Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

Customer will not pay after receiving merchandise

I own a small internet only retail business. I had a customer place an order on 4/24. The order was filled and shipped that day. I went to process the credit card payment in the evening when I realized it had not been authorized (my payment gateway was not working). The credit card ending up being declined. I sent the customer an email that evening stating so with the amount due. The customer replied that they would check it out. The next day I received another email stating the customer had ordered a new credit card (thats why the old one didn't work) and would resolve the payment as soon as they received it. I have not heard back since then. I have sent numerous emails asking them to provide another method of payment and I have sent the outstanding invoice via regular mail with a signature confirmation. Post office was unable to deliver(5/12) and it has not been claimed or picked up yet. The customer resides in New Jersey and I am located in Florida. I have tried to process the credit card several times since and still declined. What are my options as I would like to persue this further? The amount in question is just under $200. Thank you!


Asked on 5/20/03, 12:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alex Nakis Law Offices of Alex Nakis

Re: Customer will not pay after receiving merchandise

You have some options available to you, but since the amount in question is only $200, some options may be more work than they are worth. You can write another letter demanding payment. You can have an attorney write a letter to the customer. Alternatively, you could sue in small claims court in Florida and seek judgment in New Jersey(if the customer has no property in Florida). This would clearly be an incredible amount of effort for $200 but the decision is yours.

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Answered on 5/20/03, 3:28 pm


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