Reply With QuoteIt's almost certainly not worth your time, stress, and expenses to recover this unless it's more than, say, £5K. Just write it off and choose your clients more carefully in future.
Hi all,
I have a Greek client that decided to go radio silent when presented with a bill for consulting services. Long story short, they have money and the bill isn't huge but they won't even acknowledge my emails asking for payment. I know they've pulled this with other suppliers in the past. The company is based in Greece and it is this entity that my consultancy agreement faces. They do have a UK entity but it's a branch office and I haven't had any official contact with them.
Anyone had experience trying to collect from Greek companies? Anyone used any of the many debt collection services (did a quick Google search and seems to be many out there).
Many thanks!
It's almost certainly not worth your time, stress, and expenses to recover this unless it's more than, say, £5K. Just write it off and choose your clients more carefully in future.
Hi - it is more than £5K unfortunately. I've looked at a number of the online collection agencies that do business in Greece and it seems that 15% of the amount sought in fees/costs seems to be what they quote. At this point I'd pay that happily! I was hoping someone around here could recommend a particular firm.Originally Posted by bitfield
And yes, advice to choose my clients more carefully in the future has already been heeded!
I lost a wodge of cash to someone on the Turkish side about 28 years back and although I had bank guarantees it turned out that they werent worth a toss. We live and learn................Sigh !!!
Not much help I'm afraid but you might just have to grin and bear it !!!
Is it a big company ?
Sorry :-(
B
They're about 200 employees and big enough that they are the main sponsor of a niche financial conference taking place in London next week!
I'm afraid you're not seeing your cash again and if you employ a Greek based recovery team you won't see that cash again either.
Well that's an opportunity to apply a little pressure. Surely if they're in the finance business they're not going to want an attendee telling everyone how poor they are when it comes to financial matters!!
I had thought of that, but the conference is over a grand to attend and TBH I'd really rather not get into a public pissing contest as my reputation is worth a lot more than what they owe me.Well that's an opportunity to apply a little pressure. Surely if they're in the finance business they're not going to want an attendee telling everyone how poor they are when it comes to financial matters!!
Having been burned this way a couple of times, I never allow a new client to owe me more than a couple of grand. Or whatever figure I can afford to lose. I explain to them that it's nothing personal, just my company's 'credit control policy'.
It's amazing how something becomes unarguable once you describe it as 'policy'...
Have a similar ' policy' , two payments unpaid, service stops until cleared.
Not the same business, but I' d let all my clients know your butt hole non payer is not to be trusted in any way. They will thank you in the long run.
Agree 100% with you, the negative goodwill this incident has generated is already many many multiples greater than my fees.
When I saw the thread title I thought we were having a whip round to pay off the Greek debt...
Did you phone them?
I can call speak in Greek and mess them up ?!?!
Want me to call them ?
Thank you for the offer!! They all speak perfect English; most of management were educated in the UK.
Like myself
Doesnt make me any better person though :)
Good luck
The ones we have dealt with have all paid...eventually.
I think it is a case of nagging and waiting for them to have the cash - or try to agree a payment plan which is what we did.
I am not sure what the laws are in Greece but ask their accounts dept for a statement so the debt is acknowledged and then you can try to engage lawyers - probably with a statement on a no win no fee basis - we had some lined up this way for a debt in NL that was paid just beforehand.
All that money me and your mum spent on your education! If this was 1950s we would have sent you to Kenya for being 'unsatisfactory'.
Read up on the EU cross border claims system. In (very) brief, you can potentially (it depends) sue the debtor in the UK, gain a judgment, and then enforce that judgment in Greece with the same legal force as if you had sued them and gained a judgment in Greece. However, like all EU rules and regulations, this is hugely complex. Also check out the European Order for Payment (EOP) as it might be applicable to your case as long as the debt has been acknowledged. You really need proper legal advice from a solicitor who has done it before.
One of the key claims of the EU is to create a single market. Well, here we are, this is where such claims are put to the test.
Some links:-
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u.../ex725-eng.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/recover-debt-from...european-union
https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_...laims-42-en.do
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...l/rules/part78
Last edited by markrlondon; 2nd March 2016 at 00:58.
Having worked to Kenya for 5 years you dont have a clue what u r talking about
And my dad is the greatest man on earth so i cant call u a dad really unless mom had such a bad taste
Hi Mark - thank you, this is hugely helpful. I'll be speaking with a solicitor later today and have found a UK based collections firm who operates across Europe on a contingency basis.
I would definitely be using the fact they are sponsoring a financial conference. How important is their 'good name' to them. Would be a shame if they suffered the embarrassment of being outed as defaulting on debts by some random person handing out flyers as if they are doing it to you they have done it to others.
No need to actually do anything, the thought of it happening may be enough. If they call your bluff you've lost nothing. When we had large amounts outstanding and difficult payers I quite often would visit the debtors head office personally to collect.I was never embarrassed but they were. Appreciate Greece might be a bit far though I did once go to Paris.
Good luck and keep at them. They owe you so bug the hell out of them.
do they have social media feeds? online rating systems of any kind?
I would be hitting those, with statements like (hey, great you have social media, when are you going to settle your bill with me? can we settle at the conference in London next week (date/time and location of event))
I would be doing this every day until I got an answer, you will be surprised how quickly they respond.
also posting on forums that they would see some impact from, with a post exactly like above, but I would name and shame them.
You were right about talking to them in Greek and messing them up; you got me, and in English (I think)
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I sent them an email this morning mentioning the conference, let's see if they take the hint.
Excellent. Good luck.
Also, may be worth speaking with your bank, some provide collection service for percentage/fee, perhaps worth a try?
Last edited by VDG; 2nd March 2016 at 21:41.
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