I printed some jerseys for a guy last year, and he will not pay. He kept saying he would pay soon, but never did and then just stopped answering emails. The total was $440, and he did receive the jerseys.
What are my options at this point? Can I report him to the people the handle credit reports for non-payment? Are there collections agencies that will do any good? I'm in Texas and this guy is in Indiana. So should I look for help in Indiana where he is?
Or just chalk it up to lessons learned and give up?
I doubt there is much you can do legally to get him to pay unless you had a signed contract and or some proof that he received the shirts at least. Then you could take him to small claims court. Might not end up with any money in the end anyway, but at least he would have to answer in court.
Do you have a signed purchase order from him? You'll definitely need some type of legit proof before taking any action.
I'm definitely NOT a lawyer, so this is just an opinion, but I believe you can file a suit in small claims court in the jurisdiction he does business (in this case, Indiana). You can probably also contact the local Better Business Bureau in his area.
It's really a shame that people conduct business this way. Sorry to hear you're having this problem.
I doubt there is much you can do legally to get him to pay unless you had a signed contract and or some proof that he received the shirts at least. Then you could take him to small claims court. Might not end up with any money in the end anyway, but at least he would have to answer in court.
I have the string of emails where he clearly admits to receiving the jerseys, as well as the receipt where I overnighted the jerseys to him for $50. So I don't think there would be a problem with that.
I just don't even want to mess with suing somebody. Not sure $440 is worth it.
What about the credit reporting agencies? Can I not report him to them for non-payment?
You might try having someone else contact him. I've had good luck with having my wife call. She just states that she is calling for my "collections department" and starts off new with simple and polite attempts to establish why payment has not been received and when it can be expected. If there is a true problem then offer to take payments.
If that doesn't work out, then I'd probably send something registered to establish that he is aware of the bill being past due. Then you are pretty much left with filing suit in small claims court. You would have to go court where the client is located.
You could try a collections company and then they would be able to report to the credit agencies. Not sure what that might cost out of the bill, but I'd do it just to give him trouble and not let him get away with it.
Always get at least 50% up front and the rest upon delivery. If it is done through the mail then 100% before you send the product. It is also a good idea to have a contract signed.
You have patience. I would be hounding him non stop. Every time I got the slightest bit angry I would call him.
I would find out what is needed to file a suit in his state. Call and ask him for some information, which is needed for the claim. You may not have to sue him, but scare him enough to pay.
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Here in my area, we can contact the county state's atty's office and they will send a somewhat impolite letter saying pay up sucka. usually that works. Otherwise, our local county sheriff is pretty good about encouraging payment.....Guess we're lucky here in smalltown, USA....
I would just walk away and chalk it up to lessons learned. Depending on how much time you have already spent trying to collect. There are a ton of ways you could give the guy grief. But spending 20 hours trying to collect $440.00 might not be a wise use of time. I may be way of on this but the last time we sent something to a collection agcy. We got maybe 50% back out of the original bill. Can't remember it has been a few years. Have you tried sending an email, followed up by a registered letter saying very politely. " We have no recourse except turning your account over to our collection agency, if we do not receive full payment within 30 days. or discuss payment option " Better worded then that. But you get the drift.
Knock on wood we are doing fine. But have a few customers that we would have shipped to from a phone conversation 2 or 3 years ago but now require full payment before processing the order, with the current state of the economy.
I think thats why it happens so much anymore.
These dirtbags know it will cost x amount to go after them so they do it and get away with it.
If he did it to Rusty he probably has done it before and thats why he went out of state. And will probably hit someone else later on.
If you can file in your home state and make the guy either come down or default then you have other options after the judgement.
I had a computer store and used collections to go after a few people. Never got a dime. And normally once you turn them over to collections your not allowed to deal with them anymore. Even if he walked in to pay your not allowed to collect.
They have to go thru the collections agency.
If your gonna do out of state business I think in todays world you need to have a stategy for dealing with this and other forms of fraud.
Totally agree, but I am doubting you could get a default from Texas to Indiana over that amount of money. Have no clue. But when you are getting into State law it is a whole nother realm. Plus we do a little biz with customers from Indiana. There are parts of Indiana where the BK rate is incredible. I can tell you from experience that you will never get anything out of a company or indvidual that went chapter 11 or 13.
You might be better off kissing the money goodbye.
When will screen printers/decorators realize that they need to collect 100% upfront? These "customers" are basically scaming us.
These guys know the game, they take advantage of shops that take $0 or 50%, then don't pay the rest. Then they move on to the next shop.
Why are people suggesting 50% and 50% when done? That is a horrible suggestion especially in this economy.
100% always or don't order. (I have a perfect example, a customer asked for a quote and said she would only pay 50% and 50% later when it's done. She explained that she has never done business with us, well our response is WE have never done business with you~. She talked to me ("the manager") and argued with me for 10 minutes that other shops near us do deposits. I said go ahead to the other place that does this for you and she rudely said "OK. Fine. CLICK"
Guess what, the next morning she called first thing and ordered PLUS paid in full. Problem solved.
Just chalk it up as a lesson learned.
Last edited by TshirtGuru; June 13th, 2009 at 08:38 PM.
How Should I Deal With Non-Payment 
