Paidies- very very important lesson here- one of my favourite sayings is “Any money is always better than no money” and it is so incredibly true- a client of ours, a big crane hire company, sent us a new debt yesterday for $40,000. The customer was disputing the debt claiming our client caused damage to their vehicles, the job site etc, however they made an offer of $11,000 to settle the debt. Our client said no, and sent the debt to us to collect the full amount. I spoke with the customer yesterday but instead of asking them to pay the full amount, which I knew they wouldn’t, I instead asked them to pay the $11,000 they offered, on a Without Prejudice basis, which would ensure legal action would be held and then allow both parties to mediate further on how the remaining $29,000 would be finalised. They paid the $11,000 today. Client is happy- they are $11,000 richer and have reduced their overall risk by 25%. Debtor is happy- they don’t get sued, have preserved their rights and both parties can now hopefully agree on a resolution regarding the balance. The moral is- if your customer is disputing your debt, but willing to pay a lesser amount, get the lesser amount paid whilst you investigate their dispute. So many businesses don’t do this- they only focus on the full amount or zero- but something is always better than nothing in 100% of cases. Cheers
Customer disputing their debt but offering something? GRAB IT!