Life is Funny

Today I had a little verbal altercation with a customer.

Our normal policy is to give 30 days on our invoices, and after that they become past due, and the customer risks having their account suspended.

This particular customer has been with us for 8 years, so we let him go to the 60 day mark.  At that point we contacted him about the arrears, and he told us that the person who pays the bills is gone until next month, and that payment would be made then.

We patiently wait a month, and then 9 days after the person was to return, we send them an email reminder about the amount due. We also mention that we’ve been patient to this point, but we cannot wait any longer.

Well that’s it, the customer is now pissed off.  They tell us that if we are not interested in doing business with them, that they’ll find someone else who will.

I have only two questions:

#1 What business will they be going to that does not expect to collect payments on invoices that are 3 months old?  Are we the only one that thinks that a customer should pay a 3 month old invoice?

#2 Are we out of line for wanting to collect payment and being upfront on it when its 3 months old? Are we the only one in the industry who does that?  I figure that if we cater to our customers, and give them what they want, isn’t it fair to expect a payment in return?

Do I have this all wrong? As a business, are we suppose to give to our customers, whatever they want for free?  Or are we suppose to ask “pretty please, with sugar on top, can you pay your 3 month past due invoice?”

Why must we beg for money that is owed to us?

I understand that sometimes people fall on hard times, or they have employees that have temporarily left the office, but this is not the case here. They were a month overdue the first time, we said nothing. Then they were 2 months overdue, and they said “wait another month until the person returns”. I did that too..

Now its the 3rd month, and we’re asking for payment, and we get back “If you are no longer interested in our business, we’ll find someone else who is..”

What kind of pig headed comment is that to make? I cannot stand customers who owe money and get offensive about it.