[Article] Get paid.....blacklist your non paying clients

[QUINN]

If you are like many South African business owners you hate chasing people for your money...right?
Contacting your local attorney will cost you R350 before he even finished his morning tea. ( My attorney charges R950 every time he picks my file up )
I was in the same position and thought there must be a better way.
So in collaboration with a friendly legal eagle over a weekend at Leopard Creek we came up with a solution. Over that weekend, siyeza consumer credit solutions was born.
Basically the solution is simple:
MR BUSINESS OWNER, in good faith provided a service or product.
30 days later, no payment.....60 days still no payment....90 to 120 days
and guess what still no payment. Normally your only option would be to instruct your attorney to issue summons +- R4000 for a default judgment.
MR DEFAULTER then can use any number of legal remedies to avoid or delay payment.
The Solution: siyeza will send your defaulter a letter of intention to list within 28 days, we will stress the importance of a credit profile and the negative impact it can have on your ability to access credit.
3 days before the 28 days expire we will send an sms.
In 78 percent of the cases we have received either a payment or a suitable arrangement.
This method might seem simple but we have gone through the entire collection process as stipulated in the Act and found that it is possible to settle most issues before you instruct an attorney. In fact we have several attorneys that use our services.
I placed this information on the forum for two reasons:
1) Obviously I cant help but punt a new business.
2) I would really like the opinion of all on the forum, any suggestions or concerns would really be appreciated.

[Sieg]

What happens when the "bad payer" ignores you and just doesn't pay? Do you then go right ahead and blacklist the "bad payer"?

Sieg

[Dave A]

The fee for this service would be..?

[insulin]

Interesting... However before credit can be given a credit check must be done. It is required by law. Then there is the contract itself between creditor and debtor that needs to be taken into consideration. Make sure that the creditor’s nose is clean before you act. The simple reason for this is that you might find yourself as a tool for extortion and the consequences may be severe. So be selective when it comes to clientele.

Good luck!

[Marq]

This a good idea. But you will have to follow through to ensure that it is sustained. Otherwise it becomes known out there that this is just an empty threat. I sometimes issue a letter on the same basis using another company name that I have. Sometimes it works.....but not always.

Included in my arsenal is a trip to the cop shop where I lodge a bilking charge against the owner /md of the company in default. That seems to put a bug up their arse.

Perhaps one could go down a lay fraud and theft charges and tackle these small debts from a criminal point of view rather than a civil one. Its not first prize but it has a degree of satisfaction knowing that at some point in their future they may run into a problem that they laughed off at some stage in their past.

[insulin]

Once anything becomes a criminal matter there is real consequence partly because all criminal matters must go to court. Just make sure you have your facts right when you walk down this path because it will get ugly.

[QUINN]

Hi Sig
Yes, we then list the defaulter with all major credit reporting companies.
There is no legal requirement to wait the 28 days, it is just a part of the code of good practice.

[QUINN]

Not sure what is meant by your post. We act on behalf of creditors in civil matters.

[QUINN]

Hi DAVE
Hope you are well.

We charge R99. per listing.
Companies with listings of more than 50 per month get reduced rates.
We also do special rates for schools, they have a hell ova lot of poor payers.

[QUINN]

Maybe I was not clear on exactly what we do.

We have added a step in the collections process.
This step most of the time reduces the time and money needed to collect from your customers. I agree every business should screen their client more carefully, this service we offer as well, but most businesses do find that they are paid late or never even though they screened the client.

My attorney clients use this "tool" to work through all their collection cases.
It sorts the HARD CASES from the late payers.

If you as a business send letters of demand with no intention of issuing summons you might as well right off the debt. Professional debtors know what it costs to take legal action and they know you are only barking at the moon.
At least with our tool you have a some measure of penalizing them for non payment.

[Debbiedle]

Definitely the route I would follow if necessary as the new credit act has made all the consumers aware of the importance of a good credit rating. But a question Quinn...how does this differ from a pure collection agency?

[QUINN]

Definitely the route I would follow if necessary as the new credit act has made all the consumers aware of the importance of a good credit rating. But a question Quinn...how does this differ from a pure collection agency?

Hi Debbie,
A debt collection company will send letters of demand, accept payment arrangements on behalf of their clients. If the client then fails to make any payments the matter would have to be referred to an attorney that will start the collection process from scratch.
We offer an alternative to businesses and private individuals, if your defaulter will required credit in the next 3 years he will have to pay up. If he does not we list him on your behalf and he will have to pay before his name is cleared. try buying a car or a property with a listing.....

Don't get me wrong issuing summons is still the way to go but for R100 bucks you might save a few thousand

[Debbiedle]

Hi again Quinn - I had a client mess me around with about R3000 the year before last, googled a debt collector and using/threatening/promising the consequence of the credit bureau listing, they were successful within a week or two.

They asked me one question before hand "had he at any time disputed that the monies were due?"

[QUINN]

You probably had to pay 10 % collection comm. Around R300 rand.
It proves my point you can get the same result with R99 excluding Vat.

[garthu]

If only had this a month ago... paying 2400 for a 24K collection... get this, he's paying 1k per month.. I suspect this would have worked with them as dont believe they couldn't pay it... but anyway, at least its coming