What to do if a customer doesn't pay?
Short answerIf a customer does not pay, send a friendly reminder with the pay link, follow with a call, then a written notice with a final date, and pause further service. If that fails, consider small claims court or a collection agency, after checking your own state's rules.
The explanation
Most unpaid invoices are forgotten, not refused. Send a reminder two or three days after the due date with the invoice and a link to pay. Follow with a phone call, which resolves a surprising share of cases. Keep each contact written down.
If payment still does not arrive, send a written notice that states the amount, the work done, a final date and what happens next. Pause any recurring service until the balance is settled. Do not threaten anything you will not do, and keep the tone factual.
For larger amounts, consider small claims court, where owners often represent themselves, or a collection agency that takes a share of what it recovers. Limits and procedures differ by state, so check your own rules. Keep the quote, the signed approval, photos of the finished job and the message trail.
Steps
- Send a reminder with the invoice and pay link soon after the due date.
- Call the customer and note the answer and any promised date.
- Send a written notice with the amount and a final payment date.
- Pause further service until the balance is paid.
- Consider small claims court with your records ready.
What to watch for
- Waiting months before the first reminder.
- Doing more work for a customer who owes you.
- Missing proof that the customer approved the work.
How Apex does it
Rolling out
The screen and the rules are built and tested. Saving real customer data is not connected yet. Status as of 2026-10-07; the badge shows the least-built feature involved.
Apex is designed to send automatic payment reminders, show customer balances and flag do-not-service customers. All three are rolling out per their badges, and message sending needs a connected provider.
- IN15Payment reminders automatic(Rolling out)
- IN17Statements / customer balance(Rolling out)
- LD20Do-not-service / blocked customer list(Rolling out)
Apex Flow Scheduler is in early access. See how we label status.
Where this question comes from: owners type it, or a close variant, into search boxes. It was returned by public search suggestions (Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo) when we collected them on 2026-10-06. We do not have search volumes.