Late payment + accusation of theft!

Hi there,

I have recently received a letter from a framing shop I have used quite a lot over the past 2 years in a private capacity.

The last transaction was a bit confusing as we were told the bill was paid in full when we collected the painting. Subsequently we were sent a letter saying that was a mistake and we owed €100. We were in agreement but just never got around to paying the €100 as the shop has moved and is a bit further away from us..coupled with the fact that we are waiting for a new cheque book. We are genuinely late with the payment but simply through oversight rather than any fraudulent undercurrent.

Anyways - we received a letter yesterday cc'd to their solicitor stating that they have received solicitor's advice that what we have done equates to theft and they would have to pass the matter to the Gardai!! Honestly, I was very miffed at being called a thief and I was very close to penning a letter advising them that late payment legislation is in place for debt collection and it is indeed not a matter for Garda intervention. However, I thought I would seek your esteemed opinion on this form of debt collection... I will of course pay up as soon as my cheque book arrives but in the meantime any advice on what action to take??

Thanking you!
Z

Post date a cheque .... a long time into the future.

PaddyBloggit said:

Post date a cheque .... a long time into the future.

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The banque will not check the date anyway so that won't have any effect.

Sounds like you should pick up the phone and talk to the manager / owner and explain that as a long-term client you expect a better treatment and that the mistake was on their side. They should understand that now more than ever clients need to be treated with care.

Every small company is under big pressure to get the cash in at the moment so don't hold it against them if they are doing their best to save their bacon / employees. After all, you never paid the €100 you agreed to so how can they know if you are going to or not? That was not very kind, was it?

How late is the payment at this stage? How much contact has there been about making the payment? If they went straight from "We're sorry, we screwed up and you owe us money" to setting their solicitor on you and threatening you with the gardai, I'd say you have every right to feel aggrieved. If they've been in contact several times with pleasant reminders, they have probably reached a point where they think you're not intending to pay them.

IS this not slander??? Possible solicitors letter going in the opposite direction???

MichaelBurke said:

IS this not slander??? Possible solicitors letter going in the opposite direction???

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How might it be slander? What is the benefit of getting a solicitor to write a letter?

The letter from the framing shop looks like a most inept effort to apply pressure to get OP to pay up quickly. I agree with the idea of phoning them to let them know that it is not a good way to deal with customers -- especially if they want repeat business.

Agreed - I'll need to contact them anyways - but I think they've lost a customer by threatening to set the Gardai on me and accusing me of theft!

By the way - isn't there a code of conduct in the late payment legislation 2002? I'm sure Garda intervention is not required...I'd love to know how a solicitor recommends you to write a letter like that and then charge you for it...thereby losing you a customer and the €100 you'll collect will be spent on the solicitor anyways!!

Sometimes you wonder how small businesses survive with such a lack of business understanding!

You still have not said how late the payment actually was. You are in the wrong, however poor you think their customer relations are - you should pay up.

1 bag filled with 10,000 1c coins should see them right!

Firefly said:

1 bag filled with 10,000 1c coins should see them right!

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I like that idea, it's a shame we got rid of the half penny!!

OP - can we have more details please such as how late you were and was this the first form of contact they made ?

Hi there...the payment was about 5 months late I think...in fairness they moved premises and I did go up to pay it once to their old premises and just never got around to posting a cheque...no harm intended.
Surely theft means you had to intentionally defraud somebody...in which case we would have hardly offered to pay when we collected the painting...only to be told ...'No thank you sir you've already paid'

The mind boggles as to how any solicitor can charge a business for this kind of advice!

zippitydooda said:

... The mind boggles as to how any solicitor can charge a business for this kind of advice!

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I suspect that no solicitor gave that kind of advice.