# Blacklist for non or late payment



## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

Do you guys think there is a practical way of generating a blacklist for growers that have not fulfilled their contract obligations? I know it could get messy but a system where a beekeeper complains about a grower once could generate some suspicion while more than one complaint could be seen as a red flag that the rest of us could avoid. I am floating this idea because my grower is late in payment and I am having a hard time paying my bills. If things escalate I would like to be able to warn others and likewise be able to prevent this from happening again to my business. If we had a list of names, we could share that list with brokers and put some performance pressure on growers.
Any thought?


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## forgeblast (Feb 4, 2011)

I am not commercial and am a newbee but if I would think that if its ok for us to list complaints about our buying experiences, then it should be ok for commercial operators to list complaints about their contract issues.
It may give you more leverage, and if I was commerical I would think that knowing who I was doing business with ahead of time would be a great asset. It also would help new commercial people 
see the issues that arrise.


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## Jean-Yves (Oct 27, 2010)

Ebay has a good system to protect buyers and sellers, could it be copied? Good luck!


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## MDS (Jan 9, 2011)

Not sure how good they do with resolving issues but is a great place to research or post issues - Better Business Bureau. http://www.bbb.org/.

I'm a small business owner and feel your pain regarding late paying or no paying customers.

Maybe just posting a thread in Beesource and Beemaster sites would be enough to get your idea rolling.

Just come up with a good descriptive thread title, maybe write a few down and consider them before posting.

Not sure about the legal issues if something is said that is not true and cost someone their growing business.

In my business as a construction contractor I found we don't talk much to competitors nor vendors about customer issues. We had to build in policy to help avoid payment issues. Such as so many days for payment terms, when to start legal action, if we have not done business with you before perhaps money down or payments made earlier ect.. I also use various methods to try and find out if the customer has past issues: BBB, internet search, attorney general's web site, and here is Missouri the court's system which is casenet (can see all court actions in my state).

I find that after 90 days of not paying people tend to think they don't owe the money any longer.

Would be nice if the system was a two way street because there maybe growers who have a reasonable complaint as well. Helps weed out the competition and helps out the growers.

Sorry if I read into your post too much. Your question was more direct than my response.


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

What I am hoping for is a thread where we have a permanent spot where we can look through a list of names like they do at grocery stores when you write a check. Since I made purchases based on the assumption that I would get paid, I no longer have enough left to pay one of my vendors. This is our first year in business so cash is tight. When someone is late or doesn't pay it can have a domino effect with everyone downstream having to wait or get stiffed. The point being that the damage caused by either a late payment or non-payment has ripple effects and a list could help more than just the beekeeper. Luckily I have a credit line to fall back on - but given the opportunity to look up a name on this forum to see if there are any red flags would certainly help. The list could also be made available to every broker that any of us deals with. If someone got blacklisted thoroughly enough, it would ensure that word got around and we all got full contract performance. 
Barry - If you read this please think long and hard about adding this feature. I know it would open a can of worms but any smears outside of the limits of the contract could be deleted. As an example, after my grower is one month late on payment, I would simply write his name and that the contract stipulated the second installment to be made in May and he is now a month late. Calls were made but unanswered. I finally got a call indicating that the check was on its way but it never arrived........
If all descriptions are simply statements of fact, within contractual boundaries, it would be very useful information and there would be no room for slander. It is possible for someone to blacklist an undeserving individual, but I believe that would be the exception and not the rule.


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