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Question to the community?

Apr 28, 2009
1,163
363
First Name
Jerry
I have an issue and I am probably not being rationale since I am really ticked off right now. I have never done contracts and I have always been trusting of my clients. I have never been burned by a dealer and that's about to change.

I have a client who has been using my call tracking numbers. They have always been a slow payer. In October they decided they wanted to kill the 800 numbers. I told them that they still had a lot of calls coming in daily on one of the numbers. I suggested they figure out a solution before I just turned it off. The number gets 20 calls per day on average. They told me they would let me know and I never heard back from them. Since the number was still active and I did not want to hurt their business, I left it active. After several months of invoicing and no payment I reached out to them. They are now claiming the don't want the number and they don't want the bill and that they won't pay the bill.

So here are my options:

1. Write off a 4 figure loss.
2. Let my attorney take them to court.
3. Sell the number to a competing VW dealer.
4. Change the ring to number from the dealership to the owners cell phone.

What would you do?
 
Like Alex said, if its large enough, consult your attorney first, (need a good attorney I know one that can help ;)). It still may cost you more than it is worth. Otherwise take the highroad and write it off, never do biz with them again. They will suffer if you cut the numbers off and they still have those in use.

#4 sounds awesome and would be a riot!

Sounds like you don't need those kinds of clients!
 
Jerry, I’m sorry to hear that this is happening to you.
Where is the phone number posted/listed for customers to know the number to call? I’m trying to understand why would customers still call the phone number if it’s not listed somewhere as an ad for the original dealer [dealer website, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party site, print advertising]
Would the phone number benefit another VW dealer? [800-VW-DEALER, call list]
Now if you somehow have a phone number that gets a customer to pick up a phone, without falsely implying who the number is linked to, I would absolutely sell it to a competing dealer. You own the phone number not them. Manufactures sell leads from my competitor’s zip code to me if the closest dealer opted out, how is this any different? Now obviously if the tracking number is posted on the original dealerships website, and they are too lazy to take it down, you’re only going to shoot yourself in the foot by selling the phone number.

If all else fails and payback is what you want, some forwarding #’s:
(800) 273-8255
(800) 255-5324
(888) 407-4747
(800) 843-5678
 
I don't even think they know where they have the number listed. It could be that people just have it programmed in their phone.

I have now directed the calls to the dealers cell phone, we'll see how long it takes to pay.

I really hate doing this, but it irks me that they would treat me like this when I have always had their back.
 
Jerry,

Although I can think of only one company (a DMS company) that thinks litigation with customers is the way to profitability, #2 is sometimes your only option. The last time I spoke with a lawyer about collecting unpaid invoices in the absence of a written contract, the reimbursement for "reasonable attorney costs" would likely be under 5% of the amount owed. The estimated costs for me to litigate came to around 60% of the amount owed regardless of whether or not I prevailed. So, I wrote that one off and now have a written contract.

If you do end up with option #1 (writing this off), I suggest you do it with a smile on your face. Take the "loss" in the name of it being good for both you and the dealership, thank them for doing business with you and ask them to call you when they're ready for your services in the future. You want them to remember that you "stepped up" on this. Who knows where these people will be 6 months from now. You can decide whether or not you want to do business with them any time. I doesn't make sense to force their hand today. You might just get a call from one of them or someone they know in the future and if you still want to, you can say no then.

Cliff
 
Thanks Cliff for the comment and the phone call. After our discussion I have decided to not let this one bother me anymore and I am going to reverse my action of sending the calls to the dealers cell phone. I am just going to turn the number off and be done with this. By doing what I was going to do made me no better than the social media guy that hijacked the dealers facebook page. For what they owe me it's not worth the bad exposure. So I shall do the right thing and just kiss this one good bye. I'll Focus my energy on finding a new customer with integrity.

This quote is always a good one when facing situations like this:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only one thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is out attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes." --Charles Swindoll