So appently asking for payment means that you get sued

[Captain Trips]

His first fail: getting a lawyer to threaten you with small claims court -- lawyers are NOT ALLOWED in small claims! So let him sue, he will bring his lawyer, the judge will tell the lawyer "get out of the room" and Mr. Millionaire will have to pay the lawyer's time for nothing.

Second fail: what jurisdiction? Small claims can only be filed in the jurisdiction of the infraction. So since you are providing the service, he needs to come to your locale to file, then come back to go to court. Wanna bet he'll no-show the trial?

Which leads to the third potential fail: if the defendant doesn't show to defend their case, the judgment is automatically for the plaintiff. There's no argument against your situation for the judge to hear, so they have to judge based on your side alone.

Let him sue. Or at least threaten. You can counter-sue for "non-payment." (Which a judge would find in your favor anyway, even if he showed up. Judges love to find against deadbeats -- rich ones even more so!)

[Blade_Raver]

It's been said a few times in this thread..

The reason why I refuse to go into business for myself to fix people's computers is because of jackasses who do shit like what you're experiencing right now.

I'd be too busy fixing stuff to even bother wanting to go to court.

I hope you get your money...

If you go to small claims court, you may want mention these as possible payment additions to the balance already owed:
(As was mentioned previously in the thread) Data storage fees
Electricity usage costs
"renting" your space for physical storage for his equipment
Parts of your phone/internet bill due to constant communication attempts.
Excess parts
Court costs
(The oh so typical) emotional/mental pain and distress (Due to non-payment, lawyer harrassment, etc.)
Shipping costs
Any penalties for unpaid bills due to his failure to pay for services.

[candyshopgirl]

So update kinda.

So we got another email from the lawyer, he did this after we had sent up a time to return the computer. We gave the computer to the lawyer, let the dumbass spend his own money to send it back to his client. Anyways the lawyer said that the idiot wanted to sue us for not only his computer but plane tickets and car rental to come up here. My hubby had a field day with this shit. He wrote back a very plain stern strong letter to basically, leave him the fuck alone or his was going to get a restraining order against the both of them. Also the dumbass said well he would testify that his already paid us, remember the expired amazon giftcard. Yeah this is after we told him time after time that it was expired, so we got no use out of it.
Me and the hubby was talking last night, we can't figure out if this guy is a ego manic or just a smug moron. we have yet to hear from either of them.

[protege]

What about charging storage fees? I'd be tempted to start telling SC that not only is payment due for work done, but that you will begin assessing a storage fee of X dollars every week/month/whatever. And that if payment arrangements have not been made within X time frame, then the computer will be considered abandoned property and will be sold to recoup losses.

Many local businesses, from garages to self-storage places have similar clauses. If you don't pay the rental for your storage unit, the facility can seize the contents, and sell it to recoup losses. Same with garages--I don't know about other states, but in PA, if you don't pay your garage bill...your car can be seized. With that said, if I had a business fixing computers, and if someone refused to pay me, I'd refuse to release their equipment until they did. Of course, I'd hit them with storage fees, and if things weren't paid after some time...I'd either scrap or sell the machine.

[MaseMan]

You should be using a collection agency. You won't get all the money back, but it will go on the idiot's credit report and the agency might get them to settle on it eventually.

You also need to take this as a lesson and start using written agreements. No work unless person agrees to pay $X.XX".

[LillFilly]

You should from now on have contracts, very specific ones, so you have all your ducks in a row and a stronger legal leg to stand on; he might argue that card was payment if he has proof he bought it, and could just say you hung on to it so long it expired! You need to prove you expect check/card payment by x date after services rendered and the unit will be shipped x days afterwards, with proof of shipping, yada-yada. Learned my lesson on E-bay after the first and only time of someone saying they never received their item; always do insurance/confirmation too.

[Kogarashi]

I would like to add to the recommendations of using contracts in the future, at least for new customers and recurring deadbeats. Go ahead and skip the contracts with close friends if you think it'll work, but definitely keep them for new people (since you don't know their penchant for paying on time or not yet) and for people who are frequently delinquent (like the moron in the OP). That way you're covered in writing when they default on the payment.

