Q: What can a business do when a corporate customer chooses not to pay? Approaching 200 days past due. Written Contract.
We were contracted by a new customer to provide a skilled service and materials for a project. The new customer is a multi million dollar company in NC. We are a 4 person small business in NC. We fulfilled our end of the agreement, but the customer now says they can't pay us (they can't afford it, owes us approx. $2,500). We have kept an open line of communication for over 6 months regarding this past due invoice - but all they ever say is "I'll look into it when I can" (which happens to be never). I attempted to report them to BBB, but was denied because BBB "doesn't handle" B2B transactions/non payment. We do not know what we can do at this point, or even if we still have rights to the payment after so long.
A: You can certainly pursue a claim against the company for balance due. Based on the amount, I would suggest filing a small claims action. It will have to be filed in the county where the company is based and you will have to present for the hearing. Otherwise, it would have to be filed in District Court and you can due that on your own, but I would suggest an attorney's assistance.
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