This is why I never used collection agencies or such tactics in my business. If people chose to rob me in that way, so be it. It was a negligible percentage of my gross, and it made for peaceful relationships since those people were never coming back, anyway. It was money well spent in that regard. Time, resources and effort were better spent in the active business.
People will roll in the dirt and fight forever to Hatfield and McCoys escalation, inventing fake and exaggerated grievances along the way, over relatively small amounts of money or resources. Truth is an early casualty. This is the origin of the silent movie pie fights.