"Not personal", my ass! Some people have a personal policy of screwing people and these two seem to fit in this crowd.

i think this will end up being a lesson to learn from. From here on you should insist on being paid in full before leaving. If you look back you can probably remember when you started to get that "feeling" that something may be wrong. I have luckily never had this situation but if $1500 was too much for this guy I would have bowed out then because you know the profit on the job was going to be minimal anyway. I few years ago I had to make the decision to know when to cut clients loose. I basically decided if I cannot make "X$" on a job then I would pass. Life is much easier. you can focus on larger ticket clients. Not to be a snob but there is a reason you can buy cheap products online - these people..

You can park your van in front of his house with a banner that reads " JOE SCHMO DOES NOT PAY HIS BILLS". If it's a public street there is not a lot he can do. His neighbors will probably be like "he finally pissed off the wrong guy"

This might sound harsh, but with all due respect:

I just want to know why you did not check before you sold the guy your demo if the projector would hit the target?

Many customers would yell and scream and say take this out of my house or get out of my house if you don't know what you are doing, then you would be out all your time. (and maybe the product if they booted you out)

Or "Since I did not take into consideration the throw distance and It was my mistake I will move the mount NC. at least you got rid of your demo....

Other thoughts:

"All equipment must be paid in full before delivery to the clients home always works for me" Certainly any systems deposits should at least cover your costs of the gear before any deliveries or products are made. Heck the last company that I worked for had the labor (estimate) costs pre charged and the CC signoff sheet all done ready to be signed off on arrival. (this way you are not hanging if the customer has to leaveto go shopping or whatever) Then the only differential may be a refund of unused labor or slight overages if it was a T&M job.

YMMV

It's not easy sometimes. I have spent $6,000 on attorney fees to win a $5,000 judgment that never got paid. I was OK with this because I hope that the recorded of my judgment will at least warn other people that the guy is a thief. It should also affect his credit and cost him more to borrow money in the future.

Most importantly, I don't let the universe think it is OK to steal from my company.

I have also gone back into a job and pulled out a $5,000 prewire before sheetrock was installed. I determined that the customer was trying to dupe me into thinking we were installing a full system, but he actually planned on just using us for a prewire and then DIY the job. This was after weeks of planning, design, consultation, etc.

I lost sleep over this job while we were wiring, but once I pulled it all out, I slept like a baby.

I would send by registered mail, a Ten Day Letter of Demand For Payment. Then sue him, even it cost much more in time and money than he stole.

Keep us posted!

PS, Obviously, there is all the talk about contracts and signatures. Yes, I have learned from my mistakes. We have terms and conditions, and we get deposits, but sometimes we forget. Just because you didn't get someone to sign on the dotted line, doesn't mean they can steal from you.

I like your style!

I also like your style. I moved a few months ago because the property management company tried to change the terms of the lease and raise my rent for a town house. The choice to move will cost me $17,000.00 over the next 2 years. $5000 of this is moving expenses (plus a new fence for the dog) and the rest is the additional rent because the new place is larger. We don't need or even want the larger house but we wanted to stay in the same town and i didn't have a lot of time to waste looking so we took the first place we liked.

The rent increase at the town house was based on an incorrect real estate site entry for the townhouse that showed it as twice the square footage. I told them about it but they ignored it. After i moved out they listed the town house with the incorrect information. It's still on the market. If it doesn't get rented by December they will be out $6000 (what i would have paid in rent). Hopefully it sits empty for the next 9 months so that we both lose $17k.

I could have paid the $120 a month for landscaping and the $150 a month rent increase and saved myself the moving expenses and additional rent but then i would have been pissed off about it for the next 2 years.

I am going to call his office but dial different extensions and leave voice mails saying its the collects department Of my companies name and the bill is over due.

He is middle management in a huge company . That will make him look really bad

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Hey, I love that woman.

I think/hope you're joking, because that's seriously illegal.

But, its legal to NOT pay your bills for products you had installed! Crazy world, no?!

Is it really illegal? Bill collectors call every number they get their hands on. As far as i knew they could until you tell them to stop. I'll bet you get him to return your call if you do leave a few messages at his office.

I doubt its illegal. Why would it be? Slander?

It is illegal under the Fair Debt Collection Act, 15 USC 1692c, section 805, Communication in connection with debt collection:

3b COMMUNICATION WITH THIRD PARTIES. Except as provided in section 804, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.

[Link: ftc.gov]

Amazing how the law constantly protects those that are guilty before considering the victim.