Water delivery - non payment

There are attorneys that specialize in collections; that's where I'd start.

I have had this happen. If the guy is in trouble financially you might as well write it off. Here is what happened to me. After running a boat around the Bahamas for a few weeks it was time to bring it back to the states. I left the Exumas and planned on stopping in Nassau to fuel before crossing. I fueled the boat and went to run the credit card. It was declined. Tried numerous times to reach the deadbeat owner for another card or wire transfer to the marina. No luck. So I had to put the fuel on my cc. $5000. By the time I was finished with dealing with the fuel it was too late to depart for a crossing. Got a slip in Nassau for the night another $500 on my cc. Left Nassau first light and crossed to Jupiter. Put the boat behind the guys house and went looking for him to collect for the two weeks pay fuel and marina charges. Guy was Mia no answers on phone no replies to text or emails. Called and emailed non stop for about a month. Finally I put a lien on the boat. After 8 months filed to foreclose on the boat. I then received papers from the bankruptcy court that the owner had filed for chapter 11. Game over!

Forget the advise to just write it off, and hiring expensive lawyers. That trip should fall within the limitations of small claims court. First, file a mechanic's lien on the boat, then take him to small claims court to perfect the lien. Then seize the boat and sell it. NEVER let a piece of cr-- take you like this or the word will go out that you're to be had. It's a small community, and the community of deadbeat boaters is even smaller.

I had one guy short me $100. I sued him for $1,000. He got an attorney to counter sue (for his 10 year old battery charger that shorted out. lol). When contacted by his lawyer I asked if he was charging or doing it as a favor. When he said he was getting paid, I told him to expect things to drag out and for him to make a bunch of money. (The lawyer and I draggrd out the court appearance for about 6 hours while we "talked settlement". I probably cost that guy over $5,000. I filed during my off season, and scheduled court for when he'd have to take a day off from work. Another time a dealership stiffed me for $300. I ended up with an almost $700 judgment against them, and was about to take their business license when I decided to call the CEO. He had no idea. One of his salespeople was stealing from him and I got caught in the middle. The judgment was paid the next day.

I spent many years in the collection business. NEVER allow anyone to take advantage of you. The dollars are irrelevant. It's your reputation and your getting on the deadbeat sucker's list that's at stake. You'll have to file in either N.C. or Florida, but it's worth it.

P.S. There are some who would sink his boat with him in it if he stiffed them $1.

One other thing. In nearly 30 years of running boats, I never laid out money for a client.

I would normally not do that either but I was stuck in a foreign country with a $5000 fuel bill and a cc that didn't work. My advise to write it off was if the guy wasn't financially sound. The courts protect the deadbeats and you will be wasting your time trying to make them pay. If they are able to pay then by all means go after them with both barrells.

BTW, keep in mind that in the collection business Florida is considered one of the four "deadbeat" states, the others being Pa, Texas & California. Very easy to skip out on debts in those states.

If the money wasn't collectible, I'd go with plan B, but maybe that's just the NY way. I look on jail as just an alternative retirement program.

Evidently not, but if it works for you then go for it. Let us know if he bounces the check and then offers to settle that for less. It's what I expect. If he's a really good deadbeat he'll eventually have you paying for the privilege of delivering his boat.

Is the boat documented ???

Guess it's just the NY in me, but not me. I charge what I charge because I'm worth it. If you short me you're intentionally insulting me and my professional worth to my face. That takes the amount of money out of the equation. Do that and it's like taking a bone from a dog. Mind you, I'll give my time for free. Just don't try to steal it.

Get what you can, but don't sign anything. Then go after him in your spare time, this way you at least have something then you can aggravate him all you like.
I'm curious, if you fill up a boat with fuel and the card gets declined and you are sitting there with big bill and no way to pay immediately, what do you do? Personally I'd leave the boat there until the owner pays up, or are you liable for the bill as you are the Capt? I learned a long time ago not to have any money out to owners, even ones that you have a long record with.