[wagegoth]

Definitely use a contract. There are plenty of free samples online you can copy. You might also consider paying a lawyer to draw one up for you. If you decide to go to a lawyer, make a list of what you want in the contract, such as you having the right to hold the equipment until the debt is paid, the minimum fee and how much is due up front, the right to sell the equipment after a certain amount of time if the fees are not paid, etc.

[JustaCashier]

.....we can't figure out if this guy is a ego manic or just a smug moron.

I'm sure Jester could come up with some very accurate and descriptive terminology as to what this guy is!


Mike

[Caractacus_Potts]

1. You will have to pay a fee to file
2. You will show up and present your evidence
3. The judge will rule in your favor
4. You rich guy will ignore the ruling and never pay you a cent and
5. Nothing will happen to him. You'll be out your filing fee and no richer.

5A. The defendant has one year to file an appeal.
6. After the year is up you pay another fee, go back to court and the judge issues an arrest warrant.
7. You pay several hundred dollars to have a deputy go arrest the guy and bring him to court in handcuffs.
8. Judge tells guy he will go to jail for contempt of court and his property will be seized and sold at auction to pay you and the court fees.
9. Guy shits his pants and cuts you a check for the original judgment and all additional out of pocket expenses.

At least that's how it went for me the one time I had to pursue a case for work, your results may vary and each state has its own procedures. Personally I have never had to take someone to small claims court. My steps are:

1) Send a registered letter stating your complaint and what you want for resolution. Provide a reasonable date by which you want to hear back from them.
2) If the date passes send a second letter. Include a copy of the first letter and a filled out but not signed small courts claim document. State that you expect to be contacted by (another reasonable date...I usually give them thirty days).

The few times I have had to do this I generally found a check in the mail before the second date passes or at least get contacted and negotiate some other satisfactory conclusion.

[wagegoth]

5A. The defendant has one year to file an appeal.
6. After the year is up you pay another fee, go back to court and the judge issues an arrest warrant.
7. You pay several hundred dollars to have a deputy go arrest the guy and bring him to court in handcuffs.
8. Judge tells guy he will go to jail for contempt of court and his property will be seized and sold at auction to pay you and the court fees.
9. Guy shits his pants and cuts you a check for the original judgment and all additional out of pocket expenses.

That depends on state laws, as they vary greatly.

[Caractacus_Potts]

His first fail: getting a lawyer to threaten you with small claims court -- lawyers are NOT ALLOWED in small claims!

While a lawyer is not required for small claims court there is no rule that you can not have a lawyer with you or even hire a lawyer to represent you so you don't actually have to go yourself. At least not in the two states I have lived in.

At least that's how it went for me the one time I had to pursue a case for work, your results may vary and each state has its own procedures.

That depends on state laws, as they vary greatly.

See how we think alike!

[Jester]

...he might argue that card was payment if he has proof he bought it, and could just say you hung on to it so long it expired!

Even if the Deadbeat were able to prove exactly that, it would be a semi-moot point, as the gift card, expired or not, was for $50, and the final bill for the computer repair services was $350. At most the Deadbeat could say he partially paid.

I'm sure Jester could come up with some very accurate and descriptive terminology as to what this guy is!

Of course I could. But why call a douchebag anything other than a douchebag?

[ShadowBall]

I agree on a contract for future customers. When I first began doing artwork for people, there were no contracts and I had just about everything stolen from me. once people got their pictures, they quit talking to me before they paid up. Now I have a contract that says in big words that the client will pay $XX per project/hour (whichever they prefer) and that I will do (desired work) and XX revisions, etc.

Maybe I'm too strict because I have not gotten replies from anyone since making my contract, but boy it keeps the scammers at bay. It doesn't sound like money is by any means an issue for these assholes - they just want to jerk you and your husband around for shits and giggles. They can go choke on a bag of infected dicks.

[Kogarashi]

I agree on a contract for future customers. When I first began doing artwork for people, there were no contracts and I had just about everything stolen from me. once people got their pictures, they quit talking to me before they paid up. Now I have a contract that says in big words that the client will pay $XX per project/hour (whichever they prefer) and that I will do (desired work) and XX revisions, etc.

Maybe I'm too strict because I have not gotten replies from anyone since making my contract, but boy it keeps the scammers at bay.

That's why when I do paid art for people, I send nothing more than a low-quality jpeg of the final product until I see the money. As long as I have written proof of that agreement, I don't worry about turning people down if they refuse to pay up.