We have a member who gave their 30 day notice that July would be their last month so we applied their last months dues we had on file.
They are still in the office and keep saying they will be out by this or that date and then the date comes and they are still there. They said around August 5th they would definitely be out by the 15th and to invoice them for half the month (which they then paid) but now they are still here and have not paid the second half of August or September (dues are late after the 5th). Plus we no longer have their last month on file since we applied it in July.
Do you have a policy for this? I’m not sure what to say to them but I would think a policy about going past your 30 days would require them to pay the previous month’s dues and restart their 30 day notice? We want to be somewhat flexible as I know situations come up where renovations aren’t completed in time or whatever so I was thinking maybe we give a 7 day window where we’re willing to bill separately without them having to pay a last months dues again.
You should cut off their wifi if you want to evict/vacate them asap.
Or insist payment for another month.
I would recommend never applying their deposit toward their last month. We hold deposits until after they move out, assess their space for damages, reconcile their account, etc. Usually a month+
We have a member who gave their 30 day notice that July would be their last month so we applied their last months dues we had on file.
They are still in the office and keep saying they will be out by this or that date and then the date comes and they are still there. They said around August 5th they would definitely be out by the 15th and to invoice them for half the month (which they then paid) but now they are still here and have not paid the second half of August or September (dues are late after the 5th). Plus we no longer have their last month on file since we applied it in July.
Do you have a policy for this? I’m not sure what to say to them but I would think a policy about going past your 30 days would require them to pay the previous month’s dues and restart their 30 day notice? We want to be somewhat flexible as I know situations come up where renovations aren’t completed in time or whatever so I was thinking maybe we give a 7 day window where we’re willing to bill separately without them having to pay a last months dues again.
Help!
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Hi Jeremy,
We don’t apply their deposit. We collect first and last up front plus a cleaning/damage deposit.
When they give 30 days notice we apply the last month’s dues they had previously pre paid. We then check the office for damage/cleaning needs and use the deposit if needed, otherwise return it within 30 days.
I’m looking for wording to add this scenario to our policy handbook if you have any you’d be willing to share.
If the question is “what do I say” then the big question is...what have you already said?
“I’m not sure what to say to them” makes me think...no conversation has been had about this yet?
Before invoking policy, I always start by trying to understand the context and figure out what’s going on. Did some plans change and they forget to tell you? Or are they ignoring attempts to contact completely? Something else that’s out of your field of view?
You should cut off their wifi if you want to evict/vacate them asap.
Or insist payment for another month.
I would recommend never applying their deposit toward their last month. We hold deposits until after they move out, assess their space for damages, reconcile their account, etc. Usually a month+
> We have a member who gave their 30 day notice that July would be their last month so we applied their last months dues we had on file.
> They are still in the office and keep saying they will be out by this or that date and then the date comes and they are still there. They said around August 5th they would definitely be out by the 15th and to invoice them for half the month (which they then paid) but now they are still here and have not paid the second half of August or September (dues are late after the 5th). Plus we no longer have their last month on file since we applied it in July.
>
> Do you have a policy for this? I'm not sure what to say to them but I would think a policy about going past your 30 days would require them to pay the previous month's dues and restart their 30 day notice? We want to be somewhat flexible as I know situations come up where renovations aren't completed in time or whatever so I was thinking maybe we give a 7 day window where we're willing to bill separately without them having to pay a last months dues again.
>
> Help!
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Oh no we've been in contact (my office manager, not me personally) and they
just keep saying their new space isn't ready yet. We're totally fine with
that but now we don't have last month's dues on file and they keep saying
they will for sure be out by such and such a date but then that time comes
and they aren't out. I think we have this specific situation figured out -
they just gave us another "for sure" date and asked for an invoice but I'd
like to have a policy in place for how to approach this in the future. I am
not hard line on our policies, I think one of the values of being a part of
a coworking space is certainly offering members flexibility but I do like
to have something in writing for when we need to fall back on that and to
make sure expectations are clear in the beginning. We have had several
other issues with this member so I want to make sure we are very clear as
they have been one of our more difficult members (this situation aside).
···
On Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 3:23:26 PM UTC-7, Alex Hillman wrote:
If the question is “what do I say” then the big question is...what have
you already said?
“I’m not sure what to say to them” makes me think...no conversation has
been had about this yet?
Before invoking policy, I always start by trying to understand the context
and figure out what’s going on. Did some plans change and they forget to
tell you? Or are they ignoring attempts to contact completely? Something
else that’s out of your field of view?
You should cut off their wifi if you want to evict/vacate them asap.
Or insist payment for another month.
I would recommend never applying their deposit toward their last month. We
hold deposits until after they move out, assess their space for damages,
reconcile their account, etc. Usually a month+
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*(@Pershing Sq)*
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*SOUTH: Long Beach* | 309 Pine Ave (@Broadway) - opening 2018
On Sep 6, 2018, at 3:04 PM, Aloma Loren <freep...@gmail.com > <javascript:>> wrote:
We have a member who gave their 30 day notice that July would be their
last month so we applied their last months dues we had on file.
They are still in the office and keep saying they will be out by this or
that date and then the date comes and they are still there. They said
around August 5th they would definitely be out by the 15th and to invoice
them for half the month (which they then paid) but now they are still here
and have not paid the second half of August or September (dues are late
after the 5th). Plus we no longer have their last month on file since we
applied it in July.
Do you have a policy for this? I'm not sure what to say to them but I
would think a policy about going past your 30 days would require them to
pay the previous month's dues and restart their 30 day notice? We want to
be somewhat flexible as I know situations come up where renovations aren't
completed in time or whatever so I was thinking maybe we give a 7 day
window where we're willing to bill separately without them having to pay a
last months dues again.
Help!
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So…this doesn’t directly address your question, but we’ve been able to avoid a lot of the receivables headache by doing some form of auto-debit as the default for our memberships. If someone NEEDS to pay with a check (usually a company accounting requirement) we allow it with a minimum 3 month prepayment at a time - we don’t offer a discount for that, since it’s us making a change to our usual workflow to accommodate for their accounting needs. All other notices stay the same (for us, 30 days notice required to get their deposit back). This pre-payment flow just reduces the number of times per year that I have to think about someone being late, and lets me focus on everything else.
We do have to deal with failed payments via auto-debit (cards expire, get lost, etc), and similar to your situation I’ve learned that sometimes it takes a firm but friendly communication directly from the “head” of the organization (vs a location manager) to get people to take action. I don’t like that I have to step in, but it works nearly every time my teammates have been unable to get someone to address a billing issue.
As for stuff you can put into writing for future reference, you might include something that puts a firm per-day rate that will be billed outside of active membership. We have this in place for when members periodically add a person to their team for an unknown amount of time - we just make it clear that those days are billed at X rate and automatically added to their next monthly invoice & charge.
Communication is really the key to all of this - I’m very, very flexible (and encourage my team to be) as long as people are proactive communicators. Changes happen, and we always try to find a fair compromise when we can. When someone abuses our flexibility by not communicating with us my flexibility becomes much more limited.
Hope this helps!
···
The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
In the past, when I've had members in a situation when a member is
struggling to leave after giving me notice, I generally try to change the
motivating factor for them. If you let them think about it on the lines of
'we're staying until our space is done and it will keep slipping forward',
you're at their whim and they're only motivated by when they can get into
the other space, rather than considering when they also need to be out of
yours.
If you can get them to be thinking about their last day in your space as
well as their first day in the other, you're an active participant in the
process, not an afterthought. Once I have a firm move out date, I talk to
them about the process. IE: "Your last day is 9/30. We'll check the
following day for damages and return your deposit via check through the
mail once the space is vacated and we confirm that there aren't any
issues."
If, in the days before the move they don't seem to have made progress in
removing their things, I'll follow and let them know that their last day is
approaching, and ask what their plans are to be out by said date. This
again puts you in an active role in the process. At any point, if they
communicate a desire to extend and I don't already have a signed contract,
I'll evaluate that on a case-by-case basis. If I do extend, an invoice will
be immediately issued. Our final round of followup if someone hasn't made
any effort to leave in the last couple days of their agreement, is to let
them know that their electronic keys will be deactivated, so their access
to the space will be terminated on X day at X time, and request a move out
plan from them. I don't generally get to this point, but if I do, I tend to
hold firm on that date and time. This has only happened a couple of times,
and these folks weren't communicating their plans to us and wouldn't commit
to paying for additional time. I will offer an extension of hours: "We'll
keep your keys on until midnight, rather than terminating them at 5PM so
that you have time to get your belongings out after hours". This short term
extension lets people know that you're serious and really forces them to
make plans to move on.
There's always room to be accommodating and hopefully the time that you've
spent with these folks in your community has given you some rapport. Clear
communication has helped us keep members from taking advantage of the month
to month nature of the industry in overstaying their issued departure
dates. Generally, people are thankful for having the reminders and they get
the feeling that we're looking out for them by helping them to not let time
slip by, rather than hurrying them out.
Good luck!
···
On Fri, Sep 7, 2018 at 10:25 AM Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote:
That makes a lot of sense!
So....this doesn't directly address your question, but we've been able to
avoid a lot of the receivables headache by doing some form of auto-debit as
the default for our memberships. If someone NEEDS to pay with a check
(usually a company accounting requirement) we allow it with a minimum 3
month prepayment at a time - we don't offer a discount for that, since it's
us making a change to our usual workflow to accommodate for their
accounting needs. All other notices stay the same (for us, 30 days notice
required to get their deposit back). This pre-payment flow just reduces the
number of times per year that I have to think about someone being late, and
lets me focus on everything else.
We do have to deal with failed payments via auto-debit (cards expire, get
lost, etc), and similar to your situation I've learned that *sometimes it
takes a firm but friendly communication directly from the "head" of the
organization* (vs a location manager) to get people to take action. I
don't like that I have to step in, but it works nearly every time my
teammates have been unable to get someone to address a billing issue.
As for stuff you can put into writing for future reference, you might
include something that puts a firm per-day rate that will be billed outside
of active membership. We have this in place for when members periodically
add a person to their team for an unknown amount of time - we just make it
clear that those days are billed at X rate and automatically added to their
next monthly invoice & charge.
Communication is really the key to all of this - I'm very, very flexible
(and encourage my team to be) as long as people are proactive
communicators. Changes happen, and we always try to find a fair compromise
when we can. When someone abuses our flexibility by *not communicating
with us* my flexibility becomes much more limited.
On Thu, Sep 6, 2018 at 6:30 PM Aloma Loren <[email protected]> > wrote:
Oh no we've been in contact (my office manager, not me personally) and
they just keep saying their new space isn't ready yet. We're totally fine
with that but now we don't have last month's dues on file and they keep
saying they will for sure be out by such and such a date but then that time
comes and they aren't out. I think we have this specific situation figured
out - they just gave us another "for sure" date and asked for an invoice
but I'd like to have a policy in place for how to approach this in the
future. I am not hard line on our policies, I think one of the values of
being a part of a coworking space is certainly offering members flexibility
but I do like to have something in writing for when we need to fall back on
that and to make sure expectations are clear in the beginning. We have had
several other issues with this member so I want to make sure we are very
clear as they have been one of our more difficult members (this situation
aside).
On Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 3:23:26 PM UTC-7, Alex Hillman wrote:
If the question is “what do I say” then the big question is...what have
you already said?
“I’m not sure what to say to them” makes me think...no conversation has
been had about this yet?
Before invoking policy, I always start by trying to understand the
context and figure out what’s going on. Did some plans change and they
forget to tell you? Or are they ignoring attempts to contact completely?
Something else that’s out of your field of view?
You should cut off their wifi if you want to evict/vacate them asap.
Or insist payment for another month.
I would recommend never applying their deposit toward their last month.
We hold deposits until after they move out, assess their space for damages,
reconcile their account, etc. Usually a month+
We have a member who gave their 30 day notice that July would be their
last month so we applied their last months dues we had on file.
They are still in the office and keep saying they will be out by this or
that date and then the date comes and they are still there. They said
around August 5th they would definitely be out by the 15th and to invoice
them for half the month (which they then paid) but now they are still here
and have not paid the second half of August or September (dues are late
after the 5th). Plus we no longer have their last month on file since we
applied it in July.
Do you have a policy for this? I'm not sure what to say to them but I
would think a policy about going past your 30 days would require them to
pay the previous month's dues and restart their 30 day notice? We want to
be somewhat flexible as I know situations come up where renovations aren't
completed in time or whatever so I was thinking maybe we give a 7 day
window where we're willing to bill separately without them having to pay a
last months dues again.
Help!
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*Scott Novotny *| General Manager
503.548.0888 | urbanofficeplace.com
They are willingly taking advantage of you. Stop them from entering your space until they pay or, even better, kick them out.
If they have any equipment, remove it and put it in storage under lock and key. No release until they pay the current month, which they owe because they have been using the space. As they have signaled that they are not trustworthy for payment, charge them upfront for next month if they are going to stay.
Toxic people/companies poison your team, your energy and your coworking space.
···
On Friday, September 7, 2018 at 12:04:00 AM UTC+2, Aloma Loren wrote:
We have a member who gave their 30 day notice that July would be their last month so we applied their last months dues we had on file.
They are still in the office and keep saying they will be out by this or that date and then the date comes and they are still there. They said around August 5th they would definitely be out by the 15th and to invoice them for half the month (which they then paid) but now they are still here and have not paid the second half of August or September (dues are late after the 5th). Plus we no longer have their last month on file since we applied it in July.
Do you have a policy for this? I’m not sure what to say to them but I would think a policy about going past your 30 days would require them to pay the previous month’s dues and restart their 30 day notice? We want to be somewhat flexible as I know situations come up where renovations aren’t completed in time or whatever so I was thinking maybe we give a 7 day window where we’re willing to bill separately without them having to pay a last months dues again.