Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
Collecting from a customer
Here is the situation:
We have a customer who will not pay for the shipping charges on a product we sent them with a written agreement for FOB ship point - which means that we bear no responsibility for the goods once it leaves our warehouse - because the product did not arrive next day, which was the method of shipping.
The reason for the product not arriving was because of a bad address given to us by the customer's personnel - the carrier was unable to deliver the shipment to that address and sent requests for a suite number or alternate address on several attempts to deliver it. Though we were not required to, we took it upon ourselves to obtain a deliverable address as we knew that this shipment was urgent and unfortunately they kept giving us the same address, only to give an alternate address 2 weeks after the initial correspondence.
Now my question is, would it be better - meaning the faster method to get the money owed to us - to forward this to a collections attorney or take it to a small claims court? Thanks in advance.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Collecting from a customer
Small claims court should be the fastest way.
Re: Collecting from a customer
Sometimes a letter from an attorney on the attorney's letterhead will get their attention; this should be the first step in your overall collections strategy.
Also, be sure that your invoices are correctly worded so that you will be legally entitled to attorney fees, interest, and costs of collection in addition to the invoice amount and shipping charges.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
