deposit. There should be some established form of trust between you and your customer for this to work.

·        Place a surcharge for late payments

On top of a deposit, you can place a surcharge for late payments. A customer will be forced to pay before the due date to avoid extra charges.

·        Offer discounts

To prevent customers from refusing to pay, you may extend offers and discounts. Nobody can turn down a good offer especially if they are getting a huge discount off.

Conclusion:

There are so many reasons why a customer might not want to pay for the goods and services rendered.

How you deal with a non-paying customer online is not the same as how you deal with a physical/traditional customer.

The listed points above should help you come down to what works best for you.