Ewan Innes has written to me asking what one can do when customers claim not to have money to pay for goods or services received. He was thinking of situations such as unpaid taxi fares or when customers fill up with petrol and claim they have no money.

The answer is both simple and complicated. It is a crime to obtain goods and services where there is no intention to pay for them and the police should be told. The key is “no intention to pay” and there lies the problem, both for the person providing the goods or service and the police.

No one can read another’s mind and intention has to be inferred from the circumstances. Consider the driver who fills his tank with petrol. What does he do thereafter? If he drives off without a word, it will not be difficult to presume he never intended to pay and has simply stolen the petrol. This is to be contrasted with the one seen desperately rummaging through pockets and the car and then coming to the kiosk covered in embarrassment to say he has forgotten his wallet. Were that person to leave and shortly thereafter return with payment, then clearly he always intended to pay but was unable at the time. That would eloquently demonstrate that no crime had been committed. In both cases no payment is made at the time, but in one the further actions of the driver show him to have been a thief, whereas the other was not.

Similarly in taxi cases where the customer runs off, he never intended to pay and has obtained the service by fraud. It is the other cases, which are more difficult. What if several get in and no one pays. It does not necessarily mean all committed fraud. One or more may genuinely have believed the others were to pay and were as shocked as the taxi driver when no one did. Again that would become apparent by their responses on finding out.

Let us return to the petrol station and the embarrassed driver who has forgotten his money. If that is true, he has not committed a crime, but what if he fails to return and pay later? Well it may show that his “forgetting” was not true and he was in fact stealing the petrol or it may be that he is truly forgetful and also forgot to come back. Black and white situations are simple; it’s the range of greys in between that causes the problem.

Bouncing cheques are another problem. Has it bounced because there never was, nor could have been, enough money in the bank to cover it and thus a crime or, unknown to the customer, something has gone wrong and, for example, his wages had not been paid in as expected? That is not a crime. Incidentally, it is in France.

It follows that the circumstances could show whether or not a crime had been committed, but there are many circumstances where that is not instantly clear.

So much for the theory. What Ewan wants to know is, what can he do about it. The extremes are easy. Either call the police, as you are obviously dealing with a thief, or give your genuine and embarrassed customer a chance to pay later.

What you must not do is treat everyone who does not pay instantly as dishonest. Such could be defamatory and lead to being sued yourself. Treat people courteously. It is not your job to catch thieves. If you are in doubt, consult, rather than call, the police or give the customer the benefit of the doubt and be wary the next time you deal with them.

If the genuine customer does not pay later, sue them as I do. I get very angry with clients who expect me to run around and sort out their problems and then cannot be bothered to pay my bill. I assume they would not be too happy if I could not be bothered to sort out their problems. They get referred to debt collectors or sued. I do not agree with those who suggest by doing so I will lose their future custom. Frankly if they are not going to pay me, I do not want their future custom. Furthermore, it does no harm to warn others that I will not tolerate such conduct. I am not a soft touch and do not intend to be seen as one.

Nor do I have any time for those who refuse to pay until the last moment. I am not a lending bank and all they are doing is borrowing my money at no interest. If your customers insist upon being treated as bad debtors and stigmatised as such, so be it. Sue them if they do not pay for goods or services received. They are no use to you as customers and should simply be banned from receiving your goods or services again.