First of all, I apologize for the inconvenience that this situation caused you and your family. I am very sorry.
I guess I could be mad about being put "out there" or "on blast" but I am not, nor I am proud about the negative experience that my company and Associates suffered during the 2007-2008 school year. Unless you were in the office, you had no idea of what I had to go through as an employer. Fortunately, we have changed our policies, the type of clients that work with and have replaced paper checks with direct deposit.
Years ago, when I started my company, it was about getting clients, the more the better, don't check their credit rating or get a deposit, just get the client and put people to work. My thinking was "they are in business, they will pay me on time", so let's do business with them. I should have been more thorough and selective when it came to our client base.
I also had issues with "clients" bouncing checks or not paying their invoices at all, which created a major domino effect. I never woke up and said, "Hey, I am going to bounce checks today", no it was not like that at all. Hunting down client payments, lack of follow-thru with collections, filing lawsuits, or trying to figure out what was charge backed in my bank account, is what my day consisted of instead of fixing my customer service problems.
There were a handful of clients that paid faithfully, but that outweighed the clients that did not. I ended up writing off over $83,000.00 for 2007 and close to $120,000.00 in 2008.
These are not excuses, they are just the facts!
I was one of the few minority owned companies, that does not have a line of credit or business loan. For the most part, I financed my company with my own money.
Again, I am not proud of the things that transpired in 2007-2008, but it is my intention to make good on the judgment by paying through bankruptcy court proceedings. I am an accountable person and not running away from the responsibility (I deal with it everyday).
Since I do not know your identity to contact you directly, you are welcome to send an email or call the Associate Support.
Although it gets hard sometimes, I pray and stand on the word of God and believe that I will be pulled out of this situation and to be wiser in business.
Thank you for reading my post and I hope to hear from you soon.