1 - In the UK the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 is you friend.

It gives small businesses the statutory right to claim interest on late payments from other businesses at the Bank of England base rate plus 8%.

2 - Yeah. But if you do that, you know you'll end up on various blacklists, etc. Sigh.

One of the chaps went on strike. Flew out to the customer site as usual, went in and said 'until I get paid, I'll be at the Hotel'. Customer went nuclear. Country-head of said consultancy gets dragged over hot coals, gets sorted out in four days.

The same chap actually had to raise late-payment invoices on his late-payment invoices.

Criminal.

---* Bill

3 - I always wondered with big companies that do that as a matter of course, whether they would notice the late payment invoices, or would they just go through the bureaucracy. Invoice in, check out, eventually.

I suppose it depends on the company. Probably best not to try.

When I was at school I worked for a restaurant that decided they where not going to pay any of there suppliers for 60 days. After 30 days the suppliers stopped delivering. He coughed up after having to buy supplies at supermarkets. The suppliers then refused to extend any credit, forcing him to pay on delivery. Some misjudgement in the balance of the relationship there.

4 - @2 - I've had to do that with a customer, too. When you're a one-man shop and they sit on invoices for 120 days, sometimes it's the only way.

In my experience, the problem is rarely with the A/P group, and more often with some senior exec who has to sign off on the invoice leaving it parked in his inbox for months at a time.

5 - A very large oil company here in Aberdeen used to sit on invoices for 90 days, and then look at them. Anything wrong - and I mean *anything* - and back they came. Lots of small businesses complained about it. They're probably doing it to this day...

These are the self-same giants (in IT, Oil, Government, etc) who, thanks to their internal systems -cannot actually install anything new without raising a project, etc, and so come to the small guys to do the development, delivery, etc.

Its the corporate elephant and entrepreneurial flea.

What can you do ?

---* Bill

6 - Back in the late 90's I had two such incidents nearly drive me into bankruptcy, and that's why I don't do contract work for big companies. I've never had a SMB stiff me, and even if they did at least it's not for half (or more) of my annual income.

7 - I once sued a customer after 18 months of not getting paid. Took another 18 months to get the money (no it wasn't IBM).

Actually had a great experience as a contractor for IBM once. The short story: I did a couple days' work for a local sales office with a customer of theirs on the "promise" of a PO to come.

Didn't get the PO, got very po'ed... After 6 months I wrote a long letter (with backup email documentation) to Lou Gerstner. Got a phone call 2 days later from a senior A/P supervisor. Told her the story. Got another call from her the next day, with a big apology, "We're sorry, we will pay your invoice without a PO, just fax it to me". Got a check 2 weeks later.

Thanks, Lou! (But I never did any further work for IBM without a signed PO first...)

8 - I've only used the 'Ask Lou' page once, but it was *very very* responsive.

A very nice chap called Larry Lincoln called me (whilst being ferried home from the airport in the car) and confirmed my grouse, and just a few days later, a product manager called back..

Frankly, I was hugely surprised. Something within IBM worked faster than glacial speed. nice.

I wouldnt use it more than once or twice a lifetime, though. And I wonder if Sam - who DIDNT have the consumer organisation background - reacts quite as strongly.

--* Bill

9 - ICL is still going ??

10 -

Fijutsu bought up ICL in 1990 , but no -its not them..

{ Link }

---* Bill

11 - Could it have been the french word for "here" ?
aka

Ice
Cream
Industries

sadly no more