hey steve

[tamwham2]

texas

i sent this apartment community notice to pay up (1475.00) with in 10 days. no reply so i had pre-paid legal send a lawyer letter that i will procede to small claims court if payment wasn't made in 10 days.

the day before i was going to file, i called the manager telling her i was going to file and to see if she was going to pay or not (giving her one last chance). "check was in the mail" she said. 10 days later i got my check. the manager sliced some of the prices of the invoices ($5.00 here, $10.00 there). she shorted me $112.00 - i guess she was tring to "get back"

i want to pursue this, but it would sound so petty to a judge ( i assume ), for this little bit of money thus making my company look bad.

but i am mad, i hate to think she was getting away with screwing a small company and i wonder who else she may have gotten away with this.

maybe i should drop it

any thoughts on this matter steve?

 

[DRUSS1964]

I run my own small business to and have to deal with apt managers very often couple of questions
Do you have copies of the invoices and are they signed it helps to have them signed it shows the work was ok'd
If it was me I would send a letter with a balance due notice with luck you will recieve it if not then you have to decide how much your time is worth if I had to spend half a day in small claims court the money I would not be earning while there would be more than double what you could win in court give up 250 for 112 is bad business you still loose
I have one customer who has owed me for over a year it is 70.00 dollars
I all ready lost her as a customer but if I go after it I stand to loose all the referals I got from her that I still do work for I can write off the 70 dollars but can not write off the lost customers
just remember if a customer likes the work you di they may tell a few people they know if you get them mad they tell everybody they can evn the ones they do not know

if you want to pursue it just to make her pay see if there is a collection company you can sell the bill to you will not get much in return but they will bug her and be a little annoying pain to her which is most likely what you want anyway
It is better to kept the company name good

 

[JETX]

Tam:
I assume you were directing this post to me.

If so, no one can judge how important the $112, or the 'tick off factor', is to you.

One important thing to consider (if not too late). Did the check they send have an 'exclusionary endorsement' like "Paid in Full", etc.???

If so, you have a decision. If you accept and deposit the check with the endorsement intact, they can make the claim that the issue is settled. If you decide to challenge them for the remaining $112.00, you can either mark out the endorsement and not 'no restrictions' or return the check to them as 'unacceptable.

Personally, at this point, I would certainly write them a letter telling them that you do not accept their deductions (and include check if above). Tell them that they are still indebted to you for the disputed amount and that they either need to pay or they can explain their actions to the judge.

Either that or just accept the 'hit' and move on with life.

 

[tamwham2]

steve,
i deposited the check, no statement as "paid in full"

i called the manager, i told her i was still taking her to court, and that i had very good doucumentation and she would be very embarresed if she showed and we would leave it to the judge.

she said "bring it on"

i think she is calling my bluff ( i don't think her supervisor knows what is going on. i have left messeages and wrote a letter to the supv and owner with no reply )

sounds like she dosent' think i will take her to court. which makes me want to more.

hey, thanks for listening and your help now and in the past.