'Don't try to stiff a small business': Local laundromat owner holds a client's order hostage when they try to bail on their $1,700 weekly invoice

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jan 29, 2025 11:00 PM EST

This small business owner was tired of getting ripped off by his biggest client. Companies that provide a service often struggle to chase down payment after the fact. As if paying for services is any different than purchasing a product at the store, clients (especially big ones) feel entitled to wriggle free of their financial obligations once their service has been provided. However, when you're running a laundromat that washes 100s of tablecloths for a fine dining restaurant, once the dirty linens have been washed, you're holding a whole lot of leverage in the form of white tablecloths. 

And if you're a petty enough business owner, you can use that leverage to build a compelling case for client close-out, ensuring you get paid and earn the respect you deserve from your entitled clients.

Read on for the empowering story of a small business owner who risked it all on a gambit, holding clean laundry hostage to get his invoices paid immediately.

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  • One of the trickiest jobs in my little black book of ex-employers was working for a linen pressing company. While we offered many other services and rentals, the bread and butter that paid the electrical bill every month was our recurring partnerships with restaurants, event coordinators, and big, white tablecloth hotels. On a weekly basis, I found myself chasing down those enormous clients, begging them to close out month-old invoices before they received their linens and it was always awkward and a huge struggle. 

    That's why I tip my hat to the small business owner in this next story because it takes guts to go head-to-head with your biggest clients, pressuring them to pay what they clearly owe.

  • "You don't want to pay? I'll hold your laundry hostage"

    I, 44m at the time am a small business owner. I have a pickup and delivery laundry service in a big city. My bread and butter is commercial business - small salons, bars, restaurants. People like us because we don't require a lengthy contract -- It's a sort
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  • of call-us-if-you-want-to situation, and if you don't like us, don't call. It works both ways. We were pretty new to the business at the time, and we were super excited to get a Michigan 2 star restaurant's tablecloths and napkins.
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  • finance We didn't like the j guy M who always tried to negotiate us down, but we got along great with A. She was the logistics/fixer/genius problem solver for the restaurant. Any high end business should have someone like her on staff. We
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  • jumped through hoops like we'd never jumped through hoops before. Even rented more space to handle their business. At $3000/month, they were our biggest customer. Thing is, M already negotiated an AMAZING deal
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    via Tima Miroshnichenko

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • with us from the start, but he was in the nasty habit of trying to negotiate after the fact. Every time they owed us money, he would try to get us to take less. We told A this was not OK over and over again. M
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  • was an owner, but he was just a money guy. The head chef and other owners actually cared about the business. Well the back and forth went on for months. They always insisted on a discount. We
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  • never gave in, because we were already in deep discount territory with these people. - And, come on at $400 / plate, you can afford $2 per tablecloth or whatever we charged them.
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  • M eventually started really putting the screws to us and was withholding about $1700 - money we really needed - while he tried to squeeze us to accept less. I think he thought we were probably living on the
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  • edge like most small business owners, but we were really just tired - sick and tired more than anything. And we checked our balance of f's, and there were none left to give.
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  • I came up with a plan and got my partner to agree. We put the plan in motion. We waited until the weekend came. We had almost all of these people's laundry. I think you can see where this is going.
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  • I called A, and I told her that M could stuff it. We have all your laundry it's all pressed and ready, it's Monday. You're planning to open again on Tuesday. When you pay us in full for this order and
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  • everything that you owe us for previous orders IN CASH, you'll get your laundry back. Not before. I also let her know that once we got paid, our business relationship would be over. This was disastrous for us financially, but we weren't going to starve to death.
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  • She understood, and she was actually on our side. She LOVED our service. She let all the owners know that we were not messing around. She called us back and we agreed on a time. I went to the restaurant,
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  • left my partner and the laundry in the van (I dealt with all sorts of criminals and scammers in the neighborhoods where we delivered. I knew how to treat deadbeats). M wasn't there.
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  • The chef (other owner) was there, and only because it was him and not M, did I accept a business check instead of cash (it cashed / no problem). I called my partner to bring in the laundry.
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    via Industrial Photograph

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • A called me later and proposed that we keep working with them and we would never have to speak to M again. Honestly, it was such a weight off my shoulders to no longer deal with them, I said no way.
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  • Don't try to stiff a small business that stands between you and setting tables for $20,000 worth of seatings in your fancy restaurant when you have no plan B. I have no regrets!
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  • kcoinga You really cleaned up with them. Good for you. You got your money. F them.
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  • revchewie Nicely done! Also, good choice in not continuing doing business with them. 100% you would have kept having problems.
    via revchewie
  • "You have no Plan B❞
    via rusm and Canva

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customer service laundry boss linen worker employee manager job work coworkers customers client working ceo restaurant employees supervisor workplace dining experiences company coworker business laundromat
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