PICB's Monthly Digest of Sound Credit And Collections Practices

Printing Industry Credit Bureau 
www.picb-us.com  (847) 265-0400

Volume 6, July 2014

Dear Member,
 

Since Janurary, PICB has recovered for PIA Members $489,681! 

Do you know where your money is?

 

Have you been duped into granting credit to the wrong customer?

Check It Co's Credit Risk Assessment Reports helps make 'credit choices' easier. 

 

Start the painless process with us HERE.

 

With much respect, 

Andrea

 

 
       
Original Artwork by Marc. Art, Inc. [email protected]

Something Wicked This Way Comes

So Get Out Of The Way

A Printer's Shakesperean Tragedy

 By Andrea Schlack

 

Double, double toil and trouble...... Fire burn and cauldron bubble, was the Witch's prophecy that foretold of mayhem and destruction.

 

A printer was contacted by a Witch's minion who posed as a wealthy and successful businessman. He boasted how he planned to spend a lot of money producing a project using ONLY his 'Favorite Printer'. Being enamored by the prospective profits this Printer eagerly gave this unchecked customer a substantial line of credit. When other companies seemed equally enamored by His golden goose, and fearing he could lose his new found friend to his competitors, The Printer eagerly surrendered to the customer's demands for more credit, more press time, and arbitrary deadlines.

 

 The allure of profit drew the Printer under Witch's spell and fear made him a victim of the curse.

 

Once the jobs were completed the Printer soon realized he had been deceived. He tried to collect the money now due only to discover his customer had vanished. The unpaid debt due was more than a half-million dollars, most of which the Printer owed to His secured lender, to raw material venders, and to employees, All of whom expected payment despite the Printer's troubles.

 

Upon review of the case, PICB concluded upon a thorough review that the Printer was a victim of deception and that the money due was lost. The assets the customer claimed to own were all illusions: This business operated from a mailbox drop, the mansion where the customer claimed to live had been surrendered in a foreclosure sale, the luxury car had been repossessed, and the jewelry worn was either fake or stolen. There were numerous law suits filed and multiple reports of bad checks. The number of victims seeking money grew exponentially until one day, an attorney representing this deadbeat, reported to all  'get in line behind everyone else who came before you because there is nothing left'  This so-called prosperous entrepreneur and his sham company filed for bankruptcy.........

 

Now the printer knew fear! His cash flow was depleted. His bank expected payment. He was broke and out of business..............  But that was not the end of this Printer's tragic tale.

 

The Lender sold off the Printer's assets but was still owed a small debt. Having concluded there was nothing of value left the Lender was prepared to write-off the remaining debt when the Printer asked if he could buy back his uncollected accounts receivable. Naturally, the lender wanting to get paid agreed and took the Printer's proverbial last buck and gave back to the Printer his remaining unpaid accounts.

 

The printer was now double cursed .....he spent the last of his money buying worthless accounts barred by the Statute of Limitations and those accounts were not only not collectible but were no longer legally enforceable.

 

Circumstances and consequences are the results of the choices we make. Printing Industry Credit Bureau helps Printers avoid the curse of bad choices.

          


Collection Services 
PICB is the printing industry's dedicated commercial collection agency that has helped printers recover unpaid debts for over 35 years.  Our collection expertise, personal service, dedication, and intimate knowledge of the industry produce superior results at rates below industry averages.
 
From PICB's website, click Resources & Archives at the top of the page to find links to government websites with real-time, free information you may find helpful in determining a customer's stability or viability. These sites provide you the ability to verify business registrations, civil court records, lien information, and much more.

No time to research your customer's background?  PICB's sister company, Check It Co. can help. Check It Co's Credit Risk Assessments compile reports the old-fashioned way with hands-on, extensive research using 21st century tools.  Know your customer before you do the work. 

PICB's free web-based tool, located at www.picb-us.com near the center of the navigation bar, provides free access to our database of customers who haven't paid printers.  Look up your potential customer and see if PICB already knows them.  It may save you some heartache. 

Questions?  Call us any time at (847) 265-0400
For Collections, visit PICB: www.picb-us.com
For Risk Assessment, visit Check It Co: www.checkitco.com
 
How Much Credit To Extend?
 
We occasionally get the question, "How much credit should I extend to this client?"  While we are never in a position to provide a dollar amount someone should extend to a customer for liability reasons, I can offer some general rules that make professional sense in almost any lending situation. If you deem a client credit worthy after weighing the results of our Credit Risk Assessment, consider these five points.

