Publishing Bad Debts At Porcfest 2010

[alecmuller]

I'm tired of listening to people preach personal responsibility while they owe me money and can't be bothered to make regular payments.

I'm so tired of sob stories and empty promises, in fact, that I'm putting together a flier to include in each of the welcome packets at Porcfest this year to list accusations of bad debt.  I hate doing this - I'd rather get paid, and I'd rather not embarrass people - but there aren't any alternatives that make more sense to me.

Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested in putting someone's name on this list – or getting their own name off of it.

The format is simple - anyone who knows me can submit an accusation for the flier that looks something like one of these:

• Alec Muller claims that ABC DEFGHI owes him $2,255, has not made any payments since April 2009 (~14 months), and seems to perpetually have just had something bad happen when asked to make payments.
• Alec Muller claims that JKL MNOPQR owes him $440, has only paid $30 since February 2009 (~16 months), and always promises to make payments "real soon" that don't materialize.

Restrictions on what I'm willing to print:
(If you disagree with these restrictions you're welcome to print your own flier)

• Absolutely no threats of violence.
• The accusation must be received or retracted by 6/16/2010 at 11:59pm EST to allow for printing and envelope-stuffing time.
• Can't exceed 200 characters including spaces.  No curse words.
• For clarity's sake, use the format "Accuser Name claims that Deadbeat Name . . .", and include actual names for both people.
• The person making the claim must contact me directly.  Email the text of the accusation, give me a phone number and a good time to call you, and I'll verbally confirm that want me to print it.  I won't print things from someone I don't know unless someone introduces me to them, and I won't print an accusation from anyone who doesn't personally stand behind it.

Guidelines

• The goal here is to use the threat of humiliation to encourage people to keep their promises.  Put another way, "Kept promises" = Goal; "Threat of humiliation" = Tool, and don't confuse them.
• Don't surprise the person you're going to accuse; – tell them you're planning on doing it and give them time to start paying you (and retract it if they're making satisfactory progress).
• A secondary goal is to warn other potential lenders so they don't unknowingly subsidize people who don't keep promises.
• Be honest (i.e. do warn others to expect a sob story or "the check's in the mail" if you know 1st-hand to expect it with this person), but don't be vindictive – that just makes you look like a jerk.
• This is for "bad" debt, not "any" debt.  If you've agreed to a payment plan with them and they've stuck to it, that's not "bad" debt.  If you've kept bugging them and they refuse a payment plan or keep promising to pay soon and never do, then it's "bad" debt.
• Remember that you're taking a risk when you make a claim like this; if you claim something and don't have any evidence to back it up, someone can easily accuse you of lying.
• I'm putting a disclaimer on the flier that says: "I have checked to ensure that the accuser is the person they claim to be, but I don't guarantee the veracity of their claims."

[MaineShark]

Don't surprise the person you're going to accuse; – tell them you're planning on doing it and give them time to start paying you (and retract it if they're making satisfactory progress).

I would suggest enforcing this in some way.  Require that they send a letter to the accused, and cc (either via email or the old fashioned method) you on it.  There are some potential risks, at very least folks feeling you are complicit if a false claim was made, so taking the extra step would help protect your reputation... someone making a false claim won't likely be very willing to warn the individual he intends to accuse, since all he would have is shock value, and he would lose that.

Joe

[alecmuller]

I would suggest enforcing this in some way.  Require that they send a letter to the accused, and cc (either via email or the old fashioned method) you on it.  There are some potential risks, at very least folks feeling you are complicit if a false claim was made, so taking the extra step would help protect your reputation... someone making a false claim won't likely be very willing to warn the individual he intends to accuse, since all he would have is shock value, and he would lose that.

Joe

I agree with your point, Joe - that there's the potential people will think poorly of me if I've helped someone make a false claim - but  with so little time left before Porcfest I want to keep it as simple as possible. The information quality will be lower than it would be with some kind of enforcement, but I'll have to make sure I get that idea across in the disclaimer.

Alec

[AntonLee]

I think this is a sweet idea.  I'm pretty sure I don't owe anyone money.   

[Pat K]

That ABC DEFGHI guy is a SOB !!

[Lloyd Danforth]

I'll get that 5 bucks to ya Pat....soon as I get off these crutches.

[Sam A. Robrin]

That ABC DEFGHI guy is a SOB !!

And he didn't even  get around to mentioning STU VWXYZ!

[sandm000]

Lorem Ipsum owes Dolor sit Amet $0.01 for services rendered of an erotic nature. Promising on several times to pay but failing to do so. Plans have been made, but payments have not.

[Raineyrocks]

That ABC DEFGHI guy is a SOB !!

I'll get that 5 bucks to ya Pat....soon as I get off these crutches.

That ABC DEFGHI guy is a SOB !!

And he didn't even  get around to mentioning STU VWXYZ!

You guys are so funny!   

[MaineShark]

I would suggest enforcing this in some way.  Require that they send a letter to the accused, and cc (either via email or the old fashioned method) you on it.  There are some potential risks, at very least folks feeling you are complicit if a false claim was made, so taking the extra step would help protect your reputation... someone making a false claim won't likely be very willing to warn the individual he intends to accuse, since all he would have is shock value, and he would lose that.

I agree with your point, Joe - that there's the potential people will think poorly of me if I've helped someone make a false claim - but  with so little time left before Porcfest I want to keep it as simple as possible. The information quality will be lower than it would be with some kind of enforcement, but I'll have to make sure I get that idea across in the disclaimer.

I think the comment on FreeKeene that these not be in the welcome packets might address that.

Personally, I would see such a thing and immediately think of how nice it is that folks are finding nonviolent solutions to their problems.

Another might see that right in the welcome packet, and think, "wow, there must be a major problem with deadbeats; should I move someplace where I will worry about being cheated?"  The fact that the numbers are small may not be processed as readily as the fact that they are being handed this, first thing when they arrive.

As an alternative idea, maybe there could be a forum on alternative dispute resolution.  A few folks could present different options and discuss some of the details, for folks who are coming here from places where they've never even heard of options other than the State.  The fliers could be handed out at the end, and then posted a few places around Roger's, after some portion of the attendees had the option to learn about why they were being handed out (as in, "why are you airing dirty laundry, instead of taking it to court?," which I imagine some would be asking).  Obviously, that shouldn't be a last-day event, so there's plenty of time for distribution afterwards, but also shouldn't be so early that a lot of folks show up after it.

And it would give more time for folks to come forward and offer restitution, eliminating some of the, "what if someone makes good between printing and distribution?" issue by shortening the gap between the two deadlines.

Joe

[Russell Kanning]

this should be interesting

[J’raxis 270145]

I like this idea.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Before he outs me, I admit to owing Error a pile

[alecmuller]

Update

For anyone who cares, I won't be publishing "Bad Debt" flyers to distribute at Porcfest this year after all.

The two people I was planning on outing both got substantial payments to me, and the one other person who contacted me about adding to the flyer is making other plans, so there's no point this time around.

My faith in people actually doing what they say they'll do just ticked up a notch!

[Kat Kanning]

Cool