Business Matters

Cleaning professionals weigh in on collecting bad debts and protecting themselves with waiver-of-responsibility forms

Question:

We are having trouble collecting on some of our accounts. Does anyone have suggestions on how to collect some of these outstanding bills? Do you use a third-party collection agency? Many of these accounts are small, but together they add up.

Answers:

We get all money upfront.

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We use the phone and start off nice. After 30 days, it’s just a reminder call. Then a week later, we make a call with a little more effort. Then we start sending letters. After three weeks late, we send a final notice.

If that doesn’t work, I go to their home at supper time and ask nicely. It’s your money, and you have a family to feed, too. I think after a while you get the feeling who you need to ask for the money upfront. The ones who ask to charge are usually OK; the ones who just take the bill and run are the ones to watch.

If you ask for the money upfront and they get upset, tell them it’s not personal – just company policy. Sometimes it’s not the best idea to let them know you’re the owner or they start to deal. I like to give everyone a chance, but if you stiff me, I let other contractors know. It works well sharing with others, and it reduces the chance of getting ripped off. Don’t forget: When they call, get all the information on them that you can.

Question:

Does anyone use a waiver that a customer signs before any drain cleaning is done? It would state that the company is not responsible if the cable breaks or gets stuck, or if the cable damages the pipe. We are in the process of putting something together before it does happen.

Answer:

(Response from Peter Morici, The Drain Biz, www.drainbiz.blogspot.com) A commonly misunderstood point is that once the waiver is signed, the contractor has been relieved of any possible damages created during the performance of repair work. This is not the case.

Many companies use waivers of responsibility, but a waiver that protects you in the event that you get drain equipment stuck in a pipe has little or no value, unless it’s under a very narrow range of conditions. The facts are: You are the expert; you should anticipate those possibilities and you are responsible.

The waiver you should use is one that covers pre-existing damage on the work site when you arrive, prior to doing any work. Examples include: cracked toilets, damaged floors, wet hardwood floors, ceilings and walls damaged by overflows, cracked bathtubs, something that’s already disassembled when you arrive, and customer disclosures of prior problems.

Perhaps you can add situations like blowing out a rotted trap like under a tub, below a floor or inside of a wall. Those are hidden and unforeseeable areas where the materials may be degraded over time, that could be inadvertently damaged during the normal course of drain cleaning, through no fault of the operator.

Even though these may in fact get you stuck, the cause is arguably beyond the workman’s control. But that’s a very specific situation. To use a waiver, one essentially makes a list, walks the customer through the work site to show them the damage, and the customer then signs the waiver, acknowledging that prior damage.

You have now created a documented “meeting of minds.” Now, the customer can’t hold you accountable for that pre-existing damage, but you’re not allowed to make it worse unnecessarily, either. There should also be a clause about unforeseen damages, like degraded piping materials and connectors and improper installation. Common items such as tree roots and foreign objects blocking a drain are not unforeseen. They are typical causes of stoppages that any professional encounters daily.

However you cut it, a waiver is designed to protect a company from unscrupulous claims, not to protect the company from damage caused by poor workmanship, improper tools and techniques, or overly aggressive drain technicians trying to open a drain.



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