And you don’t have to turn it over to collections. Customer dipped out on a 5k bill and I was genuinely thinking about taking 50% deposits because of them because I’ve gotten burned on these bigger projects before and am over it at this point.
Sent a few chatgpt prompted collection letters and that got the ball rolling without having to turn it over to my collections guy. Guess I might be able to get my oldest braces without heading to Mexico 
Yay! Happy for you, dude.
What was the project just out of curiosity? I do 2-5k size projects pretty much every week and I stopped taking deposits 10 years ago. Its just too much of a hassle. Literally nobody has ever not paid me. This is residential though. Hope I didn’t just jinx myself 
It was a residential property that had multiple level roofs/buildings. So multiple roofs, decks, and a large garage. The commercial people usually pay even if it’s later than id like
Weird. I can’t even really imagine a residential customer not paying. Like what was their explanation even? It’s strange behavior.
It’s a super long story involving a daughter with POA and 2 older parents (their house) who have Alzheimer’s/dimensia)
The dad was saying I didn’t do a good job, the daughter set everything up and was supposed to be my main contact because I don’t think the other 2 could even consent, he started freaking out saying I didn’t do things properly, the daughter took a step back and then tried to bail on payment or responding at all. Parents did the same. It was an absolute nightmare. I would never have touched the place if I had to deal with the parents but daughter assured me I would just need to talk to her as she had POA.
After I had sent texts, emails, and certified letters with invoice etc, (over time, not all at once) I sent the daughter a collections notice and then she wanted to negotiate the price. I told her that this price was what she had agreed to in the contract. I was fully prepared to hand over to collections and wash my hands with it but was able to get it resolved luckily and paid in full.
Did you consider going the lien route?
I did. I figured the sending to collections hail Mary was worth a try first though.
That’s awful man and I feel bad for them but it doesn’t excuse the daughter’s decisions. I’m really glad you got paid because court would have been messy and it would have been very hard to get paid promptly even with a judgment in your favor.
