Country music is the UK’s fastest growing genre. The stereotype of banjos and songs about trucks is being replaced with modern sounds and contemporary themes. Our client is a Derry based charity with a small portfolio of real estate used to generate additional income to support their mission. They were approached by a music promoter in Guilford wanting to hire the charity’s neo-gothic auditorium to host a 700-capacity concert for an up-and-coming American country music artist. For both the client and promoter, it was their first foray into the country music scene.
With the deposit paid and tickets sold out within just three weeks, our client had no reason to doubt the debtor’s intention or ability to clear the £900 balance on the night. With a packed auditorium and still no payment in sight, our client was left in the awkward position of having to let the event proceed without final payment. Cancelling the show and issuing refunds would have obliterated any chance the charity had of getting paid. Two months went by of excuses and broken promises before Advocate was instructed to recover payment.
All Hat & No Cattle!
Reviewing the local and national press following the concert, we could see it had been a big success. The promoter reportedly cashed in on merchandise sales making almost as much as the ticket sales. Advocate’s investigation suggested it was a matter of the debtor lacking the motivation to pay as opposed to not having the ability. On making first contact the debtor was apologetic and explained they had ‘taken eyes off the ball’ due to personal circumstances after the concert and gave a timeline of events in their private life. Looking at the correspondence received with the instruction, we could see the same incoherent sob story (almost verbatim) had been communicated to the client previously, but using a timeline pre-dating the concert instead. In the world of debt recovery, sob stories and timelines of convenience are no excuse for late payment.
With no payment after seven days, a Final Demand was issued incurring the debtor further statutory late payment charges. It was at this point they decided to go on the counterattack and query the relevance of our action, even being so brazen to suggest the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 was made up! During discussions we noted the debtor tried to move telephone conversations to different grievances without giving us opportunity to rebut them. When provided with the justification for our instruction and the statutory charges in writing for a final time, the debtor realised they could no longer argue the indefensible. As a result, full payment of the client’s £900 plus the statutory late payment charges was received.
Whilst our client will no longer be working with this promoter, the good press generated from the concert has opened doors for a series of country music shows in the pipeline; the proceeds of which will help support their wider charitable mission.