Does anyone know what the voluntary payment doctine is? I clean carpets for a living and inform them of my 24 hour notice for cancellations/reschedule policy when the appointment is made. Some of them call up at the last second claiming emergencies of one sort or another. Some don't show up for appointments at all. So, generally I send them to collections and expect them to pay even if the work is not performed since I can't very well give the appointment to someone else at the last second. I don't feel like I have to underwrite their alleged emergencies. This is customary in the service industry (Dentists, Tilesetters, etc). A customer tried to cancel out 2.5 hours before a Monday morning appt (my most popular spot--actually, I'm usually booked solid and turning people away.) Anyway, in response to a collections notice, he wrote on the check he would sue me if I cashed it and refered to the Voluntary Payment Doctine. What is this all about?
RE: Voluntary Payment Doctrine Basically, the customer is accusing you of charging an illegal fee. If the customer has reason to believe that a fee may be illegal or deceptive, and pays without protest, then s/he may lose the ability to sue to get the money back. Although if the payment was made under a certain level of "duress," the right to sue might be preserved. Here is some info, although it appears to apply specifically to Illinois... http://www.krislovlaw.com/art1.htm The fact that he gave you the check indicates that he *wants* you to cash it, so that he will have an excuse to sue you. But the success/failure of a lawsuit would still depend on whether your no-show/cancellation fee is legally valid or not. Good Luck. -- CardReport.Com - Credit Tools, News, And Reference http://www.cardreport.com/
Another Link... Here is another related link... http://home.olemiss.edu/~llibcoll/ndms/mar2000/00D0028P.html -- CardReport.Com - Credit Tools, News, And Reference http://www.cardreport.com/