1) What is the time-value of your money -  in other words, weigh amount of     money you have tied up in this deal as a loan against what it will cost         you to not have have that money to meet other obligations.  Will it mean     you have to turn away other business for lack of cash flow?  This is the         opportunity cost of doing business with this customer.  If they are late in       paying, it is not just that amount that you are losing, but the cash flow         necessary to complete additional work that could bring additional               revenue.

2) What expenses must I cover for this job if the client fails to pay?

3) Weight the first two against the profit you stand to make from the deal.

4) Never lend more than you can stand to love taking the first three points       into consideration.

5) Is this a relationship client, or a one-time print job? (And if it is a                   relationship client, is there room to expand the relationship?)

If we provided a dollar figure to printers, we would not have the benefit of knowing the answer to #1, and that could jeopardize both of us.  So it is something you must arrive at as a company, but I hope the 5 points above will aid the decision process.

After many years in banking, I learned no one loves you beyond the point the loan is funded or credit extended, so never think that granting credit will somehow translate to a better relationship.  There is no loyalty to lenders, because borrowed money is a commodity.  A good printer that does quality work, on the other hand, is something a customer will value that can develop loyalty.  So focus on your loyalty building through the work you do, not in how easily someone can borrow from you.  By keeping yourself financially healthy, you can better serve deserving clients.

By Vin Ayden
Senior Risk Manager
Checkitco.com, a division of PICB
Thanks for reading this edition! Feel free to forward this to others.

Printing Industry Credit Bureau
(847) 265-0400
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In This Issue
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Your Staff at 
Printing Industry
 Credit Bureau

Andrea Schlack 
President

 Dennis Adams

Vice President
Collections Manager

 

Vin Ayden, 

Senior Risk Manager   Email Vin

 

Dan Comer

Vice President of Operations

  Email Dan

 

 

 

 

KreditKarma

Don't let them  bite twice!

 

A partial list of Uncollected Judgments for MAY 2014. 

 Click here

to view the full list.

 

Alec W. Bowers dba Diat Concepts, Ltd.  

(IL)

 

Andrew Eperi, Individually and dba Afrique 

(IL)

 

Alex Fino dba SF Transport Services (PA)

 

Associated Air Products 

(FL)

 

Berg Printing Enterprises, LLC dba Masterprint (WI)

 

Blue Ink

(IL)

 

CCMP dba BerylMartin 

(IN)

 

Christopher Nicholas Campos dba Campos School Portraits 

(AZ)

 

CMY&K Advertising

(NY)

 

CMY&K Publishing

(NY) 

 

Dale Jaslove Ind dba Healthcare Construciton 

(MI)

 

DBR Enterprises Inc & Anna Fregron as Personal Guarantor  

(SD)

 

Desi Talk Inc (dissolved)

Hemant, Inc. (dissolved) 

Brahmbharr, Inc.

(dissolved)

(IL)

 

Direct Media Marketing, Inc. 

(NE)

 

El Sol Newspaper 

(IL)

 

Emory Lithoof Nassau LLC

(NY)

 

Ewa Kuchino dba A to Z Media Graph (dissolved) 

(IL)

 

Frank Finocchiaro individually & T/A LBT Systems & LBT Systems, Inc.

(NJ)

 

First Fruits Beverage Company 

(VA)

 

Gregorys Furniture & Mattress LLC

(NJ)

 

Hi India, Inc. 

(IL)

 

Higher Standard Entreprises Inc dba Intouch Publishers.com

(NC)

 

Hip Hop Weekly Entertainment, inc. 

(FL)

 

Home Video Studio, Inc. 

(IN)

 

Hometown Heating & Cooling, Richard E. Fox, individually

(NY) 

 

Indian Hill System Inc, Robert Kelly

(IL) 

 

 Jeffrey Samuel Perry dba Chicago Salon & Day Spa

(IL)

 

Jill Morgenthaler for Congress

(IL)

 

Jim Weems dba J Print Services

(ID)

 

Joseph D. Rinder dba Beltone Hearing Aid Center, and individually

(NJ)

 

Karry Matheson dba Matheson Custom Print, and individually

(UT)

 

Kenmar Stationary

(NY)

 

Kristys Moore a.k.a. Kristys Waggoner dba Orion Publishing

(CA)

 

Lester Bafia, individually and D Mega Force Productions, Inc. 

(IL)

 

Lisa Dote dba G Graphics and dba Print This, and individually

(IL)

 

Lori Hutchings dba Kangaroo Cardio and Kendra Meeker dba Kangaroo Cardio

(KS)

 

MBL Communications, Inc. 

(NY)

 

My Mothers Invention

(TX)