Billing Clients Who Vanish

I wanted to share my own experience after reading your online Q&A, “Billing Clients” (AmericanFarriers.com/articles/4655). Almost all of my clients have paid when the services are done. I have a few that leave a check with the barn owner or in an envelope on the stall. I have even had places where the absent owner left a blank check for me to fill out when I did their horses. I also have had boarding barns collect a blank or signed check from the horse owner/boarder, and they make the check out when I’m finished and present a bill.

This keeps me from finding out that a boarder moved their horse and the old boarding barn has no idea where they moved to. Thus, I have no way to find them. If the boarding barn owner is willing to help me, I give them a hefty discount on their horses. After all, they are doing the collecting.

I’ve been lucky and have only had three bad checks in 40 years of horseshoeing. I was able to collect from all but one that lived in the next state and was not worth chasing for the price of a trim. I have had a few that took months to pay their bill, but most of my clients have been great.

— Gary Pfeiffer, Delafield, Wis.

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