It' drying up

[Sawyerfortyish]

I ain't talking about the mud. I did more firewood this year than ever and something I noticed the cash flow kind of stopped and I started getting more checks. Now I find myself chasing money or the people who owe it to me. I haven't had a bad check for firewood in years now all of the sudden I got a pile of em.When the cash dries up the economy ain't headed in a good direction. Anyone else noticed it? The price of fuel and gas ain't helping things either.

[redpowerd]

that sucks!
wont hurt our pocket till we start plantin corn. thats when everythin is tite.
and we just got done pickin last week!!!! :-/

[Brian_Bailey]

Yeah, I've noticed it.
Last year was terrible for me.
I got tired of hearing, "I'm a little short right now. I get paid next week. I promise I'll get the money to you then."  

Had a check bounce on me and got stiffed by the bank for 20 dollar return check fee  >:( . Luckily, the customer made good on the check & fee.

Then last fall I had to take a guy to small claims court to get my money for a sawing job I did for him.
He jerked me all spring and summer about paying up. He found the money real fast when he got the subpoena from the court.

I know I shouldn't extend credit, but I try to be a nice guy  .  But nice only goes so far when I gots bills to pay.

[SwampDonkey]

I guess I've been really lucky as far as pay for services. When I get a job done, and present a paper or mapping to a client I have my pay up front or within a week, 2 weeks max. Never had a bad cheque for my services. I will make note that most of my clients are small wood producers. I did some subcontracting for a another consultant, on land owns by a big forestry company, for 2 weeks which I'll not do again. I'll be dealing directly with the big companies from now on because there just isn't enough pay in subcontracting. Also, I'm in a better position to deal with the big companies because of my insurance, plus I'll know the full details of what's expected instead of finding out down the road something wasn't done to their specs. This will allow me to accept the terms of service or stay away from them entirely. Some of these companies attempt to get services below cost of production, so those situations are better avoided.

That's my $0.01 worth ;D

[rebocardo]

I pretty much insist on cash for firewood, except for customers that are well heeled. A lot of the time my gas (for which I charge) is $5-$6. No way I am going to be out of the gas and wood.

I know what you mean about the cash. Some people just could not afford to buy a cord at a time.

[Frickman]

I've noticed around here over the years that the hardest people to collect from are those well heeled folks. They'd rather hire a lawyer to fight you than pay their debts. It's just the way they live. The easiest to collect from sometimes are those with hardly two nickels to rub together. You might not get their money right away but you don't have to go chasing it. They always pay as soon as they can, and keep you updated to when they can. I've found this applies to businesses as well as individuals. There are certain large companies in our area I refuse to sell to because you need a full-time bill collector to chase them down.