More opinion on my part - and, I’m being a hard-nosed business guy on this point. While I agree with being serviceable and easy-to-work-with, I also believe in keeping my doors open and staff employed. There’s no way I (or, any company) would be able to survive if we tolerate chargebacks or unpaid invoices for a prolonged period of time.

As I mentioned on the Return Policy article, I believe in owning my mistakes. That said, if I infringe a Retailer’s policy that we discussed then I will agree to accept a chargeback because that’s my mistake. On the other hand, I will drop or refuse a relationship that is too burdensome to manage.

Let’s say a Retailer adjusts their invoice or takes a discount without my permission. I don’t need to adjust the invoice in my accounting system if I do not agree with their assessment.

Depending on the tolerance of that open invoice (meaning how much is outstanding), I may permit a 2nd order and carry the unpaid balance forward. Otherwise, I would terminate the account and sell the invoice to a collections agent after it has aged 60 days.

If the first invoice is paid within tolerance and the outstanding balance is not paid in full by the end of the grace period, the Retailer’s account will be terminated and the combined invoice will be sold at 60 days of age.

I will not reinstate any account until the open balance plus interest and collections fees were paid. And, then, the Retailer would have to prepay the first order after their account is reinstated.

If an account is terminated a second time, it has proven itself too burdensome to manage and will no longer be reinstated. It’s less expensive to locate one or several accounts to replace the deadbeat.