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Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
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Manager of Credit & Collections, ASSA Abloy Americas Division, New Haven, CT
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Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
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Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
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Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
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Corporate Credit Mgr
Fulton Paper Company
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Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
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The Importance of Proof of Delivery
By Christine Alfonso
A veteran of 10 years in credit and collection management, Christine Alfonso has been in her present position since 1996. Solar Services sells and services solar heating systems in both the commercial and the residential markets. About three years ago, one of our customers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection owing us approximately $10,000. As the law required, I filed a proof-of-claim form well before the bar date with the Court.
Almost two years later, I received notice that the debtor was disputing our claim. Specifically, the debtor disputed many of the invoices we claimed to have delivered in the weeks and months prior to the bankruptcy filing date, which were listed and documented in our proof-of-claim form. They contended that the goods were never received.
We were required to prove that the customer ordered the product in question and to provide proof that the merchandise in question was delivered--with that proof being in the form of a signed proof of delivery for the invoice in question.
Like most creditors, we do not order proof-of-delivery requests routinely. Instead, we only order them when our customers inform us of a dispute and request this documentation. Each of the common carriers that we use is required to provide this information to us for up to one year. Therefore, when we requested proof of delivery more than two years after shipment, our carriers told us the information was unavailable.
Fortunately, we had copies of the customer's purchase orders, and we were also able to show in court that each picking ticket had the carrier's acknowledgement of receipt. We were also able to demonstrate from our accounts payable records that we paid the carriers to deliver each of the shipments in question.
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The Court understood that it was not possible to secure from our carriers actual signed proof of delivery--and since the preponderance of evidence showed the merchandise in question was shipped, our claim was largely upheld with minor exceptions. From this situation we learned this valuable lesson.
When a creditor learns a customer has filed for bankruptcy protection, that creditor should order proof of delivering for every outstanding invoice open as of the bankruptcy filing date. That way, proving the invoices were delivered and are due is relatively simple.
We have also found it helpful to request from the bankrupt debtor a copy of their accounts payable record as of the bankruptcy filing date. While not all bankrupt customers will provide these statements, the statements that we do receive often show some surprises. Fortunately, by addressing these "surprises" quickly we can avoid problems in the future.
I recommend that every creditor order proof of delivering on every open invoice every time a debtor files for bankruptcy protection.
Christine Alfonso is Manager of Credit and Accounting, Solar Services Company, Anaheim, CA
Editor's Note: The above article originally appeared in the Credit & Collection Manager's Letter, a newsletter purchased by Credit Today in 2006. This article originally appeared prior to 2000.
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Outlook 2012
This month's survey explores...
- What the top problems are facing credit execs currently, and
- What the top improvement initiatives are.
Click here to participate!
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February 2012
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