WAHM Forums

I'm having a bit of a problem with a consultant from another party plan. We swapped shows back in July. Ifyou have never done this, basically it means she hosts a show for me and Ihost a show for her.


Well, She hosted a show for me and it went ok. It was just REALLY hard to get her to close the show. I was checking my bank account about a week and a half later and saw that her check bounced(she paid me one check for the whole show total). I tried to contact her and she wouldn't return my calls. I called to stop the show delivery (which goes directly to her) and it had already been shipped. I finally got in touch with her and she apologized and said she would drop a money order off. She never did.
I have tried countless times to contact her by phone and by e-mail and she will not get back to me. She now owes me the amount of the show and the returned check fee. This has been going on for almost 4 months now. I offered to take the product back in place of the $$ also.
I don't know where to go from here. Should I contact a lawyer? Take her to small claims court? Any advice would be very helpful and greatly appreciated.
My DH says to just kiss the $$ goodbye, I'll never see it. That is just not my style. She owes me over $200 and I'm not one to just let that go. What makes me the most mad, is that she is a Consultant also and should understand what she is doing!
Thanks for any help.

For starters, contact the company she reps for and provide all documentation as proof of her show/order. You might get a positive response that way.


If that fails (remember to keep the correspondence you send to theco. she reps fortoo), go to your local courthouse. The clerk of the court will be able to assist you in filing the proper paperwork to recover the money from this woman. Don't let it go. People like her giveconsultants trying to make a living a bad name.

*Rewind* - on second thought don't contact her company. I forgot the order was coming from your company's corp. office not hers.


Send her a demand letter to pay within 10 days of the date of the letter via certified mail where she has to sign for it. Keep the signature receipt copy. If after 10 days passes and no money yet, go to the courthouse to file with the clerk of the court.

I'd also call and see how much court costs are and add them in to your collection total as well.


Good luck,


Kim

Hi Suzanne,


I am so sorry for your troubles! Do you happen to have the check? You can contact her bank and they will tell you when the funds are available. Something I do is always take individual checks. Because i'd rather have a $30 check bounce than a $300 check bounce. Can you do that for future parties?


I would send her the letter like was posted above.


Send her a demand letter to pay within 10 days of the date of the letter via certified mail where she has to sign for it. Keep the signature receipt copy. If after 10 days passes and no money yet, go to the courthouse to file with the clerk of the court.


By right she has to pay court costs! I know $200 isnt alot for a court session to take place, but it is the morality behind it for business women to make things right. Did you already host the party for her? Ask her if you can trade $200 in retail product. Meaning you get $200 worth FREE of what she sells.





Good luck to you my dear! I hope it works out, but in worst case it dont, make sure you write the $200 off on your taxes for a loss!


Jody

Suanne,

What a NIGHTMARE! You have my support and some big e-hugs of
encouragement to hold your ground and stay on this gal until she comes
through. If I were you, I wouldn't bother with emails or phone calls- she
is obviously avoiding you.

GO TO HER HOUSE! Show up unannounced at a time she is likely to
be home (like DINNER time!) and pound on her door. Hopefully you'll
catch her off guard and she'll be forced to talk with you face to face and
either pay up or come up with a plan to pay you what she owes. It's time
for you to be more direct with this gal!

Good luck and keep us posted- I'll be thinking of you. GO GET HER!smileys/smiley2.gif

--Kitt

Thanks everyone for your advice. I haven't been able to reply in a few days!! I don't know why people think sahm's have such a laid back ease life!! smileys/smiley29.gif
I appreciate all the suggestions. I did take the check to the bank and the funds were not available. The bank manager gave me his card and told me to call everyday to check the funds. As soon as they are available we will take care of this. They seemed very willing to help and said they wanted to get me my money, as opposed to how some people handle it by giving the brush off!!I will try this first, and if they are still not available by next week, I will send a certified letter and let her know I will pursue this till the end!


On a side note, I did attemp to host a party for her. She never mailed out my invitations on time.She gave me many excuses as to why. People got them the day of the show and some not until the next day. Needless to say noone showed at the party. I had outside orders from people I had contacted and couldn't make it. When I tried to contact her to give her the orders, she wouldn't return my calls. After 2 weeks of contacting her, the people who wanted to order, said forget it! So, I tried to fulfill my part, but maybe this is part of the problem. She did not do a very good job as a consultant and lost some sales. I think she is taking it out on me.
I should have waited until after I had my money to tell her noone wanted to order! LOL


Well, live and learn I guess. Be sure you have an idea of who your dealing with before you agree to do business with someone. I have swapped shows before (with people I know)and had no problems. I swapped with two different party plans this summer(people I didn't know) and have had nothing but headaches with both of them!! The other one isanother story. I'll save that for another post!smileys/smiley36.gif


Thanks again for all your help and concern. I will keepyou posted.

Just thought I'd update everyone.
I FINALLY got my money. YEAH!! I had made up my mind that if the money was not in her account today, I was going to make a police report and check on small claims court on Monday! I had had enough. Well, I called the bank this morning and the funds were available!! I ran up to the bank as quick as I could before she could withdraw it again! LOL I am still out the $20 my bank charged me for her check bouncing, but I think I will consider that my cost for a lesson learned!! I got my $208 and I am very happy this ordeal is over!!
I think she will be VERY surprised to find that I cashed the check! Is it wrong for me to want to see her face when she realizes I got my money? :) It just amazes me how some people run their business!!

Thank you all for your advice and your concern. Have a very Happy Holiday!

Is it wrong for me to want to see her face when she realizes I got my money? :)


smileys/smiley36.gifI would want to see her face too!

While I'm glad this all ended well, it just makes me steaming mad when things like this happen......from a "fellow wahm" who should darn well know better! I mean, really. It's one thing if she was having a little financial trouble and if she had up-front and honest with you about it. BUT, the way this all went down was just pittiful.


I don't think it's wrong of you at all to want to see her face. Heck, I'd be tempted to drive over there with a copy of the DSA Code of Ethics in hand, just incase she would like to do some light reading. smileys/smiley36.gif

I am afraid that I too may have to go and do this myself. I was nice nad offered payments if needed. She paid me $35. That covered the first check. The second check was to have a payment the following week. She never called. I called the next week, nothing. This past week I called as well. The kids went to get her and she said she would have to call me back, still no call. Now I really do want my $$ also. I may just go to the bank and get it.