Trying a new approach on getting paid !!

[Martin Grimmer]

Great idea – good luck!

Interested to know how you get on.

Martin

[Ian Johnston]

like it 😀

[Ian Hatfield]

Fantastic, love it, may be you could extend the service to a full site for naming and shaming non payers. Although you may need a very big server.

[John Harding]

xcellent site 😀

[Neil Speirs]

:appl: :appl: way to go David!!

p.s. I’ll get that tenner over to you for Monday 😉

[Peter Normington]

David, as much as I admire your approach, and hope it works. there is the possibility it could backfire on you.
We dont know the reason why they haven’t paid, If they are scamming you then OK, but if they have genuine financial problems, then taking this stance will only make things worse, especially if they owe vat and other priority debts, so you could tip them over the edge and be in a long line of creditors, thus getting a "penny in the pound" and It could be construed as kicking someone when they are down.
I would have just gone down the small claims route first, that way you would have had a good chance of a settlement, by publishing the web page you may well get nothing, and other local businesses may feel that you are not behaving in the spirit of things.

Good luck

Peter

[Jason Davies]

I agree with Peter, whilst it is very frustrating you are probably causing more harm to your business.

They owe you money but this reads like a bullying tactic (sorry). I would remove and pursue through the courts.

Good luck.

[John Thomson]

quote Ian Hatfield:

Fantastic, love it, may be you could extend the service to a full site for naming and shaming non payers. Although you may need a very big server.

The Boards used to have a bad debtor section………don’t know what happened to it.

John

[David Rogers]

Very much like Peter & Jason the tactic can be seen as a crass attempt at ‘muck spreading’ by the courts rather than using the legal system for what it was intended. Small claims courts allow you to put your case forwards and get an adjudication / mediation to resolve the debt.

If they then default on the judgment assets can be recovered by a court appointed bailiff or bank accounts suspended.

Like any of the readers of the article I have no knowledge of any agree credit terms, open disputes or the like that may be in place.

Whilst 100% legal to state the facts on public record and in the public interest even the smallest slip up can open up a word of retaliation.
I would wager that any member of said club would now no longer use or recommend your services if they read the website regardless of ‘the facts’…and they in turn would spread that around.

Dave

ps. incedently

quote :

We can’t prevent this website being indexed by Google….

as a web designer it could be and argued that you should know how to prevent pages / sites being indexed by google and the like with spider / indexer blocking protocols.

[RayRosher]

I would have thought that behaving in the spirit of things. Peter should also mean that the Golf Club pays, David for his time and expense in a timely manner This hasn’t happened,
I think that the flack the club will get because of this Could go either way!
They will fold in which case Davids no worse off
or
They will lose face and stump up pretty dam quick
I go for the pretty dam quick option myself.
Failing that i know a couple of hairy Arsed Bikers (No they can’t cook) who will get the money for you!

[Peter Normington]

Ray
It is a golf club, I have not heard of golf clubs scamming people. so I have to assume they are having a cash flow problem, in today’s climate, the first things people cut back on are pastimes and leisure. so that is understandable.
we are all on a tightrope, I just think that Dave’s tactics will not help to get his money, just my opinion, but I will be the first to applaud David if it works.

Peter

[RayRosher]

point taken Peter
But what I can’t understand is why if they Were having Financial problems would they order £4500 worth of products

[Graeme Harrold]

quote RayRosher:

point taken Peter
But what I can’t understand is why if they Were having Financial problems would they order £4500 worth of products

Its unfortunate and the answer is because they can.

I too do not agree with the website or advertising as its only going to make you look bad. Remember most AGM’s take place over the next couple of months. If the amount remains unpaid, Id attend the meeting as a creditor armed with flyers and keep it in-house.

Have you also tried the Thomas Higgins route and send in a debt collection agency, after all this is a B2B transaction.

[Kevin Flowers]

i think that each one of us, as business owners have to deal with bad debts as we see fit. i’m sure everyone would agree it is infuriating when you are continually being fed bull shit about cheque in Post, waiting for signature etc etc. David has gone through all this & still has no money & so after many months as taken what i see as a proactive stance informing other businesses of there payment practices, who is to say is website won’t save some other business getting stung for another £4500. Going to court don’t guarantee you your money it gives you the option to throw more cash at the situation in the hope you will get your money. I got a CCJ against a still trading company 2 years ago, all i have received to date is £200 in installments and 3 court sessions and if i want anymore it looks like another court session. However my signs are still looking as good as the day they went up. I wish i had been more aggressive at the start but i listened to the sob stories giving the owner time to transfer his assets out of his company hence why i have not paid for Bailiffs to go in.

Peter
You haven’t heard of Golf Clubs pulling scams but they have in the fact they ordered £4500 worth of signage knowing they couldn’t pay for them in a months time when they was due to and then continually lie about payment. No one likes kicking people when they are down but honesty needs to be used or how do you know you aren’t being scammed.

David
i hope it works for you & that Customers who know your quality of work will understand your action & may even be prompted to pay on time themselves. Some negative response maybe felt from it but i bet these are people who pay their bills when they like also.

I wonder how long we would survive if we didn’t pay for our machines or vinyl i bet it would not be as long as David as given.

Just my view

Kev

[David McDonald]

Hi Peter & others

All those points you raise have all gone through my head and I agree that to some this can look like muck spreading but I haven’t done this lightly.

There is a very long history to this that I personally feel justifies my action, this long history suggest to me that any regular normal course of action will fail and I won’t get the monies owing.

My number one responsibility as a business owner is to pay my staff in full, on-time, everytime (and this will happen regardless of this one bad debt) – this might indeed be their priority and I can totally understand that but everything hinges on communication. i.e. If a customer comes to me, as has happened more times than I’d like, and says I regret that I can’t pay because of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx but I do wish to pay and will do when I can, or can pay a little each week, or cant pay anything for 3 months, or lays on the line their financial predicament so I can make a judgement call as to whether to accept 25% and write the rest off etc. then I’ll pretty much always agree. I’ve done this on many occasions and in the long run it has strengthened some customer relationships that have then stabilised and have grown as a result. Although the lads have often accused me of being a charity for some of the others.

However, if I’m repeatedly lied to, ignored, receive other information about a customer that gives me great concern, and then the communication completely dries up then for once I’m going to take a more selfish and unprofessional stance. (feel the vitriol in my text).

Anyhow, time to get back to some selling.

Cheers
Macky

[David McDonald]

Hello All

Thank you for your comments.

The website is now coming down.

I recommend the North West National Golf club for all your golfing needs and wish them every success.

Can’t say more than that

😛 :lol1: 😀 😉

Cheers
Macky

[Peter Normington]

:appl: :appl: :appl:
Welll I said I would be the first to applaud you!
Well done David
Peter

[Ian Johnston]

Keep a template for me please, Might come in usefull

Well Done 😀

[Martin Grimmer]

Well done!

Only decent thing for you now is to sponsor one of their holes….

"Macky Signs & Debt Collection Services" maybe?

Martin

[Neil Speirs]

quote Ian Johnston:

Keep a template for me please, Might come in usefull

Well Done 😀

You may have stumbled across a great new business idea here David (-)

getyourcash.co.uk/

[RayRosher]

Well Done Mate!
H’m! It would seem this approach works,
That’s one Idea getting stored away for possible future reference.