Dispute ultimatum

[reachmypotential]

Hi I have had an ongoing dispute with a suppliers who have not delivered a project.
We agreed to a credit clause for each day the project was delivered late. this I have in writing. They have now delivered the project several days late and are denying agreeing to the credit clause.

We had a simultaneous project which is not under dispute with them and we would like to hold off payment on that until this disputed project is resolved.

We gave them an ultimatum to resolve issues by midnight tonight or we would take it legal. Though we are a small company with very limited resources we have been left frustrated in our dealings with this company and have lots thousands of pounds of revenue whilst waiting on missed deadlines and really do. It want to pay the suppliers for the low standard of works delivered.


We need help and advice on how to take this to litigation and what we would need to do?
Does any one know where we can get some free advice on now we should proceed as they have also issued a deadline that should we not pay the full invoice amount they are going to send a debt enforcement team to us.
Or can we send our own debt enforcement company in to them?

 

[bovine]

You should not withhold payment on this other project if the work is completed to specification - its a seperate matter and should be treated as such.

How much was this clause for? Ignore how much you think you have lost, thats irrelevant. If it is a lot of money, try to sort it out with them and if not take it legal (small claims depending on value). If its above the small claims limit, you could take it to court, but it would cost a lot of money and can you afford the costs if you were to lose?

In summary, pay the outstanding bill and then refer to your paperwork. If the clause you are referring to is watertight and everything is signed properly, consider small claims. If it is above small claims value, seek paid legal advice. If you cant afford that, you cant afford to progress it further so dont. In my opinion!

 

[The Resolver]

There are a number of ways to resolve this sort of supply chain dispute without wasting time and money in court . From what you say you ought to be in a reasonably strong negotiating position both from the narrow legal issues (credit clause, lateness) as well as the broader context (potential further profit you can deliver to them). You just need to audit your strengths and weaknesses and identify where your, and their, wider business interests lie. Mutual solutions then become fairly obvious- whether or not you in reality want to do more business with them.

Call me to discuss further if you wish