Debt Collection with Menace

[worm]

So what you're saying ultimately is that his business was f**ked anyway, and he made one last desperate roll of the dice hoping to save it. So ultimately, he's lost nothing above what he would have lost anyway.

[llcoolphil]

But I'm also a person who he can trust 100%

[llcoolphil]

Yep.

[llcoolphil]

At the moment, I'm not going to go ahead with the route I originally asked for guidance on, but you can rest assured, if the day ever comes where the bank DO call it all in, "Mr Knuckles" might well be my first port of call.

[t8yman]

Ive had to dash to customers that have gone tits up before now and whip a load of stuff out before the administrator gets there. I know you cant reclaim tomatoes, but there would be other stuff that you could take in lieu and either use it or flog it

[llcoolphil]

can you do that legally?

[t8yman]

No I don't want sympathy, I wanted guidance on a predicament from a community I respect and value- not a f**king sermon or a "live with it bucko"

Edited April 20, 2011 by t8yman

[Gre]

because when you see a guy go pop owing you £3k set up the very next day, doing the very same thing, and paying your competitors cash, it tends to stick in your throat a bit.

[llcoolphil]

You got plenty of guidance...

[worm]

You got plenty of guidance...

[gratedenini]

Ive avoided this thread because my blood was f**king boiling this morning at monsieur oafs oh so sympathetic advice, however I feel I must now chip back in.

we deliver fruit and veg to caterers 7 days a week, we offer a great service, and competitive prices for quality goods. a good deal of customers do pay cash either daily or weekly, but some require monthly accounts or you dont get the business, fullstop, some even stipulate 90 days. the market is tough, as we all know, and decembers weather completely f**ked a great deal of restaurants and hotels due to lost xmas party bookings, many fooderies rely on a bumper december to see them through the quiet post xmas months until mothers day arrives and with it the warmer weather and the general feeling of uplift.

the thing that has pissed me off the most so far however is Neils comment that I took the risk whilst my eyes were glazed over with the thoughts of profit. I dont earn very much out of this company, and we have made 50% of our staff redundant over the past 18 months, we are very much on skeleton crew, the staff we have left have been here since almost day one, we dont have a high turnover of staff, and I have remained loyal to the people who have been loyal to me, I am a fair employer, and I pay a fair wage, I also operate in a very flexible manner wherever I can with regard to lending people vans for personal stuff, taking days off at short notice, staff loans, and many other things. I also operate on a trust basis with most of my customers and suppliers, every single one of which I know well, and am on first name terms with.

This guy took over said hotel a while ago, we already had a balance with the account when he bought it, but he continued to pay the bills on time, and we all got along very well, however - we cannnot simply put someone "on stop" because the cheque is a day late, otherwise we will lose the account. its the service industry ffs, we work on short lead times, and if we do put them on stop, they will go to another supplier, pay them properly, and we will have to go the legal route to collect outstanding monies, because the ex customer thinks "f**k him, he let me down when I needed him".

for the last 5 years, the business has operated at basically a very small profit, after all wages and salaries, theres very very little left, and a f**ked up van or a broken machine can wipe that out very easily, let alone 4 or 5 customers going pop and owing you a few grand each.

This will not finish our business (unless some f**ker else goes bust soon and the bank decide otherwise), it will just mean that my suppliers will all get paid a few weeks later than they would like, until we can turn the cashflow around, and hopefully pick up more business to replace it, but I really would like to say a big "f**k you very much" to the people that are saying "business is business", because when you see a guy go pop owing you £3k set up the very next day, doing the very same thing, and paying your competitors cash, it tends to stick in your throat a bit.

we aren't designing websites, we are delivering veg, and all we ask is that we get paid for it, because someone has had to order it, collect it, check it, book it, pick it, peel it, pack it, and deliver it to your door.

People are very quick to get very socialist on here, and "knock the boss man", I was obviously misguided when I expected a bit of understanding from some of the people on this board I have been an active member of for 8 years (i think).

At the moment, I'm not going to go ahead with the route I originally asked for guidance on, but you can rest assured, if the day ever comes where the bank DO call it all in, "Mr Knuckles" might well be my first port of call.

[llcoolphil]

and advice to sell the debt... Which has been forgotten...

[eFestivals]

the thing that has pissed me off the most so far however is Neils comment that I took the risk whilst my eyes were glazed over with the thoughts of profit.

Perhaps my words sounded harsher than they were meant, but ultimately it's the truth of things.

In the lines below the words I've quoted you've said "otherwise we will lose the account" - which ultimately gets to mean that keeping the account and its hoped-for associated profits was more important to you than the risk to your business by doing so.

[eFestivals]

can you do that legally?

credit accounts are normally run on the basis that the goods remain the property of the supplier until they're paid for.

Whether it's legal to reclaim the goods or not is dependent on the credit agreement that you have with your customers.

[t8yman]

Perhaps my words sounded harsher than they were meant, but ultimately it's the truth of things.

In the lines below the words I've quoted you've said "otherwise we will lose the account" - which ultimately gets to mean that keeping the account and its hoped-for associated profits was more important to you than the risk to your business by doing so.

[t8yman]

credit accounts are normally run on the basis that the goods remain the property of the supplier until they're paid for.

Whether it's legal to reclaim the goods or not is dependent on the credit agreement that you have with your customers.

[eFestivals]

the trouble is, our goods aren't around for long, its not like tables and chairs, or bottles of brandy. the most I can hope to pull out of a customer of our own stock would maybe be the current days delivery, which even in our biggest customers is unlikely to top £250. We did have a customer give us his Hog Roast machine (worth about 5k new) for a £12k debt a coupla years ago, but we were a bit more solvent in those days.

anyone wanna buy a hog roast machine, its real nice!

yeah, I realise that reclaiming the goods isn't really a viable option for your business, I simply answered the question you'd posed in general terms.

[eFestivals]

maybe I should have said "otherwise we lose the account and risk not being able to keep our heads above water" which is all we are doing at the moment, and have been for the last 3 years or so. this is a dying trade, but its all I have known for 15 years, and we have (as a family) got too much at stake to just watch it slip away. believe me - profit would be lovely, paying my mortgage and keeping people in jobs is and has been my sole target for as long as I can remember.

The thing is - I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you've not already realised - in trying to keep the account and keep your head above water, it's actually turned out differently and dragged you into the mire even further.

Sometimes it's best just to realise that it's dead duck and give up, particularly if you're swimming against the tide as your words here say. I fully appreciate how heart-rending that consideration is, and that it's the last thing most people would want to do with something they invested so much time and effort in, but ultimately if things are as bad as your words suggest then it's going to happen eventually anyway.

It's probably the case that it's better to get out while you are still managing to keep swimming than wait until you drown - especially the liabilities are yours personally (rather than a limited company's), because you'd be risking everything you have and not just the business.

As I say, I know from my own past experiences just how difficult it is to face up to a choice like that, but the time that's passed since has made me realise how pointless it is to keep trying with something that's doomed to failure for whatever reasons.

Edited April 21, 2011 by eFestivals

[diddly-dee]

maybe I should have said "otherwise we lose the account and risk not being able to keep our heads above water" which is all we are doing at the moment, and have been for the last 3 years or so. this is a dying trade, but its all I have known for 15 years, and we have (as a family) got too much at stake to just watch it slip away. believe me - profit would be lovely, paying my mortgage and keeping people in jobs is and has been my sole target for as long as I can remember.

[t8yman]

thanks for the kind sentiments guys and gals. have a great easter.