Last tax season we completed a return for a doctor and his family. The return was presented by an associate from the office. Now our typical procedure is that we present the return to the client and explain the details of the return. Then the client pays for the work and we leave.
Now this associate did not collect the fee from the client. This also was not the first year we have done the clients return so we then billed the client.
Then we had to bill them again and again and again and called and called. Now this is a doctor from the local hospital grossing enough to put him in the President cross hairs of those not paying their fair share. His ignoring my people makes me very angry. I don’t care that he is in debt up to his eyeballs; we did the work and deserve to get paid for the work and he obviously does not wish to remain our client. I am so saddened by this.
One of our less subtle ways to collect is the send invoices to the client at their offices of employment with personal past due stamped on the envelope, we do this repeatedly. With some people shame does work in collecting. But since this joker already owed everyone in the world money we went in a different direction.
So I thought about this for a moment and wondered, what do doctors fear most in the world? Yes, attorney’s! So to put a bit of the fear of me into this client I threw my attorney on him. I was paid within the week, penalties and all.
I am truly saddened that in this day and age that a doctor’s word can not be taken at face value. That their profession has sunk to such a low level. But, alas he is no longer my problem.