Bad buisness practice what would you do???

These instances have been weird. But i have seen about 3 where someone bills you about 1 year after service. Example a local contractor did a job and i paid him the last day (so i thought) Months later he came up with a bill for some parts/items used (i paid it) but heavens 9 months later????? Seen two more similar things is the a local thing or an oddball way to do things. I would think one would figure the total bill and be done???? Another one was a company sent out bills on old stuff that people had paid but they claimed they had made a billing error example you had four tires put on your car last fall and get a bill this spring for labor!!!! What would you do????? On that one they did not push it if people did not pay.

I would ask them what they think about you paying a year after the fact, and leave it at that.

(quoted from post at 19:24:40 01/24/13) These instances have been weird. But i have seen about 3 where someone bills you about 1 year after service. Example a local contractor did a job and i paid him the last day (so i thought) Months later he came up with a bill for some parts/items used (i paid it) but heavens 9 months later????? Seen two more similar things is the a local thing or an oddball way to do things. I would think one would figure the total bill and be done???? Another one was a company sent out bills on old stuff that people had paid but they claimed they had made a billing error example you had four tires put on your car last fall and get a bill this spring for labor!!!! What would you do????? On that one they did not push it if people did not pay.

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Get a receipt, make sure it's marked "Paid in Full"

I'm a contractor. Well over 99% of my work is done at a contract price. The exceptions would be extra work above and beyond what the contract calls for that the customer has approved. Another would be for concealed damage that is discovered during the course of completing the contract work and needs to be repaired prior to completing or in conjunction with the contract work. Sometimes I'll give the customer a firm price on the extra work. I don't normally run into concealed damage that I haven't figured in my contract price.

I don't know what your arrangement was with your contractor. If you hired someone without getting a firm price in writing then you're fair game for him to try to collect. Unless he had placed a lien on your property he'd have a tough time collecting if you had opted to not pay him. It may vary by state but here a contractor has 90 days from the last day he did work that added value to your property to place a lien.

At any rate is was bad business for him to bill you 9 months later. Sounds to me like you needed to hire a better contractor. There are lots of guys that can do good work, but few are good businessmen. Next time you need to hire a contractor insist on a written contract. A good contract will protect both you and the contractor. If your contractor won't give you a written contract you need to find a new contractor.

As far as getting billed for additional money for tires months later.... another case of lousy business practices. I guarantee the tire dealer would have been money ahead to eat his mistakes rather than bill his customers for additional money after the fact. He might as well forget about them ever setting foot in his shop again. And those disgruntled customers will tell everyone they know so he'll lose a bunch of potential customers as well.

Someone mentioned having the contractor write paid in full on the receipt. I don't normally do that. When we settle up if a customer asks, I'll write paid, the amount, the check number, and date on the bottom of the contract.

Send them a blank check tell them to put in what they think you owe. Don't sign it. Just tell them to return the check and when you have the time you will sign and return it.

If in Calif. take them to the automotive repair board and get the whole thing for free, my Freind did that.
Walt

I had surgery to repair a cut tendon in my finger a few years ago. Insurance didn't cover everything. The bills trickled in over several months. After 8 or 9 months we got what we thought was the last bill.Nope, it was something like 15 or 16 months after the surgery when I actually got the last bill. They blamed the delayed billing on the insurance company.

I bought a wrecker bed from a chevrolet dealer years ago.A year after i bought it my bank called and said the chevy dealer was trying to cash the year old check.I called the dealer and was told the salesman that sold the wrecker bed to me just put the check in his desk and a few months later got another job,and they just now found it.I told them to cash it.

If you legitimately owe them the money, paying them is the moral and upstanding thing to do, no matter how long it has been, no matter who made the mistake. Two wrongs don't make a right.

If they're cash-strapped and desperate, and trying to shake you down for some money with bogus charges, then you tell them where to stick it. There's nothing they can do to make you pay that won't cost them even more money. They're broke so a lawyer's out. They're not going to take you to small claims court because they'd lose. They're just hoping your memory is fuzzy enough that they can soak you for a quick buck.

Agreed, if they call tell them you don't want to waste another stamp in case they send you another bill.

(quoted from post at 11:24:40 01/24/13) These instances have been weird. But i have seen about 3 where someone bills you about 1 year after service. Example a local contractor did a job and i paid him the last day (so i thought) Months later he came up with a bill for some parts/items used (i paid it) but heavens 9 months later????? Seen two more similar things is the a local thing or an oddball way to do things. I would think one would figure the total bill and be done???? Another one was a company sent out bills on old stuff that people had paid but they claimed they had made a billing error example you had four tires put on your car last fall and get a bill this spring for labor!!!! What would you do????? On that one they did not push it if people did not pay.

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Somethings rotten in Denmark. I agree with others who think these businesses are in trouble and trying to soak people for extra money.

Labor for tires? For a car or pickup that's always been charged as mounting and balancing. But even on say tractor tires if they tried to bill me a yeat later I'd some em where to door is.

I got some seed 2 years ago. About 2 months later the place called me and said they had undercharged by about 50 bucks a bag, said right our it was their error. I told em that I ask, they gave a price, I paid cash and a deal is a deal. Told em they made 2 errors, one on giving the wrong price and the 2nd one was trying to shake me down for their mistake. I've switched suppliers.

Rick

Some years ago we received a bill from the hospital for two or three hundred dollars, it was not itemized, more like a late notice. We inquired about but they insisted it was legit, and since we could not find anything in our records to refute their claim, we had to pay.
Oh, yes, did I mention that this coincidentally happened at the same time they were beginning an expansion project to the tune of several million dollars?

Wife and I were shopping for laminate flooring. We looked over all the different qualities and prices. Decided what we wanted. Went to the sales desk for them to write up our order. When they were done, the price seemed too low for what we expected. Three times we ask them are you sure that is the correct price? Three time they assured us it was correct. When they called us to pick up our order a few days later they had the wrong laminate. Said this was what we had paid for. We corrected them and told them what we ordered and had paid for. They finally provided us with what we had ordered and paid for. Did someone screw up? Yes I believe the salespeople wrote it up wrong, but I gave them three different opportunities to check their priceing and made the deal. They lived up to it , as they should have.

The old guy who ran the hardware store in town was more than famous for that kind of thing if he ever billed anybody at all. Dad worked for the school district for a lot of years and they'd go in there to get things for different government funded special projets. It took him so long to send a bill that the program would have run out and there was no money to pay him.

After he died his son and daughter remodeled the store. A cousin's husband did a lot of the work. He said when they started moving things around back near where the old counter had been they found checks from as far back as the 50s that he had dropped and never looked for.

I remember I was in there before he passed away and he told me I had a bill there. Got it out and it was for an electric fencer from two or three years earlier. I honestly didn't even remember not paying him,barely remembered getting the fencer.

Dad got a well pump from him one time. Keith didn't know the price right then,told him to take it,he'd have to look up the price. Dad said he kept asking him about it everytime he went in there for years. Finally stopped asking. I know full well they both went ot their graves without that bill ever being paid.

when I lived in NC I had a lot of medical procedures and visits to the hospital all of which were covered by insurance. Without fail, about 6 months later I would get a bill for 39-49 dollars. I mean this happened every time. Eac h time I called the hospital and talked to billing and each time it was just a mistake. After talking to others, I found this to be a standard practice and since the amount was small, they paid it without question. Is it just my mind or do you see something wrong with this? Also, I rode my Farmall M in the hospital parade several years for free.

Usually happens when they hire a new book keeper/accountant and the have something to prove to new boss!!~!

Had a car wreck over 20 years ago. At the time (in Nebraska), if you were transported in an ambulance after a wreck, they put on a neck collar. I refused transport (and thus - the collar). When I got to the Hospital (via Sheriff), I waited for over an hour for the ER doc to see me. He came in the room, put on his gloves, and I told him to "Give me a copy of everything you do, because I am going to the VA when I leave here". He ripped off his gloves, threw them in the trash, and told me "FINE, then the VA can just do EVERYTHING."

At that point, I was told I could leave. All they did was cut my shirt off and give me a gown (done by the nurse).

About a month later, I recieved a bill for over $400 for the ambulance ride I never took, another $250 for the neck collar I never wore, over $300 for the ER Doc who never even touched me, and another $300+ for the ER visit.

They took me to court over it, and I ended up paying a grand total of $118 for the ER visit. They had to eat everything else and the court costs. The Sheriff who hauled me in was there to testify.

Fairfax hospital was famous for that. Every visit you would get a bill months later. Bills that the insurance company had paid. If you contacted them they would say "oh no problem, that is just for your records" but it didn"t say that anywhere onthe papers they would mail. I always wondered how many people just paid them twice.

I think a lot of companies are just trying to shake some money loose. I am careful with the contractors now. Some of them are pretty desperate for cash.

At work we just got a bill for $9 dollars owed from an audit of the year 2011 on our work comp insurance policy. Paid it promptly... or they would cancel the policy.

Have to say, the letter was not nice at all. Through the address window one could see bold printed, "POLICY CANCELLATION NOTICE"... then inside pretty much said, "After an audit of the year 2011 you owe us $9...PAY THIS NOW!". I was thinking, geez... so it's our fault that you did not bill us properly over one year ago???

(quoted from post at 12:41:29 01/25/13) At work we just got a bill for $9 dollars owed from an audit of the year 2011 on our work comp insurance policy. Paid it promptly... or they would cancel the policy.

Have to say, the letter was not nice at all. Through the address window one could see bold printed, "POLICY CANCELLATION NOTICE"... then inside pretty much said, "After an audit of the year 2011 you owe us $9...PAY THIS NOW!". I was thinking, geez... so it's our fault that you did not bill us properly over one year ago???

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Sometimes that policyholder language is mandated by law, laws written by lawyers and politicians. Think they care how it sounds? Insurance is a much more regulated business than most people think. As a business person you'd be appalled by the laws, regulations, legal opinions and legal decisions that drive what we have to do. Oh, and you have to ask the state for permission to do EVERYTHING before you do it. Now the Feds are nosing in too. So the next time you complain about your insurance company, think that they may not be too happy about what they are being forced to do either.