i built something for a customer a couple months ago in good faith that i'd be paid for it (not shipped yet) and am still waiting for a payment, or even a deposit to show they still want the item. i've sent numerous pm's with little to no response.

what do you do when a buyer flakes for a custom one off part? am i stuck with a paperweight here? isn't it supposed to be the other way around? where did i mess this up?

 

I'm not your attorney or lawyer or anything like that, but if you've used other reasonable means to contact the customer (outside of a PM), you'd be able to sell that to another person to get your money back. You've resold it based upon anticipatory repudiation; meaning that you sold it to cover your costs because you anticipated that the customer would change their mind.

Next time you do that, what you want to do is to get a deposit as a measure of good faith if they're not willing to pay in full up front. They would then forfeit the deposit if they don't follow through (usually about 6 months), and you either keep the item, or ask that person for additional deposit as an assurance that you'll get paid in full.

 

Aaron, deposits are your friend. If they aren't willing to put down money on their own projects, why would you be willing to commit your time and resources to it? Hopefully it's not so unique that it cant be sold elsewhere.

 

Agreed. One thing I've learned from too many bad experiences... If they can't put down a hefty deposit (at least half of your estimate), they usually can't pay in full when it's done. Hopefully you're not out too much on materials and time :/

 

Atleast you still have it...There's a few "reputable" people on this board that have things built in good faith and months later still unpaid...but hey race car's are expensive i can understand the priority

I agree on the deposit's unless is a common item.

 

Agreed on all accounts.

 

I guess that would be the same as in my case pay up front, and get screwed over BIG TIME . Yes this a bike engine but no diffrent than a SC engine . Oh yes this was a new build and this is what i found after having a look at some things on the engine . Did I pay a lot for this YES did I get screwed very much so . lost a year and a huge pile of cash . Friends don't screw friends at least i thought so at the time . That is RUST AND YES THE PISTONS KISSED THE VALVES . Hum >TRUST< in this day and age trust means little and a persons word means even less . Went the get mad get madder want too get even too don't Give an F------------ too. I have much more life too live, and KARMA is some thing very much believe in . When she feels like it she will reach out and touch your live . And she is a very tuff bit---h too deal with . She is long on memory and long on time .

 

Always take a deposit and never pay in full.

 

this made me chuckle

 

Whats the product aaron?? Hell Id be honoured to own somethin you made lol

Did I mention I cant wait to see your Crx in person??

Personally I think you should always get a deposit (25% atleast) if your gonna make something custom

 

Aaron,

You talking about kutsu? The s2000 guy?

 

+1

best thing to do is convince the customer that they need to pay for the supplies beforehand..

 

Ditto, always get material cost as the deposit. Labor when its done

 

I swear every time i don't get some sort of deposit i always get screwed. Now i always give a quote and ask for 50% up front for materials.

 

I always get 1/2 down then 1/2 on compleation.. Iv learned the hard way as well, just reciently made a t4 merge collector for a guy then he flaked on me, and wouldn't answer his phone or PMs
GL

 

I would like to know what the part is!

Whenever I take something to get done I like to pay as much as I could at the get go, unfortunatly 1 time it didnt go so well and I lost a block. Ohwell thats life, I still went back to the builder and had him do another block, this time I paid and everything was still good.

Most of the time shops require 50%down, maybe you should do the same or do it by customer!

 

Always take down all of their information, send them an invoice with the price and terms of payment and have them sign it. You then have completed a contract which they are bound to and you can sue them for a breach of that contract. I think the law is anything >$500 it does not require a writing and word is all you would need. You would just need proof that the contract existed. I always would recommend getting it in writing to cover your ***.

It goes the same for not custom pieces. If you have something for sale ie: gt40r on here. And someone says they will buy it at said price on a certain date. They have just entered themselves into a contract and if they back out you can technically sue them.

Contracts law is very complex, I would reccomend reading into it being a business owner.

 

Well if you have a signed invoice and they don't pay .. A lawsuit will likely cost more then its worth for anything under 4-5k if they are out of state (at least this was our experience). If its just a couple grand, you can sell the debt to a collection agency. This way at least even if you don't get paid you get to feel fuzzy about ruining their credit. You can just write it off as bad debt anyways.

 

Thats what Judge Judy is for lol!

Good point, I guess I didnt take into consideration that I have a few lawyers in the family. Debt collecter is you next best bet. We used one of them at my old job, quite often. It really depends on the value of the item you're suing for. If you take it to small claims court you wouldn't even need a lawyer. Especially if you already had a contract. It would be a straight forward case.

 

Small claims is useless, even if you win you are usually tasked with finding out their bank info so they can garnish wages. No bank will tell you that info so you're pretty much screwed if the guy doesnt want to pay for it. A good buddy of mine is going through it now and he's out $3800. Collection agency would probably be the best since it can ruin their credit.

I just take half up front so Im not screwed out of money for the supplies. 9 out of 10 the person will come back since they now have money invested.

 

stuff happens.

 

give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

This society is plagued enough by dousche bags that have been given the benefit of the doubt...... It's too easy to get away with shady **** now adays

 

x2

I've ran several group buys on good faith and a large gauging interest list and only about 20-35% of the people come through. Its discouraging to people who invest time in parts. Especially for cars that dont get much attention and all they do is bitch that no one makes anything for them.

 

much agreed about small claims. thats going to be a waste of more money right there. ive been there and was rewarded like $1500. never saw a dime of it either. that was around 6 yrs ago. i would say a collection agency. shows up on their credit and then they are more than likely going to pay to get it off their credit.