Executive Hire News › Archives › August 2009 › Crosshire : Delaying tactics
Crosshire : Delaying tactics
One thing that has increased rapidly throughout the present economic situation is the proliferation of pathetic excuses to avoid or delay payment. Whilst the old stalwart of disputing off-hire dates is being done to death, one of my customers recently tried a new tactic. A fairly large invoice for hire of kit was sent back to us with “not authorised” scribbled across it. I checked our records and found that the equipment had been ordered by an employee whom we had not heard of before, but the kit was signed for by a site worker who had been with our client for many years.
My staff recalled that the machine had definitely been used and no adverse comments had been received on collection. The governor of this outfit is an old sparring partner and I knew that, like many, he was having a hard time, so I called him myself to ask why our invoice had been rejected. Like so many small companies, he admitted he did not use order numbers, but nevertheless he was rejecting our charges because “the member of his staff who placed the order was not authorised to do so”! He was a new employee and our customer claimed he had not yet given him permission to place orders.
Needless to say a ten-pound argument ensued, but he was adamant that he was not paying. I withdrew to check our records and discovered that no communication had been received to instruct us not to accept orders from any of his staff. As we had a clear signature from a worker who had signed our delivery notes for many years, I wrote a strong letter to press our claim. After five weeks of correspondence and phone calls, our man agreed to pay - but, of course, he had obtained the extra credit he was probably looking for in the first place.
Many of us do business with clients that do not use written orders and some of them will often order on the phone and send the paperwork through later. Of course, a verbal order does constitute a contract but the proving it may be difficult in a dispute. Having to check whether the person on the other end of the phone is actually authorised to place an order is an administrative burden no one wants, but we should be wary of this tactic as I am sure it will surface again as clients try to extend their payment periods.
There are more than a few punters out there who are adept at working out off-hire instructions to their advantage. It’s a reasonable gamble that an item put off hire during a Friday will not be collected until Monday, so any use over the weekend is free - better still if Monday is a bank holiday! It is goods news that security equipment is coming on to the market enabling us to immobilise our kit from the comfort of our offices from the time that charges should cease. A local competitor has just fitted some of his machines with these and already the clients are calling foul - but so what? We must protect our revenue as well as our assets, so let’s hope that the somewhat high price of these gizmos will reduce if enough of us place orders to enable volume to be stepped up.
DOING THE HONOURS
It was good to hear that the official opening of HAE’s new HQ was performed by Hiretech’s Mark Rogers. Many of you will recall that his father, John, was one of the founding members of the Association way back in 1974. On behalf of the dwindling band that were there at the inaugural meeting and the wider current industry, Crosshire sends best wishes to the HAE team.
These latest premises are the sixth that the Association has occupied, owing to continuous growth over the years. From my brief visit earlier in the year it certainly looks well equipped to look after our interests and meet the challenges of the future.
